Our Vision
SCAN recognises that Bristol desperately needs housing - and we are actively PRO-DEVELOPMENT - but it’s got to be the right one for our community and for Bristol as a whole.
Any future development must reflect the heritage and history of this special site, now legally protected as an Asset of Community Value, as well as reflect the characteristics of the neighbourhood.
That means future plans should include some form of SEND provision, address the housing needs of the neighbourhood and the wider city, protect the environment and the townscape of Westbury Park - and not bring extra traffic to our roads.
So we really want the site to be used - but in a way that reinstates the social benefits and well being for the local community - both in Westbury Park and across Bristol, rather than being a commercially-led scheme for shareholders outside our city.
We believe that a wiser, more responsible and more ethical approach could deliver an outstanding development for our neighbourhood - in design, purpose and impact.
A community-led alternative vision for St Christopher’s could honour the legacy of SEND provision delivered on the site to families across Bristol for the last 70 years, meeting a real crisis in specialist education needs and placing. At the same time a high quality development could provide desperately needed affordable & sustainable homes for key workers and families as well as protect the valuable green space and mature trees so this green lung at the heart of our community can be enjoyed by everyone who lives locally - especially our children.
We believe any future development should enhance the quality of life of existing residents in Westbury Park and bring far more social benefit and interest to our local community.
We continue to compaign for any future plans for this very special site to be both sensitive to the environment, wildlife, architecture, ambience and heritage of Westbury Park, and appropriate in size, height, mass and density to the surrounding mainly 2-storey houses.
SCAN has worked very closely with the long-established Westbury Park Community Association (WPCA) to develop six community planning principles that must be adhered to.
We are asking Bristol City Council to ensure that any development of this site complies with the following planning principles.
RESPECT THE LOCAL HISTORY AND CONTEXT: Recognise the two distinct parts of the site – enhance and protect the villas at the front, and ensure that development in the rear land, behind the villas, reflects the scale and character of the 2-storey housing in adjacent streets.
DO NOT MAKE OUR TRAFFIC AND PARKING ANY WORSE: Ensure that any development will not lead to any additional traffic or parking in surrounding streets - road safety must be prioritised.
RESPECT OUR HOMES: Safeguard the privacy of properties surrounding the site - no new buildings should be taller than existing buildings in the rear land.
BE GENUINELY GREEN: There should be a net gain in biodiversity; protecting existing trees, landscape and wildlife. Plans must respond to the current global climate and ecological emergencies.
DO NOT OVERDEVELOP THE SITE: This largely green space should not be overdeveloped but should maintain and enhance the unique and special character of Westbury Park, which is a designated Conservation Area.
KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE: Recognise that, in the interests of public safety, there should be no access to the site from Bayswater Avenue or The Glen.
We have prepared a more detailed statement of the community’s planning principles for this site. It is provided here. This document was submitted to Bristol City Council on 3 November 2021 and was part of the formal submission to the pre-application process at that time.
We are also working side by side with the SEND Alliance for St Christopher’s - a group that is focused on all of the above and particularly bringing back some form of SEND provision to the site to address the desperate shortage in Bristol. Together these groups have successfully campaigned for, and achieved, Asset of Community Value Status for the site which will allow the community to have much more say over the future of the site.
