Downs cafe plan set to get refused over ‘unacceptable loss of open space’

Plans for a new cafe on the Downs are set to get refused next week as they would mean an “unacceptable loss of open space”.

The cafe would replace existing public toilets off the Circular Road near the Sea Walls, and would include new public toilets and a small education centre.

However, concerns were raised about building on grassland, as the new cafe would be much larger than the toilets.

Bristol City Council’s development control committee will likely refuse planning permission for the cafe on Wednesday, June 29.

In April, councillors on the committee said development on the Downs could lead to further new buildings, and asked officers for reasons to refuse.

Local Cllrs John Goulandris and Henry Michallat, representing Stoke Bishop, said: “The proposed new cafe requires an enlarged footprint, which sees grass swapped for concrete.

“While there is local support for refurbishing the toilets, there’s very little local support for the proposed cafe.

“The existing toilets could be refurbished without any need for a cafe. There is an existing cafe within less than a mile, which is well established.”

The plans, put forward by the Downs committee, now include creating a new wildflower meadow, covering 200 square metres and offsite, to mitigate against the loss of biodiversity from building the cafe on grassland.

A new education centre would be included in the building, for the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project, raising understanding of the area.

The cafe and toilets would cover a much larger area than the current toilet block.

The footprint of the existing toilets is 43 square metres, with 188 square metres of hard surfacing, while the proposed building would cover 75 square metres, with 239 square metres of hard surfacing.

Planning permission was initially granted for the cafe in 2019—despite objectors comparing plans to “putting a Starbucks in Stonehenge”—but this expired after three years, so the Downs committee have had to reapply for permission for the new cafe.

The committee argued that income from the cafe was needed to pay for the replacement toilets.