Bristol Zoo housing plans recommended for approval
The Bristol Zoological Society wants to see nearly 200 homes built on the site of the old Bristol Zoo
Controversial plans to build nearly 200 homes on the old Bristol Zoo site in Clifton have been recommended for approval.
The Bristol Zoological Society, which owns the site, closed the zoo last September saying it was no longer financially viable to keep it open.
The Society plans to sell the land to a housing developer and use the money to expand Wild Place Project, which will become the new Bristol Zoo.
Planning officers with Bristol City Council have now recommended the idea be approved, but opponents say the plans are not in keeping with the architecture of Clifton and that a suggestion the gardens on the site will be protected and remain open to the public cannot be trusted.
"Bristol Zoological Society has led the detailed planning application for the development of Bristol Zoo Gardens to ensure it protects the legacy of these important gardens, and to secure the future of the charity," a statement from the Society reads.
"The Society originally submitted a planning application in May 2022, before revising and resubmitting it in late October 2022 in response to feedback from Bristol City Council, Historic England and Design West.
"The plans will see the site become accessible to the public, with day time access as a park for leisure, recreation and curated events in the evenings, and the gardens open to the public for free, for the first time since the site opened in 1836."
Under the plans, the historic entrance lodge to the zoo, which is Grade II listed, will be retained by Bristol Zoological Society and will be transformed to feature a cafe, exhibition space, community rooms and public toilets, plus a permanent base for the Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project.
A nature-inspired play area and theatre are also included in the plans.
In total 196 homes will also be built, 20 per cent of which will be classed as affordable, which means they will be sold at no more than 80 per cent of the local market value.
Dr Justin Morris, Chief Executive of Bristol Zoological Society, said: “We are really confident in our plans and the quality of the design proposals we have submitted.
“As well as delivering sustainable, much-needed homes for Bristol, our plans for Bristol Zoo Gardens secure the site as a public park, a community asset, so everyone can enjoy its beauty and heritage for many years to come.”
However, a petition calling for the Bristol Zoological Society to withdraw the plans for housing has, at time of writing, been signed more than 9,000 times.
The campaign is being led by Tom Jones, a lifelong Bristol resident.
"I think the really key point is that the zoo didn't need to close," he said.
"They're not moving a zoo, they're closing a zoo," Tom said.
"Although the zoo like to talk about having 136 acres at Wild Place, the actual unused, usable space that they can build animal exhibits on there, is around 15-10 acres, so its a bit bigger than Bristol Zoo (but) to kind of say that they have this huge space to play with is really, really misleading."
Tom also says the suggestion the old zoo site in Clifton will remain open to the public is problematic.
"They can offer no long term legal protections that the site will stay open for anything more than five years from when it opens," he said.
Only a third of the old zoo site would remain public under the plans and they plan to cut down around 42 per cent of the trees on the site, he says.
We have contacted Bristol Zoological Society asking for an interview so we can put these points to them.
In response to the plans, Historic England said: “The ability for visitors to enter the site, free of charge, post-redevelopment, is a significant heritage benefit. Generally, Historic England finds much to admire in the proposed development, which we feel on the whole is a sensitive response to its historic context.”
A separate planning application for 62 new homes on the West Car Park, a Clifton brownfield site belonging to Bristol Zoological Society was approved by councillors in November last year.
There's more information about the zoo's plans here.
Meanwhile, you can read more about the campaign against them, here.