THAT'S the view of campaigners across Bristol who are celebrating a landmark council decision over the city's open spaces.

A total of 38 sites which were threatened with sale under the council's controversial parks and green spaces strategy have won a reprieve after a long-running row.

The council had been proposing to sell them off and use the money raised to improve other parks around Bristol.

The deal which was agreed by councillors at a full council meeting on Tuesday was to give Neighbourhood Partnerships a say over which, if any, sites should be sold off.

It means that each site will be discussed by residents at partnership meetings and their recommendations would have to be endorsed by ward councillors.

A further 11 sites had already been given a lifeline which campaigners hope will prevent a sell-off of surplus land for redevelopment.

Margaret Short, chair of the Friends of Stockwood Open Spaces, said: "I think it was a really good decision – it's democracy at work.

"I just wonder how much has been wasted on consultations and all the glossy brochures.

"This solution is something that could have been done from the outset – the Neighbourhood Partnerships could simply have been asked, 'If you have any surplus land that can be sold off, then let us know.'"

Several sites in Stockwood had been earmarked for sale and the money used to pay for makeovers at the remaining open spaces in the city.

But the plan led to an outcry and local people organised a campaign to save their parcels of open land.

The same scenario was replicated across the city where scores of campaign groups were set up to save their own green sites.

Rosemarie Rendu Jefferies, who fought to save Lodge Hill open space in Kingswood, said: "We have got the right answer after a lot of work by a lot of people. It took a lot of time and a great deal of pain on something which should never have happened in the first place."

Tom Thomas, a leading campaigner to save open space in Bracey Drive, Downend, said: "Local democracy has prevailed. Obviously we are very pleased with the council decision but we still have to get the right result at the Neighbourhood Partnership meeting. I am annoyed at the amount of money that has been wasted on this issue, especially in these austere times."

He accused 'Capability Brown' politicians of trying to forge ahead with expensive makeovers of green open spaces when the prevailing wish of most people was to keep them maintained but essentially left alone.

He said: "With the greatest will in the world, we want our open spaces left as they are – we don't want a coffee shop or manicured gardens."

Mo McManus, from Narroways Hill group in St Werburgh's who have been supporting campaigners in Dovercourt Road, Horfield, said: "We're obviously delighted with the result but we need to work with the Neighbourhood Partnerships to make sure our green spaces are saved. I think there is still a lot to do but no one is going to give up on this lightly."

Campaigner Pete Goodwin, from Stockwood, said: "We're very pleased that it will come down to the Neighbourhood Partnerships but it remains to be seen just how much leeway they are given and how much they will be threatened by conditions laid down by the cabinet."

The recommendations would eventually have to be signed off by the ruling Lib Dem cabinet but it is virtually inconceivable that the wishes of the partnerships are not heeded.

This is because the Lib Dems realise they can be outvoted by the other parties and failing to honour the recommendations of the partnerships could trigger a vote of no confidence to force them out of control.

The partnerships will also be told that if people are happy to sell off some pockets of land for redevelopment, then the money raised can be spent in their own communities.

One example where this could happen is in Shirehampton where some campaigners believe it would be a good idea if houses were allowed to be built on a stretch of open space next to the busy Portway dual carriageway.

The citywide issue first raised its head last June when people were asked if they wanted to sell off up to 64 areas of land to fund £107 million worth of improvements in the remaining parks.

But the scheme led to the biggest outcry in the council's history with more than 16,000 people signing petitions as well as countless submissions to a consultation exercise.

Despite the message that people wanted their open spaces left alone, the ruling Liberal Democrats forged ahead with their plans.

But the Lib Dems lost their overall majority at the local elections in May and the other parties only allowed them to stay in control if they promised a review of the strategy.

This led to a working party being set up which examined every open space where land was at risk of being sold off. It was the working party's recommendations which led to the council decision.