Legal challenge to save Bristol's last remaining farm

Catherine Withers believes the land should be protected

A crowdfunder to legally challenge a planned expansion of a cemetery onto Bristol's last remaining working farm has been launched.

Catherine Withers, who lives at Yew Tree Farm, is trying to raise £10,000 to start a judicial review against Bristol City Council over the proposed expansion of South Bristol Cemetery and Crematorium.

The area is home to protected species, Ms Withers said, adding: "We should be speaking up for nature because it has no voice of its own."

Bristol City Council has been approached for comment.

The council is planning to expand the cemetery due to a shortage of burial spaces.

A decision on the future of the farm and the planned expansion is expected to be made in October.

'It's crackers'

Yew Tree Farm in the Bedminster Down area of the city is a site of nature conservation interest (SNCI).

Despite being a SNCI, a designation chosen by the council for its biodiversity and environmental importance, the farm has faced numerous development plans, including a proposal for 200 homes.

"I'm baffled over why this site hasn't been protected," Ms Withers said.

"Once this SNCI goes, what does that mean for the rest? Eventually it'll be a case of paving a paradise and build a parking lot to pay to see a tree.

"We need wildlife, we need nature in the city's boundaries. It's crackers to think we can offset nature somewhere else."

The farm is home to numerous protected species such as dormice, adders and skylarks. Ms Withers said she had seen an increase in swallows too.

In November 2023, contractors installed a gate into the field by cutting through a hedgerow.

Ms Withers has currently raised more than £2,500 for the legal challenge.

She said: "I wish I was wealthy enough to have to do this on my own, it's horrible to have to throw yourself at the feet of other people."

The former Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees and his cabinet approved the expansion, but the now Green minority administration had previously opposed the plan before the election in May.

Ms Withers has called for the decision to be revisited "desperately".

"If this was the hill the councillors wanted to die on, then it could be the unsticking of what could be an amazing movement in Bristol.

"If we lose it would be an absolute tragedy against wildlife."