But she has not broken any rules
11:47, 28 Apr 2026Updated 13:54, 28 Apr 2026
Dr Caroline Gooch
A member of Bristol City Council’s Homes and Housing Committee has been accused of conflicts of interest over her ownership of a property about 200m from a van encampment around the Downs and her involvement with a prominent anti-vehicle dwellers group.
Caroline Gooch—a Lib Dem who represents the Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze ward—has registered a property in Redland as a ‘disclosable interest’ with the council, albeit with the details not publicly available on the BCC’s website due to security fears. However, Cllr Gooch has never raised the flat as creating a potential conflict of interest before participating in votes regarding the council’s approach to vehicles parked around the Downs—or elsewhere in the city.
Cllr Gooch hasn’t broken any rules but she still could have flagged her property as creating a non-financial conflict of interest when voting on policy that would affect the so-called van dwellers parked on her doorstep.
Councillor Gooch has also previously been actively involved with the Protect the Downs group, attending their meetings and regularly engaging in discussions on their Facebook page. Protect the Downs have been fierce opponents of the presence of vehicle-dwellers on the Downs, even going so far as threatening legal action against the council over its handling of the matter.
Property not mentioned during housing votes
Councillor Gooch said she had always followed the correct procedures when it came to her property.
“In carrying out my role as a councillor, I have always been careful to declare relevant interests where there may be a conflict of interest,” she said.
“I have worked with the council’s Democratic Services to confirm that I have followed procedures correctly on matters relating to the Downs, and I will continue to follow their advice and guidance in the future.”
As a member of the homes and housing committee, Cllr Gooch voted to introduce the council’s new ‘vehicle dweller policy’. Under the terms of the new policy, the council will take immediate enforcement action when it identifies groups of lived-in vehicles causing environmental or health and safety risks.
The council used a similar justification for taking action against the group of 100-150 vehicles parked around the perimeter of the Downs. In November, that site was deemed ‘high impact’ over alleged reports of human waste and vehicles were told to move along. About 40 vehicles are left in the area, and this month the council was granted a possession order in court which will allow it to forcibly evict people from the Downs if they continue to refuse to move.
A member of the ‘van-dwelling’ community submitted a formal complaint to BCC about what they described as Cllr Gooch’s failure to declare a conflict of interests. That complaint was dismissed by the authority’s legal services team.
Cllr Gooch was not considered by the council’s monitoring officer to be in a position to benefit financially from the vote which introduced the council’s new vehicle dwelling policy on December 19 and therefore has complied with the rules. As a result, whether or not her property had a ‘material’ impact on her ability to vote impartially in that decision was effectively left for her to decide.
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “Elected members are given the opportunity to declare any relevant interests ahead of committee meetings and it is the responsibility of councillors to do so. No interests were declared at the Homes and Housing Delivery policy committee meeting and the decision carried by the committee is valid.”
Protect the Downs
The Protect the Downs group, which formed in opposition to the huge build-up of vehicles parked on roads surrounding the North Bristol beauty spot, regularly refer to people living in vehicles in derogatory terms in discussions on their Facebook group. In one post, Cllr Gooch herself referred to the situation on the Downs as a ‘favela’, referring to the infamous slums which surround Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro.
Van dwellers and caravans on sides of roads around the Downs. At its peak, the Downs ‘encampment’ numbered up to 150 vehicles(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Cllr Gooch also told a PtD meeting on October 25, “I put myself on that (the homes and housing) committee so that I could vote on it,” and told the meeting the new policy wouldn’t be approved until it was “how we want it to be”. Cllr Gooch has also contributed to discussions on the PtD Facebook group about how van dwellers may be moved on.
One person who attended the meeting told Bristol Live they thought Cllr Gooch aligning herself with PtD had deepened divisions between different parts of the community and accused her of favouring wealthier residents.
“She was urging residents to send her their comments about the new vehicle dwellers policy so she could effect changes they wanted,” they said.
“While this is something councillors do for residents, there is a lack of awareness that vehicle dwellers are also residents and this only serves to deepen divisions and exacerbate tensions and inequalities.”
Cllr Gooch said she couldn’t recall making the specific comments. “I’m sure what I said and meant was that the policy wouldn’t get through until the committee (rather than PtD) were happy with it,” she said.
Although one prominent member of PtD described Cllr Gooch as a member of its committee, she said she had never been involved in the group to that extent.
Cllr Gooch refuted suggestions her involvement with Protect the Downs created a conflict of interest in her position on the Homes and Housing Committee.
“Formed of residents within my ward and the surrounding area, I have previously engaged with the Protect the Downs local community group as someone with knowledge of the democratic process and to understand the views of the residents I represent,” she said. “I have since stepped back from the group and I will continue to listen to the diverse of range of views across different local groups and communities.”
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Frustrated with the democratic process
One member of the vehicle-dwelling community said Cllr Gooch’s involvement with Protect the Downs, and her failure to disclose her property as a relevant interest, had left them disillusioned.
“During the summer when the vehicle dwelling consultation was happening, there was quite a large group of vehicle dwellers that got together and basically kind of said, ‘Okay, let’s get involved in the consultation and put our needs and views and what we think would help our community (across), as well as things that would help the (rest of the) community as well, really, and just sort of try and bring tensions down and try and improve (the situation),” they said.
“I guess it’d be community cohesion sort of stuff, wouldn’t it? So there was quite a lengthy submission made to the consultation, which we think had some really good stuff in.
“From our perspective and my own perspective it’s frustrating, that you try and get involved in the democratic process, and there’s people who clearly do have a conflict of interest in that they’re putting themselves on certain committees to get a policy that suits them.
“So I guess that’s the frustrating thing, really, this has made me realise (that) when you do engage with the democratic process, it’s not actually democratic in this instance.”
Location of Meanwhile Sites
In posts on the Protect the Downs Facebook page, Cllr Gooch appears to advise them how to avoid having one of the council’s temporary ‘meanwhile sites’ which house van dwellers set up in the vicinity of the Downs, despite the fact the homes and housing committee’s chair—Cllr Barry Parsons—has vowed to spread the sites around rich and poor areas of the city.
In December, Cllr Parsons told the Guardian: “We’re very much looking at sites in affluent areas, in the leafier areas of the city. It’s a matter of equity, we think. We have a lot of people saying to us: ‘Oh, you’re moving people on from the Downs because the wealthy people are complaining about them.’”
Roman Road, which bisects part of the southern portion of the Downs, has been touted as a potential location for a council meanwhile site. This caused much consternation among members of PtD and in response to a Facebook thread discussing the matter on December 9, Cllr Gooch wrote: “we can argue that we need Roman Road for parking for event vehicles”.
Councillor Gooch said she was pointing out the unsuitability of a specific site, rather than advocating for meanwhile sites to be shifted away from the Downs for personal or political reasons.
“Long term van dwellers need secure areas with facilities, and nowhere on the Downs is secure,” she said. “Roman Road is used by event vehicles and as a member of (the) Downs Committee I need to point this out.”
By the council’s last count, there are over 600 lived-in vehicles in Bristol.