Bristol's new Gypsy and traveller site location questioned

The approved site is currently fenced off and home to wildlife ‘woodland edge’ habitats

Calls have been made for new Gypsy and traveller pitches to be built in a city centre rather than in the suburbs.

Bristol City Council's cabinet approved plans for the pitches off Hengrove Way, south Bristol on 7 February, planning permission is still needed.

Conservative councillor Graham Morris asked if sites in Hotwells and Temple Meads had been considered.

Cabinet member Tom Renhard said plans would have an "overall positive impact".

Bristol currently only has 12 permanent Gypsy and traveller pitches but the council hopes to triple the number by next year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The six to eight approved new pitches are to be on Western Drive, which covers just under one acre, and is currently fenced off and home to wildlife 'woodland edge' habitats.

In a written statement, Mr Morris said: "If the council is truly serious about the camp being 'in the heart of the city', what consideration has been given to the caravan site in Hotwells, off Cumberland Road. Or using some of the generous government grant of £95 million of the levelling up fund to secure a site around Temple Meads.

"If not here, where else in the city centre can a traveller camp be built? There is surely, in central Bristol, a more suitable location to meet the emotive language used in this report. Where else has been considered?"

The Hengrove site would provide seven or eight pitches, depending on its design

In 2022, the government pledged £95m for Bristol to redevelop 130 hectares around Temple Meads train station.

The major regeneration project will see 10,000 new homes, space for 22,000 new jobs, a new university campus, and new entrances to the train station.

But council chiefs did not respond to the suggestion of including traveller pitches.

Mr Renhard said: "I believe this proposal will have an overall positive impact on the local area, providing accommodation for a community who struggle to find anywhere permanent to live in Bristol, or even the wider South West region.

"The Hengrove site would provide for seven or eight pitches, depending on its design. Finding new language appropriate for Gypsy and traveller sites is challenging, in the geographically constrained, densely populated city which Bristol is — where opportunities to develop this form of accommodation are not readily available."

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