A Green Party council has been accused of carrying out ‘ethnic cleansing on steroids’ by installing ‘racist and classist barricades’ under the cover of darkness with police protection.
Green-run Bristol City Council claims the blockades in Barton Hill, east Bristol, are anti-traffic and pollution measures but Somali and white working class locals fear it’s a ploy to keep them away from the gaze of their posh neighbours.
Even supporters of the scheme have admitted the council is barricading the area off – which they say could lead to ‘riots’, turning the roads into a warzone. Other locals said the area was being turned into a ‘segregated ghetto’ that their posh white neighbours could avoid.
Barton Hill is one of the most impoverished parts of the UK. According to The Quartet Community Foundation, an organisation enabling donations to charities across the west of England, more than a third people living in the area are under the age of 16. Of those children, 55 per cent are living in poverty below the breadline.
The area is also one of the most ethnically diverse in the city, with a large Somali immigrant community and 55 per cent of all locals being non-white. A fifth of households have no one with English as a first language living there.
Speaking to MailOnline, people living in Barton Hill said they were horrified to wake up at 3am on March 13 to council workers nailing down barricades while dozens of police officers stood guard. Some of the police were armed with Tasers.
Shopkeeper Naveen Challagundla, 26, has worked in Barton Hill for two years but now fears for his job after the ‘race wall’ was installed. He said: ‘It’s like a prison. There’s no difference between pollution here and [in richer areas], but here it’s closed. We will lose all that business.’
Disabled resident Melissa Topping, 55, has lived in Barton Hill for 11 years. She broke down in tears as she said: ‘It’s going to get to the stage of guerilla warfare.
Pictured: One of the ‘race walls’ installed in Bristol that locals claim is dividing the rich from the poor
Locals in Barton Hill (pictured), which has eight tower blocks, say they are being penned in away from their posh neighbours
Shopkeeper Naveen Challagundla, 26, (pictured) said the ‘race wall’ was ‘like a prison’
‘The physical [road]blocks are so scary. What if we need the fire brigade? They are blocking us in. We have eight tower blocks.
‘Lots of the [Somalis] work five or six different jobs a day. They need to get out. It’s seriously affecting their livelihoods.’
Bristol City Council has pledged to cut personal car usage by 44 per cent in the next five years to meet its climate targets.
It said ‘liveable neighbourhood’ schemes like the EBLN were ‘key’ and would ‘re-design streets so that they are people friendly’.
Bristol City Council says the EBLN is a six-month trial after which it will ‘re-engage the community for feedback’.
It said: ‘Proposals for a permanent scheme layout will be consulted on after six to nine months of the scheme being in place.
‘Local considerations, may mean that a Liveable Neighbourhood warrants more time and adjustments before considering if it should be made permanent.’
Locals have suggested that whatever happens, the council will not have the money to dismantle the scheme.
Dozens of police officers protected Bristol City Council workers who installed the ‘race wall’ under the cover of darkness at 3am
Pictured: A police officer armed with a yellow Taser stands guard as the ‘race wall’ is installed
Mark Gottshalk, 39, (pictured with his son Traivon, 10) issued a rallying call to his neighbours, saying, ‘We need to come together and get our roads back’
Melissa Topping, 55, (pictured) told MailOnline there will be ‘riots’ and ‘guerilla warfare’ on the streets because of the ‘race wall’
![Lisa Whitehouse (pictured) said: 'They are ghettoising [Barton Hill]. They are segregating them'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/03/21/09/96342037-14514183-image-m-21_1742549998646.jpg)
Lisa Whitehouse (pictured) said: ‘They are ghettoising [Barton Hill]. They are segregating them’
One of the new bus gates’ signage was missing the letter E. Combined with road barricades, the bus gates are part of measures that will pen poor and non-white residents in, locals say
Bus gates like this one are being paired with ‘modal filters’ – plant boxes blocking the road – to create what locals say is a ‘race wall’ around Barton Hill
Barton Hill is one of the most deprived areas of the country, with the majority of children living below the breadline
And although the Green-run council said the measures will improve air quality across a 450-acre area, people living in Barton Hill said the traffic will simply be forced around their homes instead.
Locals also said that despite the measures trying to push people to give up cars in favour of public transport, buses only come once every half an hour if they show up at all.
Melissa added: ‘The council did the consultation here because an English online-only [consultation] would not be read.
‘It’s nuts. What’s the negative impact if this doesn’t go ahead?
‘We would like cleaner, safer streets. But they are not supporting any of the businesses at all. We have got nothing here.
‘They close all of this area. Why not another? The businesses are not going to be here in six months.
When she heard council workers installing the barricades, she went out on the road with her neighbours – and were met with dozens of cops from police riot vans lining the streets.
She claimed the police weren’t from Bristol.
Melissa added that far-right groups who are against traffic measures were also trying to infiltrate the area, bringing even more tension to the streets.
Pictured: A bus gate set to be implemented in Barton Hill just metres from a Banksy artwork
Police officers were dropped off in police riot vans. Locals claimed the cops were not from Bristol
Local greenkeeper Chris Southie, 34, (pictured) told MailOnline the scheme was ‘disgusting’
Some of the bus gates in Barton Hill are not yet operational. Locals fear there could be riots once the measures are implemented
Father-of-one builder Terry Wilson, 47, (pictured) lives in Redfield within the EBLN. Like many of his neighbours in the area where homes sell for an average of £327,000, he backs the scheme
However, posters such as this one protesting the scheme are dotted around Barton Hill
The council, which is run by the Green Party, is pushing ahead with the scheme to meet its climate targets, it said
Her friend, charity worker Lisa Whitehouse, added: ‘They are ghettoising it. They are segregating them.
