Please Read for Some Amazing News!

We are thrilled to hear that BHCC councillors have made the strong move to reject any application from developers to change the terms of the lease from recreational use to residential use.  This means that, even if the plans were accepted by the planning committee, building would not be possible as the council, as freeholders, will not approve the change of use.  This is a big moment for BVP, our local community, and the campaign we have been working on tirelessly for the past five years (and let’s not forget the work of Dawn Barnett, who has always believed in protecting the valley, and who paved the way for our work).

We are grateful to the councillors who have been open to discussions with us and who have listened to our reasons over the years, all of which have helped bring the campaign to this point.  They worked on this behind the scenes and have set an important precedence for the protection of our urban green spaces.  Thank you to those involved in this!

We have lots of questions that we will be putting to the council in due course but THIS ISN’T OVER.  We still need to present our case to the planning committee to ensure that these plans are rejected outright so that the future of the valley can be safeguarded now and in the future.

Please join us outside the town hall from 1pm on Wednesday 2nd April.  Bring placards if you have them and your voice.  We still intend to present a speech on behalf of the local community contesting the application.  

As we have said time and time again, this is not about meeting housing targets and building on Benfield will not solve the housing crisis that we have in this city.  This has always been about a small group of people making a lot of money by destroying a much-loved local green space, one alive with biodiversity, some of the country's most threatened species and which plays a huge role in the health and wellbeing of city residents.

We still have work to do, but for now we’ll say thank you to everyone who has written to their councillor, joined us for any of our events, shared our campaign or supported our work in any way.  This is because of all of us.

With love, the BVP team, x