Decision date for future of Bristol farm and cemetery expansion plan

The Greens have given some clarity over recent confusion about whether the expansion will still go ahead

A decision on the future of Yew Tree Farm and a controversial plan to expand a cemetery will be made this October. Bristol City Council is planning to expand the South Bristol Cemetery due to a shortage of burial spaces, turning some farmland into a graveyard.

The plan to expand the cemetery was approved by the former Labour mayor Marvin Rees and his cabinet, who budgeted £2.4 million. Before the election, the Greens were in opposition and campaigned against the expansion, due to concerns about harm to wildlife and habitats.

The Bristol Greens published a statement on X/ Twitter on Tuesday, July 30, saying the new council leader, Councillor Tony Dyer, doesn’t have the power to reverse the decision. But councillors on the public health and communities policy committee could do so.

Read more: ‘Bird nests destroyed’ on Yew Tree Farm as council clears scrub for cemetery expansion

Read more: Bristol Greens promise to pause on work at Yew Tree Farm after bird nests destroyed

The statement said: “In February this year, the Bristol Green group published an article condemning damage done to Yew Tree Farm. We firmly stand by our comments and with protecting [Sites of Nature Conservation Interest].

“For context, the decision to extend the South Bristol Crematorium into an SNCI was brought forward by the previous Labour mayor and approved by a planning committee last year. Labour’s cabinet approved £2.4 million strategic CIL in January for this, which was included in the Labour budget of February 2024. The Green group did not vote for this budget.

“In July, the strategy and resources committee noted that this money had been previously allocated. An investigation into the decision-making process that led to the proposals is currently being undertaken by senior officers. A terms of reference for this and wider issues, including the delay to issuing a new grazing licence, shall be made public in the next week.

“The report will go to the public health and communities committee in October, as the committee responsible for burial grounds and cemeteries. This will provide the opportunity for a democratic and public vote on the future of the South Bristol Cemetery expansion plans.”

Last week questions were raised after videos appeared to show that bird nests had been destroyed at the farm, as part of scrub removal works. Leaked emails also suggested that senior council officers had been “instructed to continue the works to expand” the cemetery.

However, the Greens say any decision to scrap the expansion plan couldn’t have been made by the new council leader, Cllr Dyer. The council switched how it’s governed in May, following a referendum in 2022, meaning the council leader has fewer powers than the mayor used to.

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The statement added: “In the new committee system, the leader of the council does not have the power to reverse these plans in the same way that the mayor did. So until this is brought to a committee, the previous plans remain in place.

“As part of these plans, while some scrubland removal was agreed to by the landowners, this was subject to the conditions that there would be an ecological officer present. The recent clearance of scrubland did have an ecological officer present and no nesting birds were thought to have been affected.

“As soon as claims to the contrary were made, the work was halted until an investigation into the facts of this matter are established. The Bristol Green group is committed to protecting SNCIs and tackling the ecological emergency. We hope that all parties that make up the administration in the new committee system will share this commitment.”

Responding to the statement, Labour questioned whether the Green Party had overruled the new council leader. They added that people in Bristol “deserve the option to be buried in their home city”, particularly as some religions don’t allow for cremations and the city is running out of space for burials.

A Labour spokesperson said: "The Green Party-led administration is still yet to clarify whether they now support the expansion of South Bristol Crematorium or not. They told their activists they’d stop the expansion while they told council officers they are ‘fully supportive’ of it and authorised scrub clearance to go ahead — which reportedly led to birds’ nests being destroyed. Their leader supports the expansion — has his party overruled him?

"We hope this marks the start of the Green Party engaging in a more transparent, accountable decision-making process. But considering they announced their 'review' via Twitter on a Saturday night, before discussing it with committee members, we won’t hold our breath.

"The Green Party needs to remember that Bristol is a diverse city — cremation isn’t an option for a number of religious communities. Bristolians deserve the option to be buried alongside their loved ones in their home city."

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