​Greta Thunberg’s Climate Rally In Bristol Sparks Row Over Damaged Grass

Many locals in Bristol are slamming those involved in last Friday's climate rally, which saw Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg deliver a speech before leading a march around the city.

Why so? Well, because it left the ground a little bit muddy, didn't it!? Absolutely disgusting behaviour, I know.

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The event began at College Green in the city centre, where a combination of bad weather conditions and hordes of people meant the grass soon became an inevitably muddy mess.

Despite the fact that protests are designed to shake things up a bit - the inconvenience is sometimes even the pivotal thing - many residents were left raging by the mucky patch of land outside the Cathedral.

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One person tweeted: "Call themselves green campaigners and then create this mess without a thought for the feelings of others. Most of them probably came from outside of Bristol so don't care a hoot."

Another wrote on Facebook: "Oh the irony, hundreds of people turning up to talk about our planet dying end up destroying a green area."

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The thing is, while all these people have been working themselves into a tizzy, others have been coming up with solutions - including a GoFundMe page, which is looking to raise £20,000 to help restore the grass.

The description on the fundraiser, which has already crowd-funded more than £13,000, said: "Bristol welcomed Greta Thunberg to the city for the Youth Climate Strike today and thousands turned out to see her and to stand in solidarity for climate action.

"The weather however wasn't on our side and it rained. A lot! And now College Green is a bit muddy. Contribute some funds to help Bristol City Council restore the grass in time for spring time picnics in the sun!"

The page was set up by Jon Usher, head of partnerships of Bristol-based charity Sustrans. In an update, he confirmed that the fundraiser had backing from Bristol City Council, which has promised that any leftover money would be used for 'wildflower areas across the city'.

What's more, there are even a fair few locals claiming College Green is already on the mend, with one person tweeting: "Walked past yesterday and grass is already growing back."

Someone else added: "It's not looking that bad today. Grass will grow!"

Topics: Environment, Greta Thunberg, UK News, News, Bristol

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman