Popular park 'left to go wild and unmaintained' after council cuts funding

A popular park in east Bristol will be ‘left to go wild’ and no further repairs will be made - because the city council has stopped funding the trust that manages it.

The Barton Fields Trust has told people living nearby that they have completely run out of money, have spent all their savings and ‘exhausted all avenues’ of trying to persuade the council to keep up their funding.

And that means the open space between Hillfields and Speedwell will be left unmaintained with grass and hedges ‘left to go wild’, and benches, paths and gateways not repaired, the Trust has warned.

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A spokesperson for the Barton Fields Trust said they are ‘very worried about the future’, and were ‘very disappointed’ that the council simply stopped paying a grant of £16,000. That happened more than a year ago, and since then the Trust - a non-profit organisation set up to manage and maintain the park - has been trying to persuade the council to reinstate the funding, while at the same time trying to maintain the park using what little money it had saved.

Barton Fields was a former waste tip that was turned into fields in the late 20th century. More than 20 years ago, the council secured the backing of what was then the National Playing Fields Association - now Fields In Trust - to preserve the fields from being developed, and the local Barton Fields Trust was set up to manage it.

Bristol Live understands the council allocated £16,000 a year for maintenance to the Trust back then, and that amount hasn’t increased at all ever since. The fields include rugby pitches for Barton Hill RFC - and the club has agreed to pay for the upkeep of the pitches it uses - but the rest of the park will be left to ‘go wild’.

It is understood there has been something of a dispute in the past few years about ownership of the fields and who is responsible, with the arrangement put in place more than 20 years ago when the Trust was first set up being an informal one that the council now says it has no basis to continue.

In a statement, the Barton Fields Trust called on local people to complain to the city council and ask for the grant to be reinstated, and appealed for any financial help from local donors.

“Bristol City Council has cut our funding for the upkeep of the field,” the statement said. “We have had no funds since 2022/23 tax year and all avenues of getting what should have paid to us for 2023/24 are now exhausted and all built up funds over the years through good management are now depleted.

“We regret to inform you that the only part of the field being maintained going forward will be the rugby pitch as Barton Hill RFC have agreed to cover the cost of the upkeep. This means that all other grass areas will be left to go wild and no hedges or trees will be cut, as well as no further repairs to benches, entrances and walkways will be made.

“We thought it only right to make you aware of the current position to date. It is very disappointing to us as a Trust made up of volunteers to now have our funding stopped. We know how important our fields are to the local community.

“It costs £16,000 per year to maintain the field and we have no way of replacing the grant we have had from the council since Barton Fields Trust was set up. If you are in a position as an individual or a business you are able to make a donation which will allow us to continue even if it is just for small repairs/maintenance then this would be appreciated,” the statement added.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said : “The upkeep and maintenance of Argyle Road Playing Fields, locally known as Barton Fields, remains the sole responsibility of Fields in Trust and the Barton Hill Trust, who own and manage the land respectively. When Barton Fields Trust took on management of the site in 2003, we were clear the grant agreed by Bristol City Council would reduce over time, allowing sufficient time for them to raise their own funds to manage the site.

"When we awarded the last grant, we clearly communicated that current levels of funding for the land were not sustainable and that the grant paid by the council would have to end.

“We are in conversation with landowner Fields in Trust and will continue to offer any support needed to determine new funding avenues. We will also continue to maintain the play area and empty litter bins on-site as before and do other reasonable ad-hoc works if asked while solutions are being explored. We are unable however continue to provide grant funding and feel there has been sufficient time for those involved to have sought to secure sustainable financing," he added.