July 8th 2008
A protest organised by the Snuff Mills Action Group attracted a very healthy turnout last night despite adverse weather conditions. Around 250 people turned out to express their disgust at Bristol City Councils approval of a planning application to fell 27 trees in a conservation area.
Grove Wood on Blackberry Hill in Stapleton has been part of the hospital site since it was originally built to house French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars but was sold off at auction last year to Mr Hussain Jafari Najafabadi of Clifton for £39,000 as part of the Governments drive to sell off surplus state owned assets. The land forms part of the conservation area that runs from Eastville right through to Downend.
Mr Jafari has a record of planning violations (most of which have been granted retrospectively) and, it is alleged, has been heard to be bragging of his long term plan to turn the site into a hotel and conference centre. His business dealings are carried out under a number of aliases.
Shortly after purchasing the wood, the new landowner set about cutting down trees with impunity and sited a portakabin within sight of the main road, near the entrance to the Wood.
Bristol City council took no action and when he submitted a planning application to fell the trees lining the road, locals thought that conservation area status would probably limit health and safety work to pruning alone, given the massive impact on visual amenity that felling would have.
Bristol City Council granted the permission citing that the listed wall was being undermined, a sewer was affected and highway obstruction.
The protest last night was the first of its kind in the campaign to save Grove Woods and Snuff Mills Action Group Spokesman Steve Micklewright said:
“We want to know the real rationale behind this decision, we are very suspicious about what’s happened here and we want proper answers immediately”.
He went on to say
“Come on Bristol City Council, do your job and stop pandering to rogue developers.”
This full details of this campaign can be obtained from the link below, and the online petition can be accessed also.
http://snuffmills.blogspot.com/