Former Botanical Gardens reopened by Bristol squatters

[Tony Gosling]

Bristol Botanic Gardens & associated mansion, flogged off cheap by 
Bristol University to raise a bit of cash, was squatted this weekend.




squatters website
http://brackenhillcommons.wordpress.com/

lots of nice pix
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55590702@N06/

Bracken Hill Estate goes Commons
  bristol | community | news report  Saturday November 06, 2010 02:36 
by centralcommittee - The Bracken Hill Estate Conservation Group
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/697873

Former Botanical Gardens reopened
remember, remember, the fifth of november...

Bracken Hill House, North Road, Leigh Woods, BS8 3PL welcomes its new 
tenants! check out brackenhillcommons.wordpress.com and join the conservation!


As the smoke from bonfire night clears up, Bracken Hill House, North 
Somerset, is found housing surprising new tenants. A group calling 
themselves "The Bracken Hill Estate Conservation Group" have taken up 
lodging in the abandoned former Botanical Gardens. They are opposed 
to plans to develop the mansion and grounds into new upmarket 
dwellings. The planned building works could endanger some of the rare 
species still present in the gardens, the group says. They want to 
preserve the estate in its present state and reopen it to the public 
as a sustainable community centre.

"We believe that the development would be ecologically and socially 
detrimental to the area" a spokesperson of the group says. "Not only 
is there a very special ecosystem on the land itself, it also lies in 
the middle of a conservation area". But not only ecological reasons 
motivate the action "The gardens used to be open to the public. Now 
they are getting converted into luxury homes for a fortunate few for 
profit. This at a time of public spending cuts and unaffordable housing".

Bracken Hill Estate was controversially put up for sale by the 
University of Bristol in 2004. The purchasers, a property developer 
specialising in high-end conversions, want to erect new dwellings and 
a road on the land. The development has sparked concern after members 
of the public claimed that it endangered some of the rare animals and 
plants that remain in the gardens. A campaign against the planning 
application however failed in 2009. Building works are planned to 
start in 2011 .

The new tenants plan to reopen Bracken Hill House as a Community 
Centre housing horticultural and economic research and education as 
well as arts projects. "All our activities will be free of charge and 
open to all".

Contact:
The Bracken Hill Estate Conservation Group
email: brackenhill at ymail.com
web: http://brackenhillcommons.wordpress.com/
phone: +44 (0)785 5089008
+44 (0)7786 952037
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