The future of a former city zoo has been debated for over five years and has recently come to a head.

A judicial review challenging plans for houses and flats to be built on the old Bristol Zoo site was rejected last week.

Zoo bosses are relieved they can move onto the next stage but opponents of the housing plans have vowed to keep fighting.

Judicial review supports zoo

A judge ruled Bristol City Council correctly followed all processes when approving Bristol Zoological Society's application to build 196 homes at the site in Clifton last week.

The society, which closed the historic zoo in 2022 and has been gradually moving animals to the new, larger Bristol Zoo Project site, said legal challenges had cost it more than £300,000 and led to 20 redundancies.

A spokesperson for Save Bristol Gardens Alliance, which brought the legal challenge, said it was disappointed with the news and that they would continue to oppose the "dreadful" plan.

Dr Justin Morris, the society's chief executive, said they were pleased with the decision but said campaigns against their plans have taken a "toll".

How did we get here?

The zoo's future has been debated for five years after bosses announced in 2020 they would sell the Clifton site and seek planning permission to create housing.

Two years later, Bristol Zoo Garden closed after 186 years.

Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society (CHIS) successfully applied to have Bristol Zoo Gardens listed as a community asset in an attempt to stop houses being built on the land.

The status gave CHIS the right to bid to own the site if it was put up for sale in the following five years.

Plans were then submitted by zoo bosses to transform the Clifton site into a conservation space.

Under the proposals, the 12-acre site would be made accessible to the public for free and 196 homes were to be built in the former car park.

The Bristol Zoological Society said the proceeds of the sale will be used to develop its new home at the Wild Place Project in South Gloucestershire.

Nearly 10,000 petitioners and 1,000 public objections urged the council to refuse the planning permission.

Why did the zoo close?

Dr Morris announced at the end of 2020 the relocation was necessary to "safeguard" the future of the zoo after a difficult time financially through the Covid pandemic.

The society had struggled to "meet the changing needs of the animals" within the available space and infrastructure of the zoo in Clifton, he said.

The chief executive added: "This new strategy presents an opportunity to create a world class zoo that sets the standard for a modern, forward-looking zoo in the 21st century."

What do housing opponents say?

The planning of new homes on the former zoo site has faced plenty of opposition.

Despite the dismissal of the judicial review this month, a spokesperson for Save Bristol Gardens Alliance said the "campaign will regroup and continue".

They added: "The proposal to destroy the former Clifton Zoo site with truly ugly high rise flats, car parking and a service road continues to be almost universally opposed.

"The Zoo Society seems to forget that over 10,000 people signed a petition against the development and over 500 made comments opposing the plans on the council planning portal."

What happens next?

The Bristol Zoological Society has exchanged sale contracts on the Clifton site with independent housebuilder Acorn Property Group.

But it will not be able to complete the sale until planning permission free from legal challenge is confirmed.

A spokesperson from the society told the BBC that any appeals on the judge's decision to reject the judicial review will "delay the development" of its new site.

Bristol City Council has declined to comment.