Popular 'village green' picnic spot in Bristol cul-de-sac saved from housing plan

A popular picnic spot in a cul-de-sac in north Bristol has been saved from a controversial plan to build a house there.

The local community in Ridgehill in Henleaze successfully applied to register the spot as a town or village green, protecting it from any future development.

The small site sits at the end of a cul-de-sac and is used by neighbours for get-togethers and barbecues. But the land is privately owned, and the landowner wants to use it to build a house in which he can retire, putting an end to the community’s ability to gather there.

Bristol City Council has now agreed to register the land as a village green, despite objections from the landowner and a few local residents. The decision on the picnic area was taken by the public rights of way and greens committee on Monday, April 15.

The application was first made in 2022, by people living nearby. Writing to the council, they set out the reasons for protecting the site, including how volunteers have helped with its upkeep.

The applicants said: “Since 1988, the local community has held annual summer picnic barbecues. Local people have volunteered to cut grass and generally maintain the land. Chippings have been laid to improve the surface of the informal path crossing the site and linking to the network of public rights of way across Golden Hill.

“Throughout all this time, access to the land and adjacent public footpaths has not been interrupted or prevented by the landowner. For over 30 years, Ridgehill Green has been in regular community use for picnic barbecues, recreational gardening, ad hoc passing-by on recreational walks, or just a place to stop and chat.”

Several neighbours also wrote in to support the green, and objected to a recent planning application for a house there. The planning application received many letters in objection, and some in support.

One neighbour said: “The plot has always been well maintained by local volunteers. The grass is cut regularly, flower tubs have been purchased and are looked after and fallen leaves cleared. Paths of chippings have been laid to avoid the mud which would otherwise accumulate.

“Twice a year a group effort is made to tidy the area, trimming bushes and removing accumulated debris. Local children have added to the area’s natural beauty by painting stones and a large collection of these is now on display.”

But others supported the planning application, and said the landowner, Mushtaq Ahmed of Stapleton Road, should be allowed to build a house on land that he owns. Mr Ahmed objected to the village green plan, saying his planning application by law means it must be refused.

Writing to the council last year, Mr Ahmed said: “I have already submitted an application for development on this land. This serves as a trigger event under the legislation, exempting my land from being registered as a town or village green. I firmly believe that my land should not be registered as a town green.”

However, council officers said that as he applied for planning permission in 2023 — after the residents applied to register the land as a village green in 2022 — that wasn’t a valid reason for refusal.

One neighbour also objected to the village green application, saying the small piece of land was seldom used for anything other than a shortcut by people walking to the nearest Tescos. They also wrote to the council last year with their objections.

They said: “This is a minority group, and if you weren’t a member of the neighbourhood watch, I doubt you would know what the plans were for this space. There is, to my knowledge, only one annual event that takes place in this space, for a couple of hours.

“The space is not used for anything else other than a walkway. A greater majority of residents in the area attend social events at Golden Hill sports ground, where there is space to accommodate everyone.”

It’s understood there are over 100 members of the local neighbourhood watch group, who were all informed of the application. The council initially put up public notices in the wrong place, but then later put up notices at the picnic spot, informing local residents of the application.

The public rights of way and greens committee were urged to make a decision on registering the land, rather than deferring to a barrister to examine all the evidence. Specialist barristers are often brought in for town and village green applications, costing the taxpayer many thousands.

Conservative Councillor Steve Smith, representing Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze, said: “You can and should make a decision on this today. There’s three objections. One from the landowner that’s baseless, because it’s based on a planning application that was submitted after the TVG.

“There’s one from a neighbour. Although it questions how many people knew of the application, it doesn’t actually dispute any of the facts that the application is based on. In fact, it confirms that this piece of land has been used by the community for some years.

“And the third objection, I don’t believe is an objection at all. It describes the history of the land, but it doesn’t object to it being a TVG. So you’ve got one baseless objection, one objection that isn’t an objection at all, and one objection that actually substantiates what the applicants are saying.”

The committee voted unanimously to register the site as a village green. However, the landowner could still legally challenge the decision in the courts, as is happening with a more high-profile application, for Stoke Lodge playing fields in Stoke Bishop.