Bristol Downs parking fee plan to deter van dwellers

Some roads on The Downs in Bristol have become home for people who live in their vans

New parking charges are being considered to deter van dwellers from living on roads at a popular green space.

An estimated 60 vans are regularly parked around The Downs in Bristol, as people live in them to avoid the city's soaring housing costs.

Committee councillors overseeing the area say they want to move them on due to safety fears.

Their plans include pay-and-display parking charges with a two-hour limit.

As well as charging fees, a free 30-minute option is also being considered according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

During a Downs Committee meeting on Tuesday, Green Councillor Paula O'Rourke, Lord Mayor and chair of the committee, said she was concerned about the safety of gas canisters used by many van dwellers.

'Where will they go?'

She said: "There's an issue with van dwellers there, but equally there's an issue across the whole city with van dwellers. So a lot of things have to be looked at, like where else would van dwellers go?

"The last time I was up there, I saw so many gas canisters outside, and that just really did freak me out. There are concerns that there's going to be a major fire up there one day."

The Downs are a popular recreation area in north Bristol

Labour Cllr Kye Dudd, cabinet member for climate, ecology, waste and energy, said the council needed to make sure there were "enough appropriate places for people to go".

He said: "There is a long-standing policy on van dwellers, some have legal protections, others not. From time to time new pressures crop up where you get a large concentration of van dwellers, and sometimes that includes behaviour that the council has to deal with.

"If you strengthen the parking restrictions, obviously those people are going to go somewhere else, aren't they?"

The Downs Committee is also looking at plans to turn a free car park near the former zoo in Bristol into pay-and-display. It is in a bid to raise money to pay for the maintenance of the parkland to help pay for maintenance of the area.

Bristol City Council will be asked to consider introducing all the proposed charges.