Security patrols on the Downs in Bristol are unlikely to be rolled out due to a shortage of cash. A previously mooted tax on locals living near to the park in the north of the city was also ruled out.
A raft of old byelaws ban a range of activities on the Clifton Down and Durdham Down, such as having barbecues or parking on the grass, but these are rarely enforced, if ever. Earlier this summer, one option suggested was a month-long “blitz” of enforcing these rules on the Downs.
But the parks department at Bristol City Council doesn’t have enough money to pay for the security patrols, according to one council boss speaking to the Downs committee meeting on September 16. The committee consists of councillors and members of the Merchant Venturers.
Jon James, head of service for natural and marine environment, said: “There will be a charge to the parks service. At the moment, with the current financial situation, we would find it very challenging to fund anything like that.”
The committee would need to write to the council’s neighbourhood enforcement team, with details of what rules they would like to be enforced and when. The team would estimate how much this would cost, with the money likely coming from an already stretched parks budget.
Michael Bothamley, master of the Merchant Venturers, said: “I don’t want to abandon this. There was a very strong groundswell of opinion when this was first discussed, this notion of a zero-tolerance month to try and reset the public social contract with Downs visitation.”
Labour Councillor Kye Dudd added: “We’re talking about two or three days during the summer months of days of action, where we go there, enforce the byelaws, set some examples, maybe get a bit of press. I don’t think we were ever talking about a consistent service at the Downs all the time. But having no enforcement whatsoever doesn’t send the right message at all.”
The patrols were first suggested by Robert Westlake, chair of both the Friends of the Downs and Avon Gorge community group and the Downs Advisory Panel. He said breaking the byelaws was becoming normal, with even the lord mayor allegedly seen parking on the grass recently.
Mr Westlake said: “Things like parking on the Downs has become almost the norm now. There are events now where people just assume they can park. It probably didn’t help that last week the lord mayor’s car was photographed, at the freshers’ fair, parked on the grass.”
The lord mayor is largely a ceremonial role in Bristol, rotating among councillors every year, and is also responsible for chairing the Downs committee meetings. However the current lord mayor, Liberal Democrat Cllr Andrew Varney, did not attend the committee meeting on September 16.
Separately, an extra charge on council tax paid by people near to the park, known as a ‘precept’, was ruled out by a council finance manager. National rules limit how much council tax can increase each April, and there are “no opportunities” for an additional levy for the Downs.
An annual precept of around £20 for local residents was suggested by new Liberal Democrat Cllr Caroline Gooch, representing Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze, in June earlier this year. This was later criticised by Stoke Bishop Conservative councillors as “unfair and arbitrary”.