The petition only launched on Sunday evening, and in less than 48 hours it has already reached 252 signatures!
A huge thank you to everyone who has signed, shared and supported it so far. The response from our community has been incredible, and it really shows how much people care about ensuring local voices are heard.
🎯 Can we reach
300 signatures?
Already signed? The biggest thing you can do now is share this post. Every share helps raise awareness, gives more people the opportunity to read the planning application for themselves, and ensures communities across Bristol are informed about issues that could affect them in the future.
Whilst this particular proposal directly affects Knovill Close and the surrounding BS11 community, it also raises wider questions about how Bristol City Council engages with communities when bringing forward significant proposals on publicly owned land.
Many residents only became aware of this application through social media and word of mouth, despite the proposal having the potential to affect a much wider community. Limiting direct notification to a relatively small number of neighbouring properties and placing site notices only in the immediate vicinity may have met the minimum statutory requirements, but many residents feel this did not provide the level of awareness and community engagement that a proposal of this significance warranted.
🚩 This isn’t just about one site in Lawrence Weston.
It raises wider questions about how Bristol City Council plans for and delivers accommodation for people experiencing homelessness and for those living in alternative forms of accommodation, including vehicles, caravans and tents. These are important and complex issues that affect communities across the city and require thoughtful, long-term planning.
Supporting vulnerable people and ensuring a fair, transparent and evidence-based planning process are not mutually exclusive. Bristol should be able to achieve both.
🚩 This petition is not about the people who may ultimately use the site, or how they choose to live.
It is about asking Bristol City Council to demonstrate that significant decisions about where such sites are located are made through a transparent, evidence-based process, with meaningful engagement across the wider Bristol community, proper consideration of both the needs of those requiring accommodation and the impact on existing residents, and a clear long-term strategy for addressing these important issues across the city.
🚩 Whatever part of Bristol you live in, residents should be able to expect a planning process that is transparent, inclusive and proportionate to the significance of the proposal.
⏰ I understand that the planning application consultation closes for comments and objections at 5:00pm tomorrow (Wednesday 8 July). If you wish to submit a formal planning representation, please don’t leave it until the last minute.
Every signature and every share helps raise awareness.
Thank you once again for all your support. ❤️
🖊️ Sign the petition here: