SCAN is a group of residents and community stakeholders campaigning to bring about sensitive and appropriate development of the former St Christopher's School site in Bristol.

We formed in September 2021 and have been actively engaged in keeping everyone informed about what's happening. We recognise that there are many different opinions regarding the best way to develop this site and we don’t claim to speak for everyone. Our focus is to encourage as many people as possible to get involved and have their say!

We have been working alongside existing community groups like the Westbury Park Community Association to secure the best development that serves the community well and causes the least detrimental impact. Together with the SEND Alliance for St Christopher's, we successfully applied for and won special status for the site as an Asset of Community Value. You can read more about what this means on our home page.

We also have excellent relationships with all our city councillors locally and across the city - from every party. They have all been supportive of our efforts.

We believe the site could be brought back to life to serve people living nearby as well as meet vital needs for the city of Bristol. There are plenty of potential uses for the site; including affordable housing and SEND provision, space for the local primary school and green space for the community too! These are just a few of the ideas that people have told us they would like to see.

We would love to know what YOU think.

This beautiful five-acre site is situated on the edge of the Downs and is part of the Downs Conservation Area. The entrance to the site is on Westbury Park with the plot also bordering Royal Albert Road, Bayswater Avenue, The Glen and Belvedere Road.

Until it closed in 2020, St. Christopher’s was a much loved & valued school for children with complex needs and had served Bristol’s most vulnerable for more than 70 years. This green lung at the heart of the Westbury park community contains many mature trees that have been there for decades - including one veteran oak tree that's around 250 years old. It's also home to a variety of wildlife including bats, foxes, woodpeckers and owls. You can hear one owl very clearly at night time!

Within the site are five Victorian villas, several 'modernist' buildings including a hall, and right in the middle, surrounded by trees, is the Grade 2 listed Grace House, designed in the 1960's to Steiner principles and to benefit children with special needs.

A consortium of international property developers and care providers (including the FORE Partnership, Socius and Amicala) wanted to build a large “extra care” retirement complex, including a collection of multi-storey apartment blocks up to 5 storeys high with 116 new apartments.

The plans were clear overdevelopment, widely rejected by the community, who sent in more than 1300 objections, as well as by groups like Historic England and the Bristol Tree Forum. The application was rejected - unanimously - by councillors in August 2023.

The owners did not appeal the decision and the company went bust in October 2024. The land is now in the hands of the receivers who are overseeing the sale of the land.

We understand around 90 guardians are still living on site as well as a number of refugees, who are being looked after thanks to a local charity.