‘[The council] doesn’t fund us. If it wasn’t for the lottery we would be f***ed.’
However, not all locals are against the scheme.
Father-of-one builder Terry Wilson, 47, lives in Redfield within the EBLN. Like many of his neighbours in the area where homes sell for an average of £327,000, he backs the scheme.
Yet even he admitted the council had constructed it in a way that could lead to violence on the streets of Bristol.
He said: ‘Some of it is good. It’s safer for bikers. They are doing this under the umbrella of pollution.
‘Most of the locals here are for it. A lot of people who aren’t in flats, who own their own houses, are very happy. House prices are going to go up.
New bollards have also been put in place to add to the EBLN, which the council says will reduce traffic and emissions
Some Somalis living in Barton Hill fear the scheme is part of a conspiracy against them
Kebab shop owner Zeravan Sadik, 40, (pictured) said the EBLN will put him out of business
While speaking to MailOnline about the ‘race wall’, Melissa Topping (right) was moved to tears
Other bus gates are dotted around the 450-acre area and are also set to become operational
This bus gate in Barton Hill will prevent cars from passing through it, blocking off the area
Bus gates such as this one in front of a red Banksy artwork were installed in the early hours of the morning
‘It’s not for the poorer people. There’s massive construction – a huge development. Some of that has been swaying what’s happening here.
‘They put this [barrier] in stealthily overnight at 3am.
‘They are trapping people to make them get the bus, but there aren’t many buses.
‘The Somali community think it’s a conspiracy against them. They have been protesting en masse.
‘It’s going to really kick off down there.
‘They are getting ready to push them in. It’s all thought out. The high-rise flats are being pushed into one area.
‘Once the other measures are put in place, that’s where we are going to see riots.
‘It’s just bonkers. If they had listened to people we would have a better situation.’
For father-of-one Mark Gottshalk, 39, a cooling systems commissioning engineer, enough is enough.
He issued a rallying call to his neighbours, saying, ‘We need to come together and get our roads back.’
Mark said the new measures would mean driving his elderly father to hospital would take an extra 40 minutes.
He added: ‘I wish it never happened. [We have been] squashed in together. It’s beyond me. They are going to make it permanent.’
The controversial scheme has seen direct action to try to prevent the work to block roads being carried out
When the council tried installing the ‘race wall’ in January, furious residents got in their way
Barton Hill taxi driver Abdiweli, 45, said he was furious at the ‘race wall’.
He said: ‘I don’t understand why they are doing it. We need to open. We need to be fair. Why are they closing this area?’
Meanwhile, Zeravan Sadik, 40, who has run kebab shop Alibaba’s Grill for five years, said the new barrier opposite the takeaway would put his store in the ground.
He said: ‘I’m going to close the business. We can’t do delivery. We are going to lose lots of customers. Nobody is happy.’
Local greenkeeper Chris Southie, 34, added: ‘What are they trying to achieve? Everyone pro the scheme has the same answer – emissions.
‘But all you have done is move it to someone else’s. It’s disgusting.’
Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody has said she is ‘investigating’ the police presence during the installing of the ‘race walls’.
Councillor Ed Plowden, Chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee, said: ‘We want residents in east Bristol to benefit from safer, greener and quieter streets while maintaining access to their homes, businesses and local services.
‘We recognise there are mixed opinions about the trial, and we fully support the right to protest, and the right for people to campaign for the change in the area. Trialling these measures for 6 months is the best way to gather the information needed to make an informed decision on the permanent solutions to improve air quality, increase walking and cycling, boost footfall for local shops, and make roads safer for all in the area.
‘Because some people have been putting themselves and our contractors at risk by placing themselves in the way of heavy machinery and large items being installed, such as the planters, works were planned for early morning. This was to reduce the risk of harm to all involved, which was the safest way to install the measures while supporting people’s right to peaceful protest. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the early start of the works, including to residents currently observing Ramadan. We will be returning to complete the remaining works at a later date.
‘Everyone can still drive to their properties within the trial area but they may need to go by a different route. Walking, wheeling and cycling access remains as it was. We have tested routes for all sized vehicles, including our waste vehicles.
‘This trial has been extensively consulted on over three years and has been co-designed with members of the community. It was planned and developed under the previous administration and has now, in the main, been delivered by the council. We will be asking for feedback about the trial and reviewing monitoring data, before making any decisions about the long-term proposals for East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood.’
A Bristol City Council spokesman added: ‘In January, Bristol City Council attempted to install a traffic management system in the Barton Hill area of the city, however the works were disruptive and police were required to attend.
‘The local authority gave us advanced notice it was planning to recommence the works on March 13, and we decided to stand up a policing operation, with the first officers attending at 4am, by which time the work had already begun. A total of 28 police officers were involved.
‘The policing operation had the objectives of ensuring peaceful protest could be facilitated and to prevent a breach of the peace. A small protest did take place and officers engaged with protestors to ensure the safety of everyone concerned.
‘Neighbourhood officers remained in the area throughout the day to engage with the public and answer any questions they may have.
‘We understand the strength of community feeling around this scheme and would encourage anyone with concerns about our policing to please speak to us. We received two complaints about the operation, but neither relates to the conduct of any of the officers involved.
‘Complaints about the behaviour or conduct of officers can be made through our website and will be assessed by the Professional Standards Department. Any allegations of this nature would be treated incredibly seriously and we’d encourage anyone to report them to us so they can be investigated.’
Avon and Somerset Police did not respond to a request for comment.
