Epetitioner: We, the undersigned, request that Bristol City Council(and in particular the Public Rights of Way and Greens committee) follow the recommendation of the independent inspector to grant Village/Town Green status to the area of green-belt land (Ashton Vale Fields) adjoining Ashton Vale village.
Background Information
Ashton Vale Fields are very important to the Ashton Vale Community for recreation, relaxation and exercise - and have been used, unimpeded & continuously for over 60 years.In addition to being a Site of Nature Conservation and an important Wildlife Corridor, the area is also described as The Lungs of Bristol. It has been described by Avon County Council as 'an area of semi-natural marshy grassland.., the site's mosaic of wet grassland, open water, ditches, hedgerows and scrub is particularly important for wintering and breeding wildfowl and waders'.Significant evidence has shown beyond doubt that the site has been in continual use by the local community for over 20 years. If the Council follow this recommendation, Ashton Vale will retain it's unique identity and open spaces for the use of future generations.
http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/confirm/8bKAL5OTD8LDwc9
Have you been there? It's really not a very nice field.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the development of a regional stadium is important to the city of Bristol. This proposal uses a brown field site (the old Churngold landfill).
I imagine that you would accept that providing resource that is used by thousands of Bristolians each week will be beneficial to the city and the wider region.
Paddy - yes of course I've been there, many times. I've spoken to several of the campaigners closely involved with conserving this green space. I've seen their photographic and video evidence showing how wildlife rich the place is - and how locals have valued and used it for decades. Dont forget that an independent inspector has taken time and care to look over a great deal of evidence on the Town Green issue.
ReplyDeleteThe classification of the site is officially green belt, not brownfield as you state. What is the point of the green belt classification if the land is not then protected? Frankly I'm sick of hearing Labour, Tory and Lib Dem politicians talking about conserving green spaces then then allowing them to be built over time and again!
Bristol City have a ground currently and are not close to filling it regularly. They have not looked seriously or creatively enough at redeveloping Ashton Gate or developing a brownfield site with good transport links elsewhere in/near Bristol. If they are wise they would be looking at their options right now because they have a very tough legal battle ahead and the odds are against them winning out.
I'm far from convinced that real and lasting social, economic and environmental net benefits ie after subtracting total costs, would come from building a new city ground on this site or from bringing a few world cup games to Bristol. The totally biased local media have overwhelmingly and repeatedly focussed on a narrow range of benefits and have negelected to mention costs. On many occasions in the past those that have staged major sporting events like the World Cup, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games etc have had to take high costs and sustain net financial and other losses - just look at the example of this yrs Commonwealth Games in India.