Share<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Bristolian blockers care more about a disused zoo than a new park and homes <\/li>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Nimbys don’t believe that a Bristol conservation society cares about conservation <\/li>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n There is no reasoning with Nimbys \u2013 planning has to be made faster <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n This edition of Nimby Watch, we\u2019re going to the zoo! Specifically, we\u2019re going to Bristol Zoo Gardens, a 12-acre site in the Bristol suburb of Clifton.<\/p>\n Alright then, where are we headed this time? <\/b>We\u2019re off to Bristol Zoo Gardens, which was until 2022 the historical site of a relatively small city zoo, which had operated there for nearly 200 years.<\/p>\n Not sure I really like that kind of zoo. They\u2019re really cramped, surrounded by loud city noise, it doesn\u2019t seem all that fair on the animals. <\/b>I\u2019m sure the good people of the Bristol Zoological Society made sure animal welfare was their top priority \u2013 but they clearly shared a lot of these concerns, which is part of why they closed this site. They\u2019ve moved the zoo to a much larger location further outside the city \u2013 136 acres versus 12. According to the zoo, the new gorilla enclosure alone is four-and-a-half times the size of the old one.<\/p>\n So all\u2019s well that ends well, then? <\/b>You know it\u2019s too early in the column for that to be the case. The problem is that, as you will surely be shocked to learn, operating a zoo costs money \u2013 and making sure a much larger site has all the mod cons a modern zoo would want costs even more. As a result, the Zoological Society has been trying to sell off its old site to fund its activities for\u2026 quite some time.<\/p>\n This is where we come in, isn\u2019t it? You\u2019re about to claim that people opposing having a lovely 12-acre zoo turned into thousands of homes is bad, aren\u2019t you? <\/b>Honestly, the cost of housing, and the shortage of good homes, in places like Bristol is so bad that I would cheerfully support demolishing the whole site and building thousands of homes on it. But that\u2019s not what is being proposed<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 instead, most of the land will be turned into a public park, the zoo will continue to operate a caf\u00e9, exhibition space and some other projects, and there will be a little under 200 homes scattered around the edge of the site.<\/p>\n That sounds\u2026 quite nice, actually. <\/b>It does! And one thing that\u2019s quite central here is that the site was never freely open to the public before. The zoo was private property, and charged the public for entry \u2013 so this would be the first time in modern history that there was a public park here. It\u2019s essentially a new amenity.<\/p>\n Okay, okay, you\u2019re making that point quite forcefully. Why? <\/b>Because obviously there\u2019s a group that\u2019s so opposed to the plans that it\u2019s taken them to judicial review, even after a years-long planning process. They argue that the zoological society \u2013 whose central purpose is conservation \u2013 doesn\u2019t care about, well, conservation, and argue (among other things) that the park wouldn\u2019t be guaranteed in perpetuity, because in the future the owner could apply to change its use.<\/p>\n That would seem like an argument to make if a future developer tried to make those plans. <\/b>You\u2019d think so, wouldn\u2019t you? As it stands, Bristol Zoological Society is stuck in limbo \u2013 it has sold off most of the land to a developer, but isn\u2019t allowed to use any of the cash it\u2019s realised. The site is being left undeveloped, and everyone concerned is having to spend thousands in court fees.<\/p>\n But isn\u2019t it worth taking a little bit longer to make a decision, if it helps us ensure it\u2019s the <\/b>right <\/b>decision? <\/b>Now you\u2019re just baiting me, aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n A little bit. But answer the question. <\/b>These decisions already take far too long, and that\u2019s at the very root of our problems. Bristol Zoological Society made the decision about the gardens site in 2020, having secured the support of its whole board and every former director and chair. It took the Society two years to actually close the old zoo site, and another year to secure planning permission for their extremely community-minded plans \u2013 and that was in 2023. It only just had their court hearing for the judicial review in 2025, and it\u2019s still waiting for the result.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t sound great. <\/b>Even if sanity prevails and the zoo wins, it will have lost five years of time, presumably thousands of hours of effort, and who knows how much in legal fees \u2013 all over the efforts of people who will never, ever be satisfied by anything other than the status quo, or imaginary schemes that have no funding. There is, in other words, no reasoning with these people \u2013 planning has to be made faster.<\/p>\n So in other words\u2026 <\/b>For the sake of the animals, bulldoze that zoo! I\u2019ll be honest, that rallying cry sounded better in my head.<\/p>\n CapX depends on the generosity of its readers. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.<\/p>\n Columns are the author’s own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of CapX.<\/p>\n \t\t