Latest news with #ProtectTheDowns
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- The Guardian
‘They lump us all together': van-dwellers and homeowners clash over life near Bristol Downs
Lee James is cowering in the rusting Mercedes Sprinter van he calls home. He is worried sick by the growing campaign to evict van-dwellers like him from historic parkland in the wealthy north-west of Bristol. 'I'm not in the greatest headspace today … I wouldn't have anywhere to go [if I was evicted] … this is my home,' he said in the gloomy interior. 'I just wish there was more kindness.' Last week, residents from the neighbourhoods surrounding the Bristol Downs, where house prices and average incomes are among the highest in the city, lobbied the Green-led council to remove the 60 to 100 vans and caravans in the park. There are about 650 live-in vehicles across Bristol, which has been dubbed the van-dwelling capital of the UK. The number of vehicles used as homes has quadrupled over the past five years, with the council estimating that there were only 150 such vehicles in 2019. Other van-dwelling hotspots include Brighton, Falmouth and Glastonbury. National numbers are hard to gauge as few councils count vehicle-dwellers. But people are thought to be living in vans and caravans in every city in the UK. Torbay last year used private enforcement officers to crack down on van-dwelling encampments. The issue is becoming increasingly divisive in Bristol. Residents have formed a 'Protect the Downs' action group and marched through the park. The group addressed a Bristol city council meeting on Tuesday 8 July after more than 8,000 people signed a petition calling on councillors to 'remove van-dwelling encampments'. Tony Nelson, the group's chair, told a packed public gallery that antisocial behaviour, including defecation in bushes, fighting, assaults, drug dealing and flashing had become a daily occurrence. He even claimed a child was nearly blinded after coming into contact with human excrement. 'This is no longer a park. It is a pit of antisocial behaviour,' he said. Nelson, who is a former RAF officer, urged the council to concentrate van-dwellers on unused sites elsewhere in the city. 'We are asking for basic, reasonable measures, enforce the rules that already exist, identify those eligible for support, remove the illegal encampments and restore safety and dignity for our public spaces,' he said. The council is drafting a new van-dwelling policy, which will be subject to consultation in September. Barry Parsons, the Green chair of the housing committee, told the residents the new approach would support the wellbeing of settled communities and van-dwellers. James, 45, however, fears that they will be moved on. He has been parked up on the downs since becoming homeless five months ago. He sought help from the council and local charities because he could not afford to rent a room in a shared house, which costs on average more than £850 a month in Bristol. But James, who is a self-employed handyman, said he was told he did not stand a chance of being rehoused. 'None of what [the campaigners] say about us is true. They lump us all together,' said James, who struggles with a range of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. 'I try not to think about [their campaign] too much because it is upsetting.' The residents' group accepts that there are some vulnerable, homeless people living in vehicles, but claims it is a lifestyle choice for the 'vast majority' of van-dwellers. 'The few vulnerable people are outweighed massively by the people who are choosing to live [on the downs],' said Nelson. He added that those priced out of the city should move to towns with lower rents, such as Newport in Wales: 'You cannot remove people's rights to access a family park because you can't afford a mansion in Clifton.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The group was unable to provide the Guardian with evidence that a child had nearly gone blind after coming into contact with human waste. Dog, fox and cat faeces carry worm eggs that can cause blindness. Police figures show there has been a 5.7% decrease in recorded crime in the ward covering most of the Downs over the past 12 months. People live in vehicles for a range of often overlapping reasons. Some van-dwellers cannot afford high rents, while others resent giving most of their meagre income to landlords. Some are escaping street homelessness. Physical and mental health problems are common. Some prefer life on the road. Research published by the council last year showed the single largest reason to live in a vehicle is the inability to find or afford anywhere else to stay. There are more than 21,000 people waiting for social housing in Bristol and more than 1,600 households in temporary accommodation. Amy Dickson, 35, has been living on the downs since last year. She moved into a van after she was evicted from a string of rentals in the city: 'I've always been in minimum wage jobs. My family don't have any money. I can't get a guarantor. I just can't afford to rent any more.' Dickson works three jobs, including cleaning and teaching yoga. She is unsettled by the campaign to remove the close-knit communities that have sprung up in the park. 'We've all parked together and it is really nice,' she said. 'It is awful to receive so much hate.' She scoffs at the suggestion she could move to another city. 'We have jobs here … that is talking out of total privilege. It is so ignorant.' The council has pledged to set up 250 temporary pitches on land set aside for development by the end of the year. Parsons said enforcement remained an option, but it was pointless to chase people from one part of the city to another. He accepted that the planned extra spaces could only accommodate a minority of van-dwellers. 'Cracking down on one location … in the absence of better alternatives, just means people will move somewhere else.' he said. 'People living in vehicles are fellow residents of Bristol and we have just as much responsibility to support them as anybody else.'
