the deadline for submitting responses is Friday 22 March

Homes England have applied to Bristol City Council to stop up ( remove from the definitive map the public footpaths upon and across Brislington Meadows we encourage you to object in Writing by email to legal.support@bristol.gov.uk

Any representations about, or objections to, the Order may be sent, or delivered, in writing addressed to the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services, City Hall PO Box 3399, Bristol BS3 9FS (quoting reference 161715), or by e-mail to legal.support@bristol.gov.uk not later than 22 March 2024. Please state the grounds on which they are made.

We suggest the following grounds for objection

The application is Premature

To date, no application for approval of reserved matters has been made. In its Proposed Paths Update,3 Homes England advises that it anticipates its application will be made this summer. However, there is no guarantee that this will happen then or at all. Even if it does, there is no certainty if or when any application it makes will be approved.Also, there is no certainty that the applicant will adhere to the layout proposed in the illustrative master plan. Either way, the layout proposed may not be the one eventually approved.Even if the illustrative master plan is approved, we still do not know how any development will be phased.

Given all this, it is too soon to know with any certainty if and when any of these proposed stopping up and diversion orders will become necessary

The PROW Team has asked to be involved determining final PROW routes

In its comments on the outline application, the PROW team observed:… it will be important to ensure that the boundary treatments and landscaping around the PROW routes retain as much of an open and green space feel as possible.The PROW Team will require continued involvement in agreeing the finalised alignment of the diverted existing PROW and the other routes to be dedicated as PROW, the diversion order process, and the design of the new routes.Consideration would also need to be given to public access and safety for users of the PROW during construction work. As construction works are likely to require the temporary closure or diversion of the PROW, a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) will be required for the duration of the works on the grounds of safety of the public.4In light of this, the team requested that it be involved in ‘any walking and cycling audit to identify S106 mitigation to upgrade key routes adjacent to the development

Making this proposed order now will frustrate this request

These proposed orders have immediate effect.

Homes England’s Proposed Paths Update advises: ‘If an order stopping up the current paths is confirmed, they will not be closed until absolutely necessary once the construction of the new homes is underway’ However, the proposed order is drafted in such a way that there will be nothing to prevent Homes England stopping up or diverting any of these paths whenever it chooses.

If, notwithstanding our objections, this order it made, it should at least be made subject to a requirement that no paths will be stopped up or diverted until absolutely necessary when construction eventually begins.

Here is the Objection from the Tree forum as an example of what you might say

the tree forum have an animation of the meadows over time that shows continual use of the paths since 1985 https://bristoltrees.space/trees/historical/animate.xq?sitecode=BRISMEADOWS and from descriptions submitted as part of our meadows memories campaign https://greaterbrislington.org/2022/11/meadows-memories/ we know that the public has had open access to the land since at least the second world war and probably far far earlier

you can see the Application Here – on the developers website – https://brislingtonmeadows.co.uk/index.php?timelineid=83&fbclid=IwAR2DjzkRBeL_IClWdWFR-tGLbV4NKFj9ucwJHVvwe9kjcHDZLmimWExB_ls

And the Bristol City Council PROW order to enact the request

GBT on Social Media

• 
• 
•