Improvements along Shirehampton Road

Asking for your thoughts on proposals to protect and enhance the park edge

Many of you will recall there have been a number of occasions over the last two years when travellers have moved into and camped in the park. This has partly been due to the poor condition of the current set of wooden bollards. Although a number of these have been replaced in Shirehampton Road car park the estate is still vulnerable.

Bristol parks have proposed replacing sections of bollards with low earth banks to prevent vehicles gaining access to the park and improve the appearance of this prominent area. The proposals would see the mismatched timber posts and a couple of boulders removed and banks constructed no higher that 3ft and sown with grass seed to blend-in better with their surroundings. Access to the principal paths would be maintained with openings in the banks, and drop-bollards to allow for maintenance vehicles. There may be additional benefit in the removal of the regrowth of scrub on the former tennis court nearby, and the capping of the tarmac court surface with topsoil; also to be resown with grass.

The principles are already supported by the Avon Gardens Trust, but to engage with the council and make sure any of our concerns are addressed, KWAG has drawn a set of plans for discussion and agreement. With the support of Parks we are sharing them here to get your thoughts as well and to try and make sure everyone is comfortable with this development. We hope that these changes will enhance the appearance of this side of the park as well as improving security.

Please let us know your opinions, whether you support the idea or have any concerns, and we can discuss these with council officers. We will collate any feedback we get, but please don’t be alarmed if you see part of a bank being constructed any time soon; this is just a trial section to see how it will look and how it will perform. If you could get in touch before Christmas with any comments, the sooner the better, we can amend plans to discuss with Parks. If the proposals go ahead then they hope to begin work early in 2016.