CONCERNS were raised about plans to sell off green spaces in Shirehampton at the latest drop-in session for the heavily criticised scheme.

The city council has attracted a storm of protest for the "area green space plan", which could see more than 60 plots of land sold off across the city in a bid to raise £90 million.

The public have been invited to give their views at a series of drop-in sessions, with the most recent taking place at Portway Rugby Development Centre yesterday.

A series of displays showed the proposals for ten sites in the Avonmouth, Shirehampton and Kingsweston area that the council feels are surplus to requirements. Eight council officers were on hand to answer any questions from the public.

Among the areas being considered for housing are the 3.7 hectare Henacre open space, which has enough room for 184 houses according to the council.

Another is the site of the Lawrence Weston campus of the City of Bristol College, including land previously used as playing fields for the Gatehouse School, library and Freshways Learning Resource Centre.

If the whole of the 2.7 acre site was redeveloped there would be 135 homes.

A third site is former grazing land to the north of Woodwell Road, which has been earmarked as a potential site for up to seven traveller pitches.

Bernard Gazzard, 68, of Shirehampton, was concerned the council was proposing to develop Daisy Field, near the Portway, despite its popularity with locals, while other areas stood derelict.

He said: "There's a site in St Bernard's Road that used to be swimming baths and has been derelict for four years.

"People were going to build on it then they went bankrupt. Why can't they build on that?

"People take their dogs on Daisy Field, they sit there in the summer because there are lovely views.

"The gypsy site is right in the middle of houses, I'm not happy with that, and the other side of the railway bridge is mostly old people.

"The land has been used as fields for the last ten years."

Last year more than 150 people attended a public meeting opposing any plans to sell off Daisy Field or Lamplighters Marsh.

Kathryn Courtney-O'Neill, 45, a part-time media consultant, of Shirehampton, said: "I will be strongly objecting to the fact they want to build houses on the Daisy Field and Woodwell Road sites.

"Daisy Field is not suitable for housing as it gets sodden during wet weather. I certainly would not want to buy a place there.

"The wonderful view would be gone.

"Shirehampton has enough housing being built in the area without this being added to it.

"What we need is more facilities for the area, not more housing."

Eileen Courtney, 75, who has lived in Shirehampton all her life, felt that the location of the meeting may have hindered people from attending.

She said: "If the meeting was held in a hall in Shirehampton, I am sure there would have been a lot more people, but it was out of the way.

"I am upset about the Daisy Field situation. They have taken the best part of it for the Park & Ride and I think it is wrong to take it away.

"They have also taken away the sports centre and swimming baths and the only shops we have now got are just takeaways and charity shops. It is not the Shirehampton I know. I am not thinking of myself, I want to make sure they make the right decisions."

Cath Brown, 45, of Shirehampton, said: "I don't mind so much if they take away some of the parks, as long as they put back what they took away.

"I do not particularly want the gipsy site but I don't mind housing.

"But if they are putting in housing they need to make sure there are enough amenities. And they need to replace anything that is being taken away. The sports centre and the swimming pool have gone and nothing is being replaced.

"The Bristol and West site along the Portway wasn't mentioned and that just seems to have been left. I would like something to be done with that, like a hotel maybe. There are no hotels in Shirehampton."

Nick Pepper, 53, of Lawrence Weston and his wife Helen attended the session.

Mr Pepper said: "I am involved with the BMX track down in Henacre.

"We need affordable housing and there are none. We need some nice houses rather than flats. There is a lot of green space. I think it can be done without being too much."

Residents from Dingle Close in Sea Mills attended the session to find out more about the possible impact on the tennis courts near their homes.

Maureen Draper, 71, said: "We have heard rumours they are going to grass it over and wanted to find out more.

"A lot of people, including my granddaughter, use the courts."

Amanda Eldridge, 42, a learning support assistant, said: "Local children use the courts and if they grass it over it will be a nightmare."