Petition objecting to the overdevelopment of green spaces

Henbury and Brentry residents will soon be faced with a very important decision on the future of our green spaces. Current plans could see large scale housing development on many of our green areas. The money made from the sale of our community land will then go into a central Bristol wide pot and then some of that money would be spent on improving the remaining green land.
Bristol City Council will be presenting its proposals to the community in the New Year—it was meant to have been sooner but apparently the costing hadn't been fully worked out. The last edition of the community newsletter set out the arguments for developing community land, yet this is only one side of the debate and in order to have a debate we need to see both sides.
I think we can all accept that there is a need for some new housing in the area and that we want to see our green spaces improved. However many residents have signed local petitions objecting to the overdevelopment of these much valued community assets. They are concerned that:
- The very act of selling off land to benefit the community would reduce the facilities available to us and not actually lead to the promised improvements.
- The money generated by the sale of our land won't necessarily be spent in our community.
- Encroaching on our green land sets a precedent for the next time the council is short of money.
- We are at the bottom of a property slump so any land sold would not fetch a good price, meaning we have to sell more to raise the money the council wants.
Whatever side of the argument you are on, the time for public consultation will soon be upon us and I don't think that anyone can remain neutral on such an important decision facing our community.