The Trust and our partners, House of Imagination and Forest of Imagination, remain committed to the idea of creating an art and nature park for Bath and are actively seeking an alternative location in the city where we can realise our vision. We believe that a world class art and nature park and Discovery Centre would be a real asset for the city and a focus for activity to inspire, empower and support people to take action to address the nature and climate emergency.  

Although disappointed in the outcome, Avon Wildlife Trust wishes Pedal Progression well with their plans and would welcome the opportunity to share our knowledge and expertise to ensure that the site can be improved for nature and wildlife.

Amy Coulthard, Director for Nature’s Recovery expresses her disappointment “Considerable thought had gone into placing nature’s recovery at the heart of this project for the benefit of the people of Bath. Although we have been unsuccessful, we remain committed to improving the local landscape and would be happy to work with Pedal Progression to help them improve the site for the wildlife”.

The scale of the crisis facing wildlife and ecosystems globally, nationally and locally is being recognised more than ever before, with urgent action required. Avon Wildlife Trust is pleased that addressing the climate and ecological crisis was a key requirement for all bids, following Bath & North East Somerset council’s declaration of an ecological emergency last year.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the need for good quality, accessible green spaces in towns and cities for people’s health and wellbeing. Avon Wildlife Trust remains committed to enabling wildlife to survive and thrive across the region and would welcome other opportunities to acquire land or work with partners to improve landscapes locally for the benefit of wildlife and communities. We will continue to engage with local communities and create a nature rich Landscape City through our work on our nature reserves, projects such as Bathscape and annual events including the Forest of Imagination and Bath Festival of Nature.

Only by engaging local communities, landowners and decision makers to make more space for nature to become abundant once again can we give our struggling wildlife the chance to recover and restore beautiful wild places - places that store carbon and help to tackle the climate crisis.

We would like to thank the individuals, local community groups and organisations who worked with us to develop our proposals and sent us letters of support.

For more information on tackling the nature emergency, or to support our work, visit the Avon Wildlife Trust website at https://www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/actions

For more information or to hear more about the work of House of Imagination please visit https://houseofimagination.org/