Councillors from all four main political parties, including two Labour cabinet members, joined dozens of residents of South Bristol today in a protest calling on the council chiefs to do more to protect an ancient hedgerow at the centre of a bizarre planning battle.
The councillors from Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and Green parties joined forces to pledge their support for farmer Catherine Withers, who runs Bristol’s last working farm, who has been hit by a planning department error that she says could mean the end for her farm and the wildlife that live there.
Dozens of people joined the politicians for a rally at Yew Tree Farm on Saturday lunchtime, with a mini-march up the lane to the thick hedgerow which borders the top hay meadow at the farm and the A38 Bridgwater Road in Highridge.
Read next: Bristol council admin blunders mean protected hedgerow can be ripped up
Farmer Catherine Withers, whose family have farmed at Yew Tree for 56 years, said she was overwhelmed by the scale of the support she had. “
“I’m going to cry if I turn round and look at all these people, because it’s just so overwhelming,” she told Bristol Live.
“I thought there was some support for us, but when I saw this support… this is cross-party, there are people here from every political persuasion, and people absolutely care about nature, and the future, and not only for our grandchildren, but these habitats need to survive. We’ve lost 97 per cent of hay meadows like this. It’s so important, and thanks to people like David Attenborough, we’re beginning to learn and to understand that these are essential to our future and we need the insects far more than they need us,” she added.
The top field and the hedge that surrounds it have been part of Yew Tree Farm for 56 years, but unlike the rest of the farm, Ms Withers doesn’t own it - and has only been renting it all this time. The landowner has an option deal with Redrow Homes to build 200 houses on it, and earlier this year told Ms Withers her tenancy was over. At the same time they asked Bristol City Council if they needed permission to cut down part of the hedge to create a 12ft wide gateway into the field - so they didn’t need to go through the farmyard to access it.
A planning officer at Bristol City Council wrongly told them they didn’t permission - the field and hedge is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. When that error was later revealed, it prompted Mayor Marvin Rees to say he was ‘deeply disappointed’ in the planning department, but the council chiefs now say because so much time has elapsed, the original advice can’t be withdrawn, even though it was wrong, and by default, the landowner has permission.
Ms Withers and her supporters fear getting the access opened will produce a domino effect that allows the landowner to ruin all the wildlife from a traditionally farmed ancient hay meadow, strip down the hedge and prepare the land for housing. When the contractors arrived on one day in early April to cut down some of the hedge to create the gateway, enough local residents arrived to blockade the lane that the police were called initially and the contractors went away without doing the work
“This is a gateway, with a huge story behind it,” she said. “We are still fighting potential degradation of an SNCI. The field has got over 90 species of plant, it’s got a new insect known to science and it needs to be studied and sadly, as the law stands that even though we have got some nature conservation interest, there’s no protection on the land against whatever someone wants to do to it, and that could be putting chemicals on, or flailing the hedge down to a small stump.
“We’re also worried about the end game of our landlords - it’s to put 200 houses on here, and even though we’ve got support of all the council and the site is now an SNCI, their aim is ultimately to put the 200 houses on, and Redrow won’t withdraw their agreement with our landlords.
“Everyone is here to protect our ancient hedgerow that is not only hundreds of years old, but also incredibly rich species in it, so it’s a really important hedgerow. Our landlords have got permission to rip out a section of this to put in a gateway after not letting us back on the land after we farmed it for 56 years.
“We’re really passionate about the nature and the wildlife that will be destroyed if this hedge gets cut out. We only had an ecologist come yesterday and he said it would be impossible to tell if there were live bird nests in there at the moment because this hedgerow is actually like a mini wood, and it’s so enriched with wildlife and nature,” she added.
Two members of the ruling Labour group’s cabinet were at the demo - Cllr Nicola Beech, who is the lead on strategic planning, and Cllr Helen Holland, who has the adult social care brief. Councillors from the Greens, Lib Dems and Tories were also there, including local councillor Richard Eddy, who has long fought against the housing plans for the land.
The demo was organised by Cllr Emma Edwards, the leader of the Green group at City Hall. She said the issue ‘transcends party politics’ and said they all wanted to challenge the position of the council’s chief executive and top lawyer. “We have spoken to Stephen Peacock, the chief executive, we’ve spoken to Tim O’Gara (the legal director) they say nothing can be done. We would challenge that, because it hasn’t happened yet. The council has a policy about protecting biodiversity, so why can’t they do more. We are calling on the chief exec to do more, we are calling on the Mayor to do more, and we will raise the money for some legal advice, and we will support Catherine on that.
“This transcends party politics, this is about helping a resident, helping the green belt. I approached all the party leaders and said ‘do you support this and will you take action?’ and they all said ‘yes’, and I’m delighted about that, because it shows that we can work together,” she added.
Read more about Yew Tree Farm:
- Meet the woman fighting to stop Bristol's last working farm from disappearing
- Arson attack on Bristol's last farm 'really weird' says farmer
- Pet sheep attacked and almost killed by roaming dog on Bristol's Yew Tree Farm
- Diggers arrive at Bristol's last working farm despite Mayor's pledge to save it
- Yew Tree Farm in Bristol sees potential reprieve from new homes plan
- New species of grass fly with unusual genitalia discovered in South Bristol
- Police called to Yew Tree Farm in day-long stand-off over hedge
To keep up-to-date with the latest South Bristol news, join our community of subscribers with my South Bristol newsletter here.
