Having worked voluntarily for over a year to try to save our Zoo for all of us, I am now raising money to fund the formation of an alternative plan with industry experts. Please donate today to help Save Bristol Zoo Gardens for future generations.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-tom-jones-save-bristol-zoo-gardens 

Bristol Zoological Gardens are hallowed ground in this city.

This petition calls on the Zoo’s decision makers to withdraw their current planning application for Bristol Zoological Gardens to become an exclusive housing estate.

The Zoo has closed to the public for the time being but contrary to what the Zoo would have you believe, that does not mean that the Zoo cannot withdraw their planning application or that it cannot reopen in the future.

The Zoo should consult with and listen to its members, visitors, community, businesses, philanthropists and the people of Bristol to decide together what the best use of this iconic, historic and quasi-public site. Any plans should be for the benefit of everyone and not just for maximising the Zoo’s financial return.

For example, could Bristol Zoo continue but in a modified form, could it become a 'Bristol Kew Gardens'? Our World Bristol’s proposal for an augmented reality zoo is another idea? Do we want another type of visitor attraction or should this huge and remarkable site in the middle of a famous and beautiful conservation area go out to international competition for ideas? Whatever happens we should look to the distant future, not to immediate gains.

The Zoo's planning proposal is advocating for the loss of at least a third of the trees across the gardens.

The Zoo’s own website describes their gardens as “one of the UK’s most important collections of plants” and “170 years of nurture and gardening artistry.”

The iconic herbaceous border pictured above will be bulldozed and become someone's multi-million pound home.

How can the Zoo - a conservation charity dedicated to fighting climate change - justify destroying any of these gardens  – against the backdrop of Bristol being a Green Capital and the current climate crisis?

Only a fraction of the site will be available to the public.

The Zoo offers no guarantee that the gardens will stay open to the public in the long term.

There are many other solutions and options that the Zoo could explore and pursue if they would listen and engage.

If it was proposed that London, Dublin or Berlin Zoo were to be sold off for private housing there would no doubt be significant public outrage. Bristol is not a capital city but the principal remains the same.

The Zoo's desire to bankroll their new attraction in South Gloucestershire is a completely separate issue from the sale and future use of this site.

Please visit the campaign website to find out more. 

www.savebristolzoogardens.org 

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