Bristol Downs Watch

Page Updated: July 9th 2008
Roger's map of the changes proposed by the Council

Introduction

In 2003 Downs Watch raised a petition of 1000 signatures calling on Bristol City Council Downs Committee to stop clearing vegetation from the Downs. A moratorium was agreed while detailed management plans, looking forward 50 years, were drafted. These plans have confirmed our worst fears. The authorities want to fell hundreds of trees from the Gorgeside and the Downs and create a different landscape. Most of the woodland along the Avon Gorge and on the Downside will gradually be felled from Sea Walls to Peregrine Watch to create open grassland. See map B. The wood called 'Fairyland' is to become open grassland with scattered trees. See map C. Areas of woodland between Bridge Valley Road and Observatory Hill will also be cleared. The whole of Observatory Hill will become open grassland by degrees. Areas of scrub and trees will be removed from the Downs. On Leigh Woods side what are described as 'large areas of grassland' are to be cut out of the woods above the old quarries and at Donkeys slide. See map D . These works will be done by degrees in the hope of lessening public opposition. Our petition of 2003 revealed that the Council intended to create 'a new landscape of open grassland and isolated trees'.

Damage to the landscape

At present views from the Suspension Bridge, Leigh Woods, the Downs and the Portway are of an unbroken natural vista. Now the unity of these views is to be broken as swathes and blocks of woodland are cut out. In our opinion this will degrade the landscape of the Gorge and Downs as a whole. This Bristol landmark will never be the same again.

There would appear to have been no Landscape Architect, responsible for the overall visual landscape, and involved in the production of these plans. Is this celebrated landscape to be handed over to environmental scientists without relevant expertise?

The wrong approach

These works are being promoted by the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife project, which is a consortium of The Zoo, The Merchant Venturers, Bristol City Council and Natural England. (Natural England are a quango of the Department Of Environment). They argue that the present landscape of the Downs and Gorge, particularly on the Downs side is simply the wrong landscape. They want to return it to the way it was a hundred years ago when there were few trees and it was grassland grazed by sheep.

The reason given is to promote the welfare of the rare grassland plants for which the Avon Gorge is famous. Downs Watch absolutely supports conservation of these rare species. It is the methods that are being disputed - we do not believe that these large scale aggressive methods are appropriate in the context of an urban setting and a celebrated landscape. Elsewhere in England, e.g. on the Dorset Heaths, and in Ashdown Forest, Natural England's management policies have been causing outrage because of the negative impact that these have on the landscapes.

Neither do we believe that this method ('managing habitat for suites of species) will work effectively, particularly in the context of the uncertainties of Climate Change. Intensive hands-on management has far less impact on the landscape and ensures that details attention can be given to vulnerable species in manageable areas. It does of course have cost implications.

Experiment

It should be understood that large scale habitat management of the kind proposed is entirely experimental. They hope to create a self-sustaining habitat because there does not appear to be the political will adequately to fund high quality conservation. It will rely on introducing goats into the Gorge. This will mean unsightly fencing, problems of vandalism, animal welfare issues and so on. But you cannot create a large grassland habitat without grazing stock.

A large area of land has been cleared already. See map A. Surely this is a large enough experimental area to be going on with?

Goats and Whitebeams

The area cleared and the area proposed for clearance contains most of the world's population of a very rare species of tree, Wilmott's Whitebeam (unique to the Avon Gorge). The Management Plan proposed to put goats into Walcombe Slade in a fenced area in order to control the vegetation. Obviously, goats will destroy the Whitebeams which will need to be individually fenced. However even this will not prevent the goats from browsing off any new seedlings spread naturally, so the Whitebeam species would be in danger of not regenerating.

The Management Plan then goes on to say that this area cannot be managed for one species alone! It would seem that risks are being taken with the Whitebeams because hands-on human management is more expensive. Surely it is more important to protect this species found only in the Avon Gorge?

The Beginning of the End?

Work was scheduled to begin in 2007 on the Gorge side woods and in Fairyland. Some trees havew already been marked for removal ... piccy

Large numbers of trees will be felled. This work will breach the canopy and affect views of the whole Gorge area. Within the Downs it will introduce noise and pollution from the Portway, at present screened and filtered out by the trees. It will be the beginning of the end for these woods.

The natural landscape

The natural landscape of the Avon Gorge is woodland except where the rocks and cliffs are. The trees are they today because it is natural for them to grow there. The landscape the Council and their advisers want to experiment with recreating is a historically recent agricultural landscape, i.e. a sheep run. They think of this as a Heritage Landscape but natural it is not.

Spirit of Place

The Downs were not given to the people of Bristol for their biodiversity alone, important as that is. The Downs have been for 150 years a restorative landscape, a place to experience natural processes at work. The entire Spirit of Place is threatened by these proposals. Environmental considerations must not be the only determining motive in planning the future of the Bristol Downs and the Avon Gorge.

Lobby your elected representatives

The Chairman of the Downs Committee<

Cllr. Chris Davies,
Lord Mayor of Bristol,
Council House,
College Green,
Bristol. BS1 STR.

The Chair of this Committee is always held by the Lord Mayor - Cllr. Christopher Davies. He is the senior member.

Members of the Committee

This committee takes its custodianship of the Downs very seriously. But it has been successfully influenced by quangoes, expert advisers and local government officers with specific environmental agendas, for years. They need to hear the other side of the story. Letters from electors carry a lot of weight. Do write.