Campaign intensifies against motorhome owners on Bristol Downs

Bristol residents have lobbied the local council in continuing developments between homeowners and the presence of motor homes on the Downs.

Following protests over the last few months, Bristol residents from the expensive neighbourhoods surrounding the Downs have lobbied the Green Party led City Council to remove these vans and caravans altogether, not just to enforce an injunction.

This comes after “Protect the Downs” garnered upwards of 8,000 signatures on a petition and therefore addressed a Bristol City Council meeting to ask them to “remove van-dwelling encampments”. A new van-dwelling policy is currently being drafted by the council and will be subject to consultation in September of this year.

Last month on June 12th activist group Protect the Downs led a walk in support of safer, cleaner Downs and in protest of the van-dwellers living on the park consequence-free. 

This walk resulted in Barry Parsons, Chair of Bristol Homes and Housing, assuring the public that Bristol City Council is “taking proactive steps to apply for an injunction.”

If approved, this would help prevent people from living in the caravans and mobile homes which supposedly disrupts the peaceful nature of the Downs. However, the injunction would only apply to vehicles on one side of the road, effectively only solving half of the problem. It would also only satisfy the protesters, not the van-dwellers themselves’ growing anxiety about housing in the short term.

via Google Maps

Contrary to claims that most caravan residents on the Downs are making a lifestyle choice and are taking advantage of the system, people such as Lee James, a 45-year-old self-employed handyman told The Guardian he lives in fear that he will be forced to move on.

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After becoming homeless five months ago, he attempted to seek help from the council and various charities but to no avail. Rising housing prices in Bristol and across the UK mean that he simply cannot afford to live in Bristol. Moreover, Lee’s anxiety and depression make it difficult for him to accept being “lumped together” with people who cannot respect the public park.

Studies from Bristol Council show that the single most common reason for people to live on the Downs is simply the inability to find or afford alternate places to stay.

Additionally, figures from the police show a 5.7 per cent decrease in recorded crime across the Downs over the past year whilst the number of caravans has increased, contradicting the argument that the dwellers are causing the problem entirely. 

Amy Dickson, 35, has come to live on the Downs after a string of evictions from various rental properties across the past few years. She cannot afford rent, explaining in an interview with The Guardian that she just can’t do it anymore because “I’ve always been in minimum wage jobs. My family don’t have any money. I can’t get a guarantor.”

She instead enjoys her life working three minimum wage jobs, including as a cleaner and a yoga instructor. Amy says she loves the close-knit community that has been built on the Downs.

Whilst the council plans to develop land and create upwards of 250 new spaces for the house-hunting masses, they won’t be available anytime soon, causing panic for those relying on their lives in Bristol to keep running. There is no quick fix to this issue.

Bristol City Council’s Barry Parsons said “people living in vehicles are fellow residents of Bristol and we have just as much responsibility to support them as anybody else” when questioned on his thoughts regarding the divisive issue.

He has accepted that cracking down entirely on one location of van-dwellers is a futile effort that would ultimately just cause the problem to reappear in an alternate location.

Bristol City Council has been approached for comment.

Featured image via Google Maps