We did it!   In future there will be no parking on land on the Downs for activities elsewhere.  The Hon Mr Justice Henshaw approved an out-of- court settlement on Wednesday 12 May. The agreement is in the form of a discontinuance order, so that legal action can be resumed if necessary.

The defendants – the Downs Committee and Bristol City Council - have given legally binding undertakings that they will never again set aside land on the Downs for parking for activities taking place elsewhere.  Nor will they make arrangements to allow people to park on the Zoo’s existing North car park to undertake such activities. (The North car park is outside the Zoo’s main entrance and part of the Downs). 

Further, the defendants have agreed to pay up to £72,000 towards our legal costs, more than twice as much as the maximum award if the case had gone to court.  This should more or less cover them.

 We are delighted with this successful end to our legal challenge. Thank you for your interest.

Our court hearing has been fixed for 13 May in Bristol’s biggest courtroom.  Although the defendants (the Downs Committee and Bristol City Council) asked for the hearing to held remotely, His Honour Judge Cotter QC ordered:

“Given the principle of open justice, which is particularly important when local issues of widespread interest are concerned, it will proceed by way of hybrid hearing in Court 7 at the Bristol Civil Justice Centre (the largest court in the region so to allow some members of the public to attend whilst still maintaining social distancing) and Counsel and any other representative/party may attend remotely upon notification by email to the Court.”

We are delighted to have received £1,000 in donations in the last month.  We still face a shortfall of about £25,000 , even if we win.  More help would be welcome.  We want  to make it crystal clear that it is unlawful to turn the Downs into a giant car park for businesses elsewhere. It does not matter whether they are zoos or supermarkets,  as the judge observed earlier.

We are delighted that His Honour Judge Cotter QC has given permission for our case to proceed.  A court will examine our claim that the Downs Committee had no power to authorise licences for zoo car parking, because such parking is contrary to the terms of the 1861 Downs Act.  

 Our costs so far have been about £45,000.  To continue we could need another £30,000.  If we win, we may be awarded up to £35, 000, leaving a shortfall of £40,000.  We will need more if we lose. Organisations and individuals have so far given us £13,500, for which we are most grateful – we hope for more!   Please help make sure the Downs will never again be threatened by parking for unrelated purposes, interfering with enjoyment of the open space that is the birthright of Bristolians.

Progress was interrupted by the announcement on 27 November that Bristol Zoo would be closing its Clifton site. The Court agreed to extend its timetable by four weeks to see if the case could be settled without a hearing. This has not proved possible: the defendants’ position remains as stated in their original response, namely that they do not accept that parking on the Downs is lawful only when related to activities on the Downs. The case is proceeding. We hope to be given permission next month to go to Court. We have used all the funds raised so far and hope for further generosity.

The £2000 raised will go towards the costs of a response to the documents the defendants have now disclosed, as required by the Court.

We have set a new target of £12,000. The additional £10,000 will help with our existing legal bills and those expected very soon.