Hold consultation on Bristol Harbourside plans, campaigners urge council
Campaigners say there must be a public consultation on plans for 166 flats at Baltic Wharf
There must be a public consultation on plans to build more than 150 new flats on the Bristol Harbourside.
That's what a campaign group is calling for.
Save the Baltic Wharf Trees are against proposals to build 166 flats on the site of the Baltic Wharf campsite, which could see lots of trees cut down.
The plans are controversial because they apply to an area within what Bristol City Council has labelled the Western Harbour.
The area, which includes the Cumberland Basin and the floating harbour, is one which the council wants to develop but which they have promised to hold a consultation about, as to how it can best be improved.
On the council's website, it is stated that from 2021 to 2022 officials will "engage with people all over the city to develop a shared view for Western Harbour".
The campaigners are concerned that these specific plans for Baltic Wharf could be approved regardless, without public discussion.
Anita Bennett is a member of Save the Baltic Wharf Trees.
"Our concern is that there won't be the full consultation and that in effect...it (the land) will be given away to private developers," she told us.
"I don't want to get drawn into the plans because I don't think they should be on the table to be perfectly honest.
"We shouldn't be debating these plans, we should be debating whether or not Baltic Wharf is or isn't part of the overall Western Harbourside."
On Saturday (September 4) dozens of women including Anita put on wedding dresses and "got married" to many of the trees on the sight in a bid to highlight how they could be cut down if the plans are approved.
They said the ceremony showed how the trees are our "partners for life" in nature.
The plans, which are available to view on the council's website here, have not yet been discussed by the council's planning committee and so could yet be declined.
Dozens of objections to the idea have been submitted online.
You can also read more about the Western Harbour development idea here.