A planning application to Bristol City Council from a Westbury-on-Trym school is raising concern from neighbours, who fear it will cause environmental harm to the surrounding conservation area.
Grace Garden School in Canford Lane wants to make improvements to its site access at the Canford Lane junction and the school’s driveway, as well as creating a vehicle drop-off and collection area in a field next to the school buildings.
Providing education to pupils aged 9-16 with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the school has a high demand for places and a strong focus on outdoor learning and activities. With access to the site impacted by a narrow entrance/exit and a blind corner, the proposed works include widening the Canford Lane entrance, replacing fences, some tree removal, and new traffic lights and sensors. The school says this would improve safety and convenience for parents, staff and children as well as for neighbours.
Changes to the field next to the school would provide an area for vehicles to drop off and collect, with the creation of expanded entranceways, footpaths and below-ground drainage. Vehicle surfaces would be covered in grasscrete to maintain the green appearance. The expansion would ensure that vehicle traffic is sufficiently removed from the drop into the River Trym, while the new entrance would be set off the road, behind a wooden gate and fence.
However, the site is part of the Kingsweston and Trym Valley Conservation Area and the application has generated a list of objections from people living nearby who are concerned about its environmental impact on the river, wildlife and the benefits to all that green spaces provide.
One objector claimed that it “represents the wholesale hardening of a natural riverside environment” and that once developed, the damage cannot be undone. Others cited the abundance and variety of wildlife along the river, urging: “These creatures depend on the tranquillity of this river corridor. Introducing increased traffic, disturbance and additional infrastructure into the heart of this habitat risks degrading one of the few places in Bristol where an abundance of nature still thrives.”
The Bristol Tree Forum commented that the application does not note that the area is in a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, which does not permit harmful development, and highlights several preliminary issues that need to be resolved. Several other opponents pleaded that there must be alternatives to this proposal, such as dedicated or extended road parking along Canford Lane.
The proposal will go before city council planners later in the year.