Castle Park town green inquiry latest
The fate of a city centre park is being debated at an inquiry which has been set up to decide whether it should be developed.
Plans have been made to build shops and flats in one corner of Castle Park, but the scheme has drawn objections from people who want the park to remain a green space.
Campaigners are this week applying to give the park Town Green status, which would mean plans to develop it could be shelved.
Landowner Bristol City Council wants to knock down the empty Lloyds bank and Norwich Union buildings in the western corner, and replace them with a new scheme of shops and flats.
Campaigners against the re-development are worried it will result in the loss of green space.
They want a planning inspector to give the entire park Town Green status, but they need to prove people have been using the park as a town green for the past 20 years.
Mary Bannerman, who made the application for green status, spoke at the hearing chaired by independent inspector Vivian Chapman QC. She said the park was used, especially at weekends, by residents of the area.
And Susan Curtis, from Dulverton Road in Bishopston, told the inquiry she has been visiting the park since 1968 and has always seen it as an informal meeting place for friends, clubs and societies.
But yesterday the advocates for Bristol City Council and developer Deeley Freed also started calling their witnesses.
They hope to show that the city council has invested money to create a formal park on the space and the authority was effectively giving permission for people to meet there and use it.
They also hope to prove most of the people who use the park are from outside the immediate area – commuters, visitors to the shops and people travelling through.
The hearing in Bristol is expected to last all week and Mr Chapman will make a decision on the application early next year.
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