PLANS to build nearly 200 homes on the former Bristol Zoo site in Clifton are on hold because of a legal challenge.
Campaigners from Save Bristol Gardens Alliance Limited are seeking a Judicial Review of Bristol City Council’s decision last April to grant planning permission for the development of the 11.4 acre site.
Bristol Zoological Society closed the Clifton site two years ago and wants to sell it to fund its new conservation-led Bristol Zoo Project near Cribbs Causeway.
The campaign group says it has no objection to the decision to stop caging animals but it is against the Zoo’s plans to concrete over part of the Clifton site, which was bequeathed to the city as a pleasure garden.
It says none of the proposed 196 luxury flats will be affordable for ordinary Bristolians.
The group wants to work with BZS and the council on a constructive solution.
“We believe that together we can build an alternative vision for the Gardens which will meet the Zoo’s commercial objectives AND preserve the precious biodiversity of this site – for nature and for all Bristolians,” it says.
Save Bristol Gardens Alliance Limited, a community benefit society, has already raised more than £7,000 in an online appeal to fund its battle. You can find it at https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-bristols-historic-garden/
The planning permission states that 20% of the housing is affordable (30 homes for social rent and 10 for first time buyers) and that free public access to the gardens must be maintained 365 days of the year between 8am and 5pm or 7pm.
A Zoo spokesperson told the Voice last month that it proposed to plant 470 new trees to replace those that would be removed for the development.
The Zoo says it remains confident in its plans, which it believes are right for Bristol.