Save Bristrol's Stapleton Allotments!!!!

Thu Apr 1 01:59:37 BST 2010

It's Not Just a Park and Ride

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Save Stapleton Allotments!!!!
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/692143

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Stapleton Allotments
It may not be everyones idea of paradise, but 
soon it will be paved over with a parking lot. 
The land was donated to the people of Bristol and 
has been used for generations as a market garden. 
I touch the history that lies within that rich, 
fertile soil every time I dig up the little clay 
pipes and tools left by my fellow gardeners from 
years ago. Probably people like me, not rich 
landowners, but people who can make their life a 
bit better by growing their own produce. 
Stapleton Allotments should remain the peoples 
agricultural land. I might begrudge the prospect 
of moving sites and starting again  but as I 
think beyond myself, and my needs, I realise that 
much of the site is about to be lost to future generations, forever.

Despite the agricultural covenant, the land will 
be turned into a car park. The land that will 
remain will be polluted by traffic fumes from a 
major new motorway junction. I dont believe 
Bristol Council has the right to develop this 
land. Councillors are our elected 
representatives, and the people say a resounding 
No to the Park and Ride. Some people dont want 
to look at It, some dont want to be in an 
endless traffic jam. Most of us dont want to 
lose what little green space we have for wildlife 
and recreation. I dont believe it is a case of 
not in my back yard, as many allotmenteers do 
not live next to the site, such is the shortage 
of allotments in Bristol. The decision to site 
the Park & Ride at Stapleton is for economic 
reasons, for a start it is free for councils to 
dig up as many allotments as they like, if it can 
be justified economically. That includes nature 
reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest 
(just look at Cardiff Bay now). No green space is 
truly safe from development. What we need to ask 
ourselves, as the Council spends our money is this:

How will the Park and Ride benefit the people of 
Bristol? Why cant it be located further up the M32 or near the M4 or M5?

Why cant they make more use of Bristol Parkway 
or develop light rail alternatives?

How will the Park and Ride help the environment? 
Basically it is an out of town car park for Cabot 
Circus that you have to drive to. Ideally we 
should have more local economies so that people 
do not need to use their car to go shopping at all.

But realistically, who will park there? Then wait 
for a bus, and pay a bus fare when you could be 
parked in Cabot Circus within ten minutes and 
with less hassle? It is only 3 miles from the 
allotment site to Cabot Circus after all. I dont 
believe the Park and Ride will help people in 
north Bristol go to work in Hengrove.
In the long term, in the face of Peak Oil and 
Climate Change, a Park and Ride will become 
obsolete, but by that time Bristol will have lost 
some of its best agricultural land under tonnes 
of tarmac. I am not opposed to better public 
transport links across Bristol, or indeed much of 
the Rapid Transport scheme. I just do not see the 
point of developing allotment land for a car park 
that you have to go out of your way to drive to, 
in areas that are already well served by bus 
routes into town. If you look at the proposed 
routes, the Park and Ride could go further away, 
and people from north Bristol would already be on 
a bus route if they wanted to use public 
transport, they would have no need to drive all 
the way to Stapleton first: It is not a case of 
no Park and Ride, no rapid transport. The council can find an alternative site

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Have Your Say!
author
  by bristolbadger13
author
 Mon Mar 22, 2010 
17:35<http://bristol.indymedia.org/report_posts?subject=Abusive%20Post%20Report:%20Comment%2047731%20with%20title:%20Have%20Your%20Say%21&message=Abusive%20Post%20Report:%20Comment%2047731%20with%20title:%20Have%20Your%20Say%21%0AParent%20Story%20title:%20It%27s%20Not%20Just%20a%20Park%20and%20Ride%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fbristol.indymedia.org%2Findex.php%3Fobj_id%3D53%26story_id%3D692143%26%23comment_id%3D47731%0A%0AEnter+your+reason+here+-+please+do+not+remove+the+above+link+as+it+will+allow+an+editor+to+easily+remove+the+offending+content>
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The worst part is that no-one was even told about 
the development directly, not even the allotment 
office, none of the smallholders or allotment 
holders. It has all been announced piece by 
piece. We have all had to find out for ourselves, 
largely with the coverage from the Evening Post 
and by word of mouth. This is not just a Park and 
Ride, it will be an enormous development, costing 
upwards of £200 million pounds.
It will include the re-modelling of Bristol City 
Centre to accommodate the new Bendy Buses, 
double deckers running on biodiesel will not do.

There is a Council Cabinet meeting on 25th March 
at 12.00 noon to recommend that the development 
plans are to be approved. The detailed funding 
application will be submitted to central government by March 31st.
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