High Court agrees to hear judicial review challenge over permission for redevelopment of former city zoo site

Law firm Leigh Day has said the High Court will hear a judicial review brought by objectors to the redevelopment of the former Bristol Zoo site.

All three grounds submitted by Save Bristol Gardens Alliance (SBGA) have been accepted as arguable and a hearing is expected in early 2025. The group launched crowdfunding for the case in August.

The zoo moved out in 2022, and Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) applied for planning permission for a housing development, which was granted by Bristol City Council in June 2024.

SBGA argues that the development would lead to a loss of open space, and that criteria used to assess environmental impacts on biodiversity and carbon emissions were flawed. 

Its first ground is that the BZS planning application unlawfully relied on out-of-date metrics to measure the development’s net effect on biodiversity, which resulted in it calculating a net positive. The group said using modern metrics would give a negative.

The second ground is that the planning application unlawfully adopted out-of-date criteria to measure carbon dioxide emissions, and the third that it unlawfully failed to determine whether the development would lead to a reduction in open space, as Bristol’s planning policy states that open space should not be built on unless equivalent or more is provided by the development. 

BZS has applied to build 196 homes, of which 20% will be affordable, with a park open during the day.  

SGBA said this would do little to relieve the city’s housing shortage and that no funding is in place to maintain the park.  

Leigh Day environment team solicitor Rowan Smith, said: “Our client argues that outdated metrics were unlawfully used to calculate carbon emissions and the net effect on biodiversity from the project, highlighting flaws in the planning application.

“These arguments have now been deemed strong enough by a judge to be brought to a judicial review hearing. We are pleased to be able to take this case to the next stage on behalf of our client, and that all three grounds of the claim were deemed arguable.”

A BZS statement said: “This [judicial review] decision is delaying a development that will bring much-needed housing to Bristol.”

It added: “While this delay is disappointing, we remain confident in our plans and genuinely believe this is the right thing for Bristol.

“As a conservation and education charity, we are committed to saving wildlife. We will continue to progress with the sale of the site which will support the creation of a new conservation zoo at our Bristol Zoo Project site, where at least 80% of species will be both threatened, and part of targeted conservation programmes.

“We will liaise with Bristol City Council before deciding on our next steps.”

The council declined to comment.

Mark Smulian