Protect the Bristol Downs: Enforce Council Policies and End Van Dwelling Encampments

The Downs are a vital and much-loved green space, essential to the health, recreation, and well-being of communities across our city. We call on Bristol City Council to urgently enforce their own policies and remove van dwelling encampments from the Downs before more irreversible damage is done.

The Impact on Public Health, Safety, and the Environment:

• Van dwelling encampments are causing serious public health risks, with huge amounts of human waste being disposed of in bushes, endangering both people and pets.
• Bristol City Council’s failure to enforce rules is leading to rising incidents of threatening behaviour, open drug taking, and exposure in public areas.
• Council workers attempting to clean up hazardous waste, including burnt-out caravans, have faced abuse and intimidation.
• Unprecedented levels of littering, fly-tipping, and vehicle dumping are destroying the Downs’ precious environment.
• Cyclists and pedestrians are at significant risk due to high-sided, closely parked vehicles obscuring views of the road.
• Generator and vehicle engines are often left running overnight, damaging air quality and ruining the peace and tranquillity of the Downs.
• Emergency response vehicles are being prevented from easily accessing side-roads.

Humanitarian Concerns:

• We are deeply concerned for the welfare of the van dwellers themselves. Without enforcement of basic safety laws, there is a growing risk of fire spreading between closely packed vehicles, and serious illness due to a lack of sanitation.
• Eye-witness reports raise alarming concerns of potential human trafficking, modern-day slavery, and illegal slum letting.
• Allowing van dwelling encampments blurs the distinction between those in genuine need and those choosing this lifestyle, diverting vital support away from the truly homeless. Many van dwellers are letting out their own properties and choosing to live on the Downs for free.

Financial and Legal Risks

• Our elected officials may be at risk of prosecution for corporate manslaughter if anyone one of the risks were to result in a tragedy.
• Our taxes would be used to cover any legal costs of a claim against Bristol City Council for injuries caused to van dwellers or the public.

Protecting the Future of Bristol’s Green Spaces

• Bristol City Council is responsible under the Downs Act of 1861 for the stewardship of the Durdham Downs. Their current permissiveness is not only worsening conditions on the Downs but attracting more van dwellers from across the UK to the city, not just the Downs.
• Van dwellers may not fully understand the scale of the damage they are causing the environment and the community, but it is Bristol City Council’s duty to act to protect our public spaces for everyone.

We Urgently Demand Action:

• Enforce existing policies on van dwelling encampments.
• Protect public safety and environmental health.
• Preserve the Downs for all legitimate users across our city.

The Downs are a lifeline for thousands of Bristol residents — they must not be lost through neglect.

Please sign this petition to demand that Bristol City Council act now to enforce the law, protect our green spaces, and preserve the health and safety of our city — before these problems spread even further.