Plan to build flats on former Bristol Zoo site in Clifton on hold due to legal challenge
Plans for almost 200 flats at the former Bristol Zoo site are on hold after a legal challenge from campaigners.
Save Bristol Gardens Alliance has taken legal action against Bristol City Council after the authority granted planning permission.
Bristol Zoological Society closed the historic Clifton zoo on 1 September 2022.
Most of its animals were relocated to the Wild Place Project in South Gloucestershire, which has been renamed to Bristol Zoo Project.
The charity says it needs to sell the Clifton site to a developer to help pay for the expansion of the Bristol Zoo Project.
The plans for the old Bristol Zoo site include 196 homes as well as public gardens and a conservation hub. They were approved in April last year.
Campaigners challenging the plans in court say the council did not properly take into account the "environmental destruction" that would come from building the flats.
A spokesperson for the Save Bristol Gardens Alliance said: “The environmental impact of the development - and remember the zoological society is a conservation charity - is horrendous.
"Almost half the trees would be chopped down, and the historic flower borders will be ripped out. An estate road and car parking will cut through the gardens for the first time."
The campaigners say they are no longer calling for the zoo to reopen- but want the housing project stopped and for Bristol Zoological Society to go back to the drawing board.
"Our legal challenge is based on this environmental destruction," the Save Bristol Gardens Alliance spokesperson said.
They added: "If the judicial review succeeds, this could lead to the planning permission being quashed. The zoo and the new Green-led council would then have the opportunity for a re-think. This is our ultimate aim.
“We acknowledge that the Bristol Zoo Project is really struggling and the zoo needs the money. But the housing plan for the gardens site is just plain wrong. We stand ready to bring all parties together to develop an alternative plan which works for the Zoo’s finances, but which also works for Bristol."
The judicial review will mean Bristol City Council must defend its decision to award planning permission, rather than the Bristol Zoological Society.
But the charity's bosses are said to be confident the legal challenge will be rejected and a judge will side with their proposals.
A spokesperson for the society said its plans will bring "much-needed" housing for Bristol, 20% of which will be affordable.
They said it will also make access to the gardens free for the first time and create a new café, playground and a conservation hub.
"We remain confident in our plans and genuinely believe this is the right thing for Bristol," the spokesperson added. "The sale will support the creation of a new conservation zoo at our Bristol Zoo Project site where at least 80% of species we care for will be both threatened, and part of targeted conservation programmes.
"Both we and Bristol City Council have taken independent legal advice and will robustly defend against this application for a judicial review, which in our opinion has no merit."