A regional cycling centre with a one-kilometre racing track has been approved for Lawrence Weston.
The £15 million plans include a closed loop cycling track, a 250-metre training track, a building and a car park. The centre will be built on Henacre Open Space, north of Kingsweston Avenue.
The application was opposed by dozens of locals, including members of a community group, partly due to the fees people would have to pay to access the site. They implored councillors on the planning committee B to refuse permission, citing concerns about the loss of green open space. The impact on wildlife, such as badgers, was also criticised.
Roger Sabido, from Ambition Lawrence Weston, said: “Lawrence Weston has high levels of deprivation but would welcome a readily accessible cycling centre. This isn’t one. The majority of open space would become inaccessible to the general public, i.e. local residents day to day. Social cohesion will be damaged. The fencing is needed in order to monetise access.”
Public footpaths would be diverted around the perimeter. While people will have to pay to access the site, discounts will be available for some groups.
Planning officers said that the development would not result in a loss of open space, but actually enhance it, despite the new fences and large car park. Councillors were told that this was “quite a complicated concept”.
The cycling centre will provide a safe space for children to learn to ride a bike. However this was criticised by the Greens, as parents will have to pay to use the centre, when they could instead teach their children how to ride a bike in a car park for free. They also said that the centre was “in the wrong place”, due to the loss of free-to-access open space and impact on wildlife.
Green councillor Lisa Stone said: “The roads in Bristol aren’t very safe, they’re quite dangerous. All this is going to do is create a paywall of £24 [per family] .”
Voting in favour of the plans were Labour councillors Durston, Fabian Breckels and Don Alexander; Conservative councillor Richard Eddy; and Liberal Democrat councillor Sarah Classick. Voting against the plans were Green councillors Lisa Stone, Al Al-Maghrabi, Mohamed Makawi, and Guy Poultney.
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service