Wessex Water and Bristol City Council have agreed a funding partnership to support the city’s parks and green spaces, launching a new Bristol Green Spaces Fund with an initial £200,000 available for community projects up to 2030. The fund accompanies the water company’s wider investment in Bristol to reduce storm-overflow discharges and improve river water quality.
Linked to storm-overflow investment
The Green Spaces Fund will support community initiatives in Canford Park, Old Quarry Park and St George’s Park, along with green spaces in the St George’s West and Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze wards, where Wessex Water is investing to protect rivers. Both the fund and the wider works form part of a programme of more than £50 million across Bristol to reduce the discharge of untreated water from sewers via storm overflows.
That programme, managed by YTL Construction UK and delivered by contractors Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, will create additional sewer storage at locations including Westbury-on-Trym, Henleaze, Shirehampton and St George, holding back excess water that builds up when rain enters the network and mixes with sewage, before returning it for treatment. Storm overflows have historically released that excess, untreated, to protect homes and businesses from flooding. New approaches to tackling sewage spills increasingly combine extra storage with monitoring and smarter network management.
How the fund will work
Working with the Quartet Community Foundation, organisations will be able to apply for two-year grants from the Bristol Green Spaces Fund to deliver projects in the parks, with details of the application process expected in the coming months. The fund focuses on improving the environment, accessibility, safety and participation for local people most in need of support. A wider package of green-space support over four years is subject to a Bristol City Council committee decision later this summer.
Wider investment
Wessex Water said it was investing more than £500 million across its region by 2030 to reduce the environmental impact of storm overflows and improve water quality in rivers and coastal waters. Alongside the expansion of the Avonmouth water recycling centre, due for completion in 2029, a £34 million expansion of the Saltford Water Recycling Centre between Bristol and Bath is due to finish this summer. Upgrades to water recycling centres are a central part of efforts to cut how often overflows operate.
Wessex Water chief executive Ruth Jefferson said the company wanted its investment to “create lasting benefits for local communities” as well as improve river water quality. Councillor Stephen Williams, who chairs Bristol City Council’s public health and communities policy committee, said climate change was driving heavier rainfall and more spills into the Trym and other city rivers, and welcomed the infrastructure investment to manage that risk.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Bristol Green Spaces Fund?
A fund created by Wessex Water and Bristol City Council, starting with £200,000 up to 2030, to support community projects in the city’s parks and green spaces.
How can organisations apply?
Through two-year grants administered by the Quartet Community Foundation; details of the application process are expected in the coming months.
How does this link to water?
The fund accompanies Wessex Water’s investment of more than £50 million in Bristol to reduce storm-overflow discharges and improve river water quality, including new sewer storage.
How much is Wessex Water investing overall?
More than £500 million across its region by 2030 to reduce the impact of storm overflows and improve water quality in rivers and coastal waters.
