Meet the van dwellers living in a beautiful Bristol park – and the locals who want them out
IA hot, humid week afternoon in North-West Bristol.
After a short downpour, steam rises from the brown grass in Durdham, while the iconic 12 -sided concrete water tower appears, and then the Georgian stores come at the summit of the Whiteladies Road.
Around the large parking area, there are rich suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Redland and Sneyd Park, where many families work hard to meet the houses that command seven -digit price tags today.
Joggers gives them a view of the good Trod environmental roads that lead them to the western edge of the park, the Avon River of the cliff edge and the famous Clifton Hanger Bridge of Isambard Brunel.
The region, which has been in history, known as “outputs ,, has been used as a common terrain for grazing for a long time, which has previously become a part of the Victorian frenzy for parking in 1861, and an action identified as“ public facility and recreation ”place.
But today, for more than 160 years, this park is not a famous football or kite plane-caravan and van by düzines.
Increased vehicles and caravans on the roads examining the parking area led to the tension between the landlords and the inhabitants of Van. Apparently, the council was stuck between the two.
The problem in Downs represents a growing problem in a city with a housing crisis, and the latest council forecasts are among 640 to 680 vehicles and caravans.
Now, the city leaders, faced with concerns about antisocial behavior and crime, are taking action. The bosses are currently busy preparing a policy to balance the support from the local community to the residents.
However, when talking to those living in vehicles, there seems to be an easy answer.
Im I believe that I have the right to be here, Frank says Frankie Turton, who lives in a transformed Ford Transit minibus decorated with floral stickers.
The 29 -year -old female assistant worker sold her house in Warrington to travel with her husband and decided to stay when they came to Bristol two years ago.
“We have made friends similar and we were surprised how easy it is to park and stay here, or he says. “At first it sounded like a big adjustment – people tell you that Van Life is incredible, but they don’t tell you shit in a bucket – but you can save money and have the freedom to go on weekends.
“After coming, I found a job in a nearby bar. I heard complaints and I didn’t tell the locals I lived in a minibus. In the end, when I did it, they were like ‘we never knew’.
“I understand the worries of some people, but I think we need to stop generalizing. People here for different pasts and for different reasons. Yes, I’m sure some go to the toilet outside, but it’s just a minority.”
Ms. Turton, who has a minibus bed, kitchen, shower, sink and electrical supply, says that he and his partner are in the process of buying a house in the city.
“I don’t feel the tension especially with the locals, but maybe because we’re getting away soon,” he adds. “I don’t think this is a complex situation and a solution from the restructuring of society.”
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Many local calm is part of a campaign group called Protect the Downs, which recently offers a petition to the municipal council to öyle removing the living camps of the minibus ”.
Campaigns claim that the park is not for people to live on vehicles and that it is proof of sex crimes, threatening behaviors and antisocial behaviors connected to minibus inhabitants. Some say they are too scared to go out at night, and others are unhappy with the claims that the bushes are used as open -air toilets.
Tensions led to some controversy.
In June, Shooting with BBCDowns Protect the Downs President Tony Nelson was reported to be pushed by a man from the living community of the minibus during an interview.
“People are excluded from using the park because people living in vehicles are thought to demand space, Nel says Nelson. “It is not right for anyone to live on a settlement street or in a park and claim it as its own field.
“Imagine that they are used by people who think they have the right to live in your local park. Would you like to take your family to that park?”
Last week, the Municipal Assembly, operated by the Green Party, asked Housing Secretary Angela Rayner to address the problem throughout the city and to create more social housing for the residents of the vehicle for the “more options”.
The housing problem of the city has been significantly worsening since the Covid epidemic. More than 22,000 households in the council waiting list increased by more than 23 percent between 2020 and 2023.
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Barry Parsons, a member of the Assembly, responsible for the housing, also requires a new requirement to have ownership records to help the implementation of the authority to remove vehicles from the council land.
“We wrestled with this,” he says when people are asked that they can live on vehicles at the exits. Ler We do not think that living permanently in the same place in a vehicle in a vehicle is a sustainable housing option for everyone.
“We do not want to see the long -term large car camps by the highway, we accept that there is something they choose to do for some people, and that there are many people who wander around … But we really think that our role is really options to people instead of focusing on getting rid of people.”
Among the options, five more sites – forces of minibus residents with access to toilets and flowing water – are planned to be opened two more. In total, it has 67 fields on existing sites and the Council targets 250 by the end of March next year.
People living in caravans question if there is a response.
Friends Tyler, 27 -year -old 30, Kalvin Aisles and 29 -year -old Anthony Owens, “for several years” live in exit. Each has their own caravan, which said they used it as a living base in the nearby crusher gardens.
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Sometimes they travel to another place like festivals before returning.
“This is my lifestyle, nobody has the right to stand for me, Mr. “We get grief from the locals, we had many rollers [people shaking the caravan]They do this because they don’t like us, they think we’re ugly, but that’s my legacy.
“We are here because it is safer for us than to be isolated on the side of the city elsewhere in the city.”
“By the way, sites are a good idea, but not enough, so [the council] I can’t expect all of us to get lost to one of them. “
On the other side of Downs, in the shadow of smart rows, Georgian houses are another caravan and minibus series – but also the ruins of a handsome Torçalı caravan almost two weeks ago.
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The wreckage of the metal is undoubtedly on the road.
Tim, who does not want to give his surname, lives in a minibus within a few minutes walking distance. He is a full -time plumber who decides to give up his monthly £ 1,800 in the city and turn his minibus into his home where he lived for three years.
“It’s not a community here – you have some problems, but it would be unfair to paint everyone with the same brush, or he says.
“I love to live here, the freedom of the minibus and to save money. Not for everyone, Van Life, but people look down, there shouldn’t be anything that wants to push. Most of us would look at the region, it would be good if we could all live together in harmony.