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Bristol van dwellers to be offered council pitches
People living in vans across Bristol will be offered council pitches from this autumn, according to the local announcement comes after protesters campaigning against van dwellers on The Downs gathered outside Bristol City Council on Tuesday, following a petition calling for action with more than 6,000 have put the number of vans being lived in across Bristol at about 650, with nearly all who live in them blaming the high cost of Barry Parsons, chair of the council's Homes and Housing Delivering Committee, said measures to mitigate the issue were due to be in place by the end of the year. Parsons said: "We're looking to bring on 250 pitches on meanwhile sites for vehicle dwellers, where people can go that are away from the road where they can get clean water and basic waste facilities for a small fee". Meanwhile sites are temporary areas on land due for development which can provide space and basic services including toilets for those living in vehicles. One van-dweller called Ash, who lives with his girlfriend close to the M32 motorway, said: "We're doing this because we don't have to pay up to £1,000 for a flat. "And then obviously you've got expenses on top of that, which is like bills, electrics."Protect The Downs, a community group which started the petition, said van dwelling was causing problems such as drug-taking, littering and human waste being dumped in petition called on the council to enforce existing policies on van dwellers. Group member Sally Booley said: "I'd like Bristol City Council to take their heads out of the sand and start enforcing the law. "There is a law there that says you can't park for more than five hours. Why are they not enforcing that?"The council said once established pitches had been set up, it would be easier to take action against illegally parked vans.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Clifton Down vans 'not acceptable,' says Bristol North West MP
The Bristol MP representing people living around Clifton Down has said the situation with caravans and vehicles in the area is "not acceptable for anyone involved".Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West, met city council leader Tony Dyer, of the Green Party, at city hall as he called on the local authority to told the BBC the meeting had been "reassuring", but that he felt the current timescales for dealing with the issue "feel a bit slow".The council, which is no overall control, says it has begun meetings with those affected, as it seeks to develop a new policy supporting both people living in vans and the surrounding communities. It says this is "not a process we can rush". In recent months, tensions have been rising on the Downs, where more than 100 vehicles are inhabited."This situation has rumbled on too long, the council should have acted sooner," Jones said. "I've been reassured today that they have a plan in place that's coming forward after the summer and I expect action to be taken quickly after that."One of his requests is for Bristol City Council to collect data from people living in vans on the Downs, in order to better understand their motivations and work out how best to offer campaign group Protect the Downs has repeatedly criticised the local authority for not holding this information. Council sources suggest it can be challenging to monitor, as some of the population is transient while others may be reluctant to engage. Jones is also asking the council to create more appropriate temporary accommodation sites, similar to the modular homes recently created in Fishponds for people who are for People, which runs the scheme, is seeking to expand across the city, and said their units could go from design to completion within a year if they had the necessary Brown, of the social enterprise, said Bristol City Council had been "very supportive" of its work, as it sought to set up small developments with 10-15 units around the city."This could be done all over Bristol. We are looking at what land is available, and what we can do to procure that land. Obviously that is difficult." Increase since pandemic Across the whole of Bristol, the city council estimates there are about 650 lived-in vehicles, up from about 150 before the vast majority of the increase happened during the tenure of Labour mayor Marvin Rees, before he left the post in 2024 and it was whether Labour should take some responsibility for the rise in numbers, Jones pointed to a report published by the city council in February 2024, which made several recommendations."This became a really big issue towards the back-end of the last Labour [mayoral] administration," Jones said. "Action was not taken off the back of that report and that's what we're pushing for."The council says it is taking a "proactive stance on addressing the issues that have been allowed to get progressively worse over the last several years".The issue is due to be discussed at a meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, after more than 4,000 Bristol residents signed a petition calling for the authority to stop people living in and around the area.
