Bristol Zoo Gardens (Part 1) - It's Personal

Picture the scene; it is 2062 and I am walking past Bristol Zoo’s iconic entrance with my grandchildren. They turnaround and ask me, “What’s behind those walls Grandad and why does it say, ‘Zoo’ when there aren’t any animals in there?” I answer, “Once upon a time there was a Zoo here, Bristol Zoo. It was 186 years old and everyone in Bristol loved it very much. But the people who were in charge chose to move the Zoo to another home outside of the city without asking anyone what they thought. The site was closed for 7 years and when it did finally reopen, the gardens were supposed to be for everyone, but after a few years the residents changed the rules. Now they’re private and I haven’t been in there for over 30 years. They were the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. How terribly sad that the people running the zoo and the city back then didn’t have the vision or imagination to find another way to keep the Zoo in Bristol and open for everyone.”

If you didn’t know already and despite what you may have heard from Bristol Zoological Society themselves, this is a highly likely outcome if their current plans go ahead for the sale of their iconic site.

Now. Rewind.

It is about 5pm on a Thursday afternoon in June, 2022 and I find myself in one of my favourite places in the whole world; Bristol Zoo. We are in the midst of a mini-heatwave and today has been one of those astonishing English summer’s days, hazy but clear blue skies, a crisp yet simultaneously soft light and rarely felt heat has been beating down on the Zoo’s many visitors throughout the day. But it is quiet now, 30 minutes before closing, most people have left for the day and I am standing in dappled shade, created by an array of extraordinarily majestic trees. Everywhere I look I see trees and flowers, gardens astonishingly mature, verdant and lush. And wildlife. Exotic wildlife. I’m in the middle of Bristol. I’m also in Eden. I don’t know how many times I have stood here and yet it never ceases to move me.

I have my 4 year old son on my shoulders and we are watching meerkats scurrying around right in front of us while in the near distance, we can see golden headed lion tamarin monkeys swinging through the trees. As I stand here in these sacred surroundings - I cannot, literally. Can. Not. Believe. That in just over 2 months time, these gardens are to be closed to the public for at least 5 years (but probably a lot longer), sold to a private developer and turned into a luxury housing estate. If the Zoo’s current proposal gets planning permission and goes ahead, where I’m standing right now will be someone’s multi-million pound private home and garden in 5-10 years time, as will the iconic herbaceous border just behind me which will also be bulldozed. Until then, this unique slice of paradise, 186 years of historic fabric, woven into the heart of the city, will be a building site. And afterwards, it will never be the same again.

Earlier today, my son and I left our home and travelled to the Zoo by bike. 15 minutes later, we were making eye contact with an Asiatic lion just metres in front of us. We then walked a short way along the famous top terrace and watched Red Pandas peacefully munching on bamboo. Shortly afterwards we were spending time with South American fur seals moving through invitingly crystal clear salt water. Communing with wildlife. I look up and see the graceful architecture of Clifton College watching over both people and wildlife. A phenomenal juxtaposition of natural and urban, of people and wildlife; Bristol Zoological Gardens are unique. Bristol Zoological Gardens are a jewel in the crown of this city we all love. They are 186 years of the natural world, history and collective memories contained within a 12 acre site in the heart of a city. Once they are sold off to a private developer to be turned into housing, they are gone forever and not coming back.

Watching Bristol Zoo Gardens going through the stages of preparing to close to the public, ready to be sold off to a private developer is like watching a tsunami unfolding in excruciating slow motion, incrementally moving towards the moment of impact and no return. Except this is not an impending natural disaster over which no person has any control over the outcome. This is an irreversible, subjective decision being made by a very small group of people which will affect a very large amount of people in perpetuity.

But this does not have to happen. There is another way. The site of Bristol Zoo Gardens is unique and by selling off Bristol Zoo Gardens for housing, the society are making an irreversible and catastrophic mistake. I believe that history will judge this decision most unfavourably but though the Zoo has no closed to the public (for now), it is not too late to stop. Listen. Scrap the planning proposals, change course and rescue victory from the jaws of defeat.

If the Bristol Zoological Society chose now – which it has intentionally not done so far - to meaningfully engage with the enthusiasm and goodwill of members, visitors, the wider public, the history, the memories, the possibility for change, the potential for restructure and development, for new investment, what its presence in the heart of the city means to people, even if that means it will take longer to develop the Wild Place, it seems extremely likely that they would conclude that they cannot afford, not to keep Bristol Zoo open.