The council is hoping to relocate a bus gate but is struggling to do so
Residents of Barton Hill are blocking ETM Contractors this morning, Tuesday 28 April 2026, as workers are preparing to install and paint a new bus gate as part of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood scheme(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
Around a dozen protesters have blocked work for a second time on relocating a bus gate in the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood. Contractors were attempting to install a new bus gate on Avonvale Road outside the Hamblins fish and chip shop but were thwarted by local residents.
Bristol City Council is planning to relocate the bus gate from just west of the junction between Avonvale Road and Marsh Lane in Barton Hill. The new location will instead be just east of the junction, outside the chippy — but not if a determined dozen of opponents carry on blocking it.
Early in the morning on Tuesday, April 28, a message went out on a local WhatsApp group that ETM contractors had arrived for the second time in recent days. Gradually around 14 protesters turned up to get in their way, then a few PCSOs to mediate the situation, and then ETM left.
Katie Sullivan, a Redfield resident and vocal critic of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, said: “They put a huge fence around the area. We sat on the fence post stopping them from opening the area so that they could work. Hilariously, they created the barrier with all the bolts on the inside, and only one access point, so it was quite easy to hold them off.”
She added that schoolchildren waiting at bus stops were left stranded as buses were diverted, with one protester later driving them to school instead. While only a few protesters were present at the incident, she said they have the backing of other local residents who were unable to attend. “The fact that we got 14 people at the drop of a hat, we know we have the community behind us”, she said.
The council carried out a formal consultation on the latest changes to the liveable neighbourhood, known as Traffic Regulation Orders. For this specific order of relocating the bus gate, around 240 people objected to the plan. A similar scene unfolded on April 17, when contractors were again thwarted by protesters from installing the new bus gate.
Ms Sullivan said the bus gate would make access through Barton Hill easier for drivers coming from Brislington, “reopening a rat run”. But people living with the neighbourhood would still be cut off from a school and GP surgery. According to the council, local residents in Barton Hill suggested moving the bus gate would allow greater access to places like the Wellspring Centre.
The council was asked to comment on the latest stand-off, but did not respond by the time this article was published. The last time a similar stand-off occurred, Green Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the transport policy committee, said the changes responded to community feedback.
Cllr Plowden said: “Moving the bus gate on Avonvale Road to the east of its junction with Mildred Street will allow traffic to turn left from Marsh Lane onto Avonvale Road and will improve access to the Wellspring Centre and Days Road. To allow this to happen, we need to close Mildred Street at one end to through-traffic.
“This, along with a series of other changes, reflect what people have told us and it is frustrating to see a very small group of people acting in direct opposition to what their neighbours have told us they want to see happen.”