100 signatures reached
To: Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol & Dan Norris, Metro Mayor of The West of England
Bristol City Council, stop cutting trees & greenery, develop brownfield sites instead
Stop cutting down healthy trees & greenery and stop building on greenfield sites.
Develop on the existing brownfield sites as a priority.
It is time for Bristol City Council to stop chopping down perfectly healthy trees, shrubs, bushes, habitats and meadows. We have repeatedly heard about healthy trees being cut down for silly reasons, despite public objections. We have heard how the council intends to respond to Illegal levels of air pollution, a climate and ecological emergency, economic and social disparity and declining mental health. Yet we are STILL seeing unnecessary chopping of solitary trees and the insane policy of developing large greenfield sites or not clamping down on developers chopping without permission. The State of Nature 2019 report by the Nature Biodiversity Network reveals that 41% of UK species studied have declined, 26% have increased and 33% show little change since 1970, while 133 species assessed have already been lost from our shores since 1500.
Brownfield Sites
We need more houses don't we? - Yes but there are many brownfield sites vacant in the city that can and should be developed instead of greenfield sites first. Where are they? -they are already identified. For Example the Campaign for Rural England identified space for 30,000 homes in Bristol on Brownfield land and the council has a register also. We need to get the council to work with developers and land owners to make it easier to develop brownfield.
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/planning-and-building-regulations-for-business/brownfield-land-register
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/space-for-30000-homes-in-bristol-study-says/
Develop on the existing brownfield sites as a priority.
It is time for Bristol City Council to stop chopping down perfectly healthy trees, shrubs, bushes, habitats and meadows. We have repeatedly heard about healthy trees being cut down for silly reasons, despite public objections. We have heard how the council intends to respond to Illegal levels of air pollution, a climate and ecological emergency, economic and social disparity and declining mental health. Yet we are STILL seeing unnecessary chopping of solitary trees and the insane policy of developing large greenfield sites or not clamping down on developers chopping without permission. The State of Nature 2019 report by the Nature Biodiversity Network reveals that 41% of UK species studied have declined, 26% have increased and 33% show little change since 1970, while 133 species assessed have already been lost from our shores since 1500.
Brownfield Sites
We need more houses don't we? - Yes but there are many brownfield sites vacant in the city that can and should be developed instead of greenfield sites first. Where are they? -they are already identified. For Example the Campaign for Rural England identified space for 30,000 homes in Bristol on Brownfield land and the council has a register also. We need to get the council to work with developers and land owners to make it easier to develop brownfield.
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/planning-and-building-regulations-for-business/brownfield-land-register
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/space-for-30000-homes-in-bristol-study-says/
Why is this important?
We are facing an ecological and climate emergency as unanimously agreed by scientists across the world. Right now wild fires ravage large parts of North America , the Mediterranean & floods devastate central Europe in the middle of summer, yet here Bristol City Council is still allowing building on green fields & permitting the cutting down of perfectly healthy and unobtrusive trees, shrubs, hedges and meadows - all habitats where nature lives and what we rely on for healthy ecological systems.
The council has allowed planners to build on greenfield sites.
The council allows large scale cutting of nature.
The council has talked about doubling canopy cover in the city but not yet implemented a scheme to enable residents to contribute to increasing canopy cover, despite many wanting to volunteer time and money now.
There are many high profile examples of ridiculous cutting yet it still goes on. We need Bristol City Council to change policy to put actions to words. I'm calling on the Mayor to do this asap.
Some recent examples of greenery destruction include;
M32 Maples, The Ashley Down Oak (proposed), Trees in Horfield ( pic)
Western Slopes , 157 homes to be built on green habitat
Brislington Meadows - 300 homes to be built on greenfield land
Bonnington Walk - 271 trees felled for 185 homes
Former Wyevale Garden Centre - many trees felled, most without permission or punishment
Filwood Park 150 homes to be built on greenfield
Hengrove park 261 units to be built on greenfield
Hartcliffe Campus 350 units to be built on greenfield
Bristol Zoo - houses planned to be built on former zoo land which has much green space
Ashton Vale - 500 houses planned to be build on green fields
Continued and unnecessary cutting of meadows across many parkland and green spaces in the city.
It is beyond time to actually put actions to words and that starts with stopping the cutting of perfectly healthy and unobtrusive mature trees, shrubs, bushes, hedges and meadows. We need to keep every bit of greenery that we can. These trees etc provide habitat for thousands of birds, mammals and invertebrates, they also draw down carbon and have carbon stored in them. They keep the area cooler in summer and drawn down rain. We rely on the trillions of microbiota that surrounds them and the air they produce for our health!
I call upon the Mayor to review the planning policy and update it to make it much more difficult to remove greenery, effectively punish flouting of the rules and to finally launch a planting policy where the public can contribute voluntarily to increase canopy cover. This way we can be on track to actually increase canopy cover, many of us heard the proposals about doubling canopy cover but no actual plans have been put in place. We have seen an increase in meadows but there are still many more spaces that can be left to grow wild. Now is the time to do these things.
