An ambitious 25-year vision for Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone has been unveiled with the potential to create thousands of jobs – but its launch has been overshadowed by a political row over a possible delay to the city’s proposed £92m arena.
The city council ‘framework’ – which sets out broad guidance for the 70-hectare site – proposes a major new commercial, residential and leisure district for the city.
Some 17,000 jobs could be created on the site, which includes Temple Meads railway station, over the next 25 years – with the council targeting the creative, energy and education sectors.
The eyesore former Post Office sorting office would be demolished, giving Bristol a new gateway and one, according to Mayor George Ferguson, that it could be proud of rather than ashamed.
However, the Spatial Framework’s launch yesterday was overshadowed by fears that councillors’ decision to defer planning permission for the 12,000-capacity arena earlier in the week could put the venue at risk unless it is resolved quickly.
Councillors felt the plans had been brought before them too early and many of the details, particularly around car parking, had been rushed.
Mayor Ferguson accused the councillors of potentially jeopardising the entire arena project and said they were playing politics ahead of May’s mayoral election.
Deferring planning approval would set the project back several months from its early 2018 opening and add hundreds of thousands of pounds to the cost, he said.
The Spatial Framework, a non-statutory planning document, aims to create a new urban quarter for Bristol with quality places for people and reflecting the city’s distinctiveness, entrepreneurship, culture and Green Capital