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Fury as 'caravan dwellers' living on beloved green spaces wreck popular beauty spot - as hundreds of homeowners march in protest
Hundreds of homeowners have staged a march to protest over the colossal number of people living rough in vehicles on their beloved green spaces. As many as 300 residents of Clifton and Redland – affluent areas of Bristol – marched on Thursday in a bid to force town hall bosses to take action. More than 100 people – said to be a mix of travellers and those choosing to live in vans, cars and caravans – are parked on the Downs, where neighbouring homes sell for an average of £600,000. Many claim they are forced into the lifestyle by unaffordable rents and tend to stay far longer than travellers who usually camp for just a few days then move on. Protesters from the 'Protect the Downs' group claim their public green space is being ruined by the vehicle-dwellers, who they say 'blame house prices'. As tensions have grown between campers and locals, a caravan was reportedly set on fire and one van dweller allegedly attacked a BBC crew covering the demonstration. Protest group founder Tony Nelson said: 'We want to show the council that the increasing levels of damage being done to the Downs is unacceptable, and it's not just damage, it's levels of danger and levels of fear that we're experiencing. 'We have waste discharges into the kerbside. We have loads of human excrement. There are real homeless people up there, but they're masked by so many from out of town who have chosen to live there as a lifestyle choice.' Bristol City Council lawyers are now preparing a new 'possession order' that will force the encampment pitching up on the grass to move on. The authority's longer-term plan was said to be creating up to 250 dedicated spaces for people living in vehicles on land due to be developed. But, accusing the council of being 'too inept to uphold basic law and order', the protest group wrote online: 'This historic parkland is being destroyed by an unacceptable proliferation of vans, vehicles and caravan dwellings. Tens of thousands of hard-working citizens of Bristol no longer feel safe enjoying this vast open parkland.' The council told the BBC that it had not yet moved people on as it would just be shifting them 'from one part of the city to the other'.
Telegraph
13-06-2025
- Telegraph
Camper vans ‘destroying the jewel of Bristol'
Camper van dwellers have been accused of destroying a beauty spot celebrated as the jewel of Bristol. Residents living in Clifton and Redland are calling for action to protect Clifton Downs against the ''unacceptable proliferation'' of van dwellers. Members of the Protect the Downs group held a protest walk on Thursday in an effort to 'help us preserve this beautiful space' as tensions with the van community grow. Bristol is home to an increasing number of people living in roadside vehicles, with Clifton Downs home to the majority. Tony Nelson, who founded the Protect the Downs group, said: ''We want to show the council that the increasing levels of damage that are being done to the downs are unacceptable, and it's not just damage, it's levels of danger and levels of fear that we're experiencing. Mr Nelson said: 'People think they're not having any impact. They really are. They believe it's common land. It's not. They have no right to reside or camp on the Downs. 'I'm a part owner of the Downs because it was gifted to the people of Bristol. And I've got no right to camp there, because I would damage it. And when you magnify people staying overnight by 150 vans, that's a big environmental impact. 'We have waste discharges into the curbside. We have loads of human excrement, colossal numbers of human excrement. 'There are real homeless people up there, but they are masked by so many people from out of town who have chosen to live there as a lifestyle choice.' Tensions have flared up between the two sides, with Mr Nelson and a BBC camera person being attacked by a van dweller who accused Mr Nelson of spreading 'hate and violence' before pushing him. Bristol city council said it was choosing not to move people on as this would simply result in 'moving people from one part of the city to the other'. The protest group had posted: ''Show up for the Bristol Downs and your fellow Bristolians and help us preserve this beautiful space for generations to come. 'This historic parkland is being destroyed by an unacceptable proliferation of vans, vehicles and caravan dwellings.' They added: ''Once the jewel of Bristol. This land is being usurped by individuals taking public parkland for themselves. A council too inept to uphold basic law and order. The fight is just beginning.'