Many of the reasons we see for cutting are poor and simply ridiculous. Cutting goes against the council's own policy of declaring a climate and ecological emergency. We have unanimous agreement amongst scientists across the world that we have species decline and global warming attributed to habitat and green cover loss yet we are STILL seeing the exact opposite of that in a city that claims to have real green credentials. This destruction also undermines the huge amount of work done by people and organisations across the city over decades. The city looks completely hypocritical, instead if we embrace, protect and increase natural sites, we will have a healthier city which is more resilient to climate change. The city's success story can become one of being genuinely sustainable and ecologically thriving. We can become a leader and example to others in the UK and the rest of the world.
We have the will and we have the talent ....so Marvin let's make Bristol the best practice example and lead the way in the UK.
here is a list of several examples in recent years of bad practice and research to climate change and ecological decline
https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
https://nbn.org.uk/stateofnature2019/
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/key-findings
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/70ft-tree-designated-antisocial-hedge-horfield/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/m32-maples-residents-shock-last-5057963
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/ashley-down-oak-campaigners-occupy-5045858
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/campaign-begins-save-bristols-precious-5195938
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/ward-profiles-hengrove-whitchurch-park-green-spaces-are-threatened-by-development/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bonnington-walk-plans-approved-objections-4738359
https://thebristolcable.org/2021/02/campaigners-accuse-marvin-rees-of-putting-housing-above-climate-by-not-protecting-bristols-mature-trees/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/controversial-plans-300-homes-fields-4073116
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-zoo-homes-plan-clifton-4745319
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/space-for-30000-homes-in-bristol-study-says/
The council has allowed planners to build on greenfield sites.
The council allows large scale cutting of nature.
The council has talked about doubling canopy cover in the city but not yet implemented a scheme to enable residents to contribute to increasing canopy cover, despite many wanting to volunteer time and money now.
There are many high profile examples of ridiculous cutting yet it still goes on. We need Bristol City Council to change policy to put actions to words. I'm calling on the Mayor to do this asap.
Some recent examples of greenery destruction include;
M32 Maples, The Ashley Down Oak (proposed), Trees in Horfield ( pic)
Western Slopes , 157 homes to be built on green habitat
Brislington Meadows - 300 homes to be built on greenfield land
Bonnington Walk - 271 trees felled for 185 homes
Former Wyevale Garden Centre - many trees felled, most without permission or punishment
Filwood Park 150 homes to be built on greenfield
Hengrove park 261 units to be built on greenfield
Hartcliffe Campus 350 units to be built on greenfield
Bristol Zoo - houses planned to be built on former zoo land which has much green space
Ashton Vale - 500 houses planned to be build on green fields
Continued and unnecessary cutting of meadows across many parkland and green spaces in the city.
It is beyond time to actually put actions to words and that starts with stopping the cutting of perfectly healthy and unobtrusive mature trees, shrubs, bushes, hedges and meadows. We need to keep every bit of greenery that we can. These trees etc provide habitat for thousands of birds, mammals and invertebrates, they also draw down carbon and have carbon stored in them. They keep the area cooler in summer and drawn down rain. We rely on the trillions of microbiota that surrounds them and the air they produce for our health!
I call upon the Mayor to review the planning policy and update it to make it much more difficult to remove greenery, effectively punish flouting of the rules and to finally launch a planting policy where the public can contribute voluntarily to increase canopy cover. This way we can be on track to actually increase canopy cover, many of us heard the proposals about doubling canopy cover but no actual plans have been put in place. We have seen an increase in meadows but there are still many more spaces that can be left to grow wild. Now is the time to do these things.
Many of the reasons we see for cutting are poor and simply ridiculous. Cutting goes against the council's own policy of declaring a climate and ecological emergency. We have unanimous agreement amongst scientists across the world that we have species decline and global warming attributed to habitat and green cover loss yet we are STILL seeing the exact opposite of that in a city that claims to have real green credentials. This destruction also undermines the huge amount of work done by people and organisations across the city over decades. The city looks completely hypocritical, instead if we embrace, protect and increase natural sites, we will have a healthier city which is more resilient to climate change. The city's success story can become one of being genuinely sustainable and ecologically thriving. We can become a leader and example to others in the UK and the rest of the world.
We have the will and we have the talent ....so Marvin let's make Bristol the best practice example and lead the way in the UK.
here is a list of several examples in recent years of bad practice and research to climate change and ecological decline
https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
https://nbn.org.uk/stateofnature2019/
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/key-findings
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/70ft-tree-designated-antisocial-hedge-horfield/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/m32-maples-residents-shock-last-5057963
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/ashley-down-oak-campaigners-occupy-5045858
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/campaign-begins-save-bristols-precious-5195938
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/ward-profiles-hengrove-whitchurch-park-green-spaces-are-threatened-by-development/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bonnington-walk-plans-approved-objections-4738359
https://thebristolcable.org/2021/02/campaigners-accuse-marvin-rees-of-putting-housing-above-climate-by-not-protecting-bristols-mature-trees/
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/controversial-plans-300-homes-fields-4073116
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-zoo-homes-plan-clifton-4745319
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/space-for-30000-homes-in-bristol-study-says/
How it will be delivered
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