Member-only story
Novers Hill work to be repeated at taxpayer cost in bid to build on site?
In response to a local campaign to save Novers Hill from housing plans by private developers and the council’s own housing company, cabinet member for housing, Tom Renhard, has pledged to carry out the ecological and arboriculture surveys again.
Renhard announced on Twitter that he has “asked for the ecological and arboriculture surveys to be carried out, which is the right thing to do.”
He doesn’t mention how much it will cost, again.
The Western Slopes, or Novers Hill, are known as the green lungs between Knowle West and Hartcliffe Way. It’s a semi-agricultural area known for being a place of special ecological interest, with residents reporting seeing owls, bats, kestrels and other wildlife. Residents have fought off plans to build on the site since 2002 but it’s become more difficult since it was included in regeneration plans in 2012.
Goram Homes, Bristol City Council’s own housing company, have earmarked Novers Hill for 50 housing units by 2023, and an additional 310 by 2030.
