B RISTOL was the only UK city shortlisted to become Europe's designated Green Capital for both 2010 and 2011.

Work is now under way to ensure a strong bid can be submitted for future European Green Capital awards. Bristol City Council has adopted its own Green Capital Action Plan, and the Green Capital Partnership is currently advertising for a manager to help in the aim of making Bristol 'the most carbon efficient city in the UK, to exploit the opportunities for business innovation and improve the quality of life for everyone in the city'.

Hopefully one of the first actions of the newly-appointed manager will be to have a word about Bristol's Green Capital aspirations with those officials who have drawn up a plan to demolish more than 1,000 homes in Knowle West.

Maybe he or she could also explain to them that eco-renovations – or retrofits – to old homes are considered environmentally preferable to demolition because this avoids waste and saves embodied energy within the buildings instead of using more energy to make new buildings.

Of course, it should be emphasised that the demolition of around 1,000 homes is just a proposal, and the most extreme of a range of regeneration options put forward for Knowle West.

But it's hard to understand why such a scheme has got to the point of being discussed, given Bristol's supposed commitment to sustainable living – and this city's past experience of the devastating effects of planning blight on communities.

Bristolians know only too well how during the 1960s and 1970s homes in the Totterdown and East areas were demolished for the Outer Circuit Road, which was never built.

In other areas of the city that the road was meant to go through, such as Kingsdown, Montpelier and St Paul's, homes were never demolished.

But uncertainty about the road created planning blight, as people were understandably reluctant to buy properties in those areas, or to invest in maintaining them, in case they were later knocked down.

How many people would now choose to buy a property in the Inns Court area of Knowle West – where most of the proposed demolition would take place – or in other parts earmarked for demolition?

Nowadays an increasing number of property developers are making their homes more environmentally friendly, and the popularity of retrofitting was demonstrated by the popularity of the recent Bristol Green Doors event.

Knowle West is not far from the city centre, yet is in an attractive setting on the edge of the fields and woodlands of the Northern Slopes.

Sensitive and innovative regeneration could enhance the area, and also enhance Bristol's Green Capital bid, by turning it into a flagship estate for retrofitting and green living.

What a pity if, instead, insensitive redevelopment plans and uncertainly ended up blighting Knowle West for years to come.