Judicial review into zoo redevelopment begins

A review has begun looking at a council's decision to approve plans to redevelop the site of a former zoo.

Bristol City Council approved the plans to build 196 homes, a café, playground and conservation hub on Bristol Zoo's Clifton site after it closed in 2022.

A group of residents have opposed the plans - citing concerns over a potential loss of bio-diversity and green space - and fears that public access to the site's historic gardens are not guaranteed.

"We really need spaces where people can enjoy and take a respite from the city and there are vanishingly few of them," said Carrie Sage, co-founder of Save Bristol Gardens Alliance.

"It's completely the wrong plan for the wrong site and many trees will be cut down as a result as they add car parking and a road through the gardens as a result."

Fellow co-founder of the Save Bristol Gardens Alliance, Alastair Sawday, added: "The importance of green spaces in cities is going to become ever more relevant in the years to come so to have a 12 acre walled garden with so many amazing trees and herbaceous borders that is going to get tarmacked over is just wrong."

Under the current proposals - 80 of the 218 trees currently on the site would be removed - with 44 of those replanted and 470 new ones planted.

Bristol Zoo originally opened in 1836 and was one of the oldest in the world at the time of closing in September 2022.

The zoo maintains that it needed to relocate to a larger site on the outskirts of the city to meet modern standards and enable it to care for larger animals.

"It was clear that it wasn't fit for purpose and when you look at the new Bristol Zoo Project, not only is it much larger than the Clifton site but its also got a lovely variety of different habitats which are more suitable for the different animals," said Dr Justin Morris, CEO of Bristol Zoo Project.

They also state that the new development would allow access to the site's gardens for free for the first time and say that this is legally binding.

"We really wanted to ensure that the gardens continued to be a public space for the people of Bristol and that's something we're really proud of in the scheme that's been consented," said Dr Morris.

"For the first time in its history, it's a space that people can go into for free.

"That's guaranteed because it's enshrined in a legal contract called a section 106 agreement and any planning application has to be backed up by an agreement like that and the developer will have to abide by those terms," he added.

The review into the planning application will conclude on 7 May but a result may not be immediately available.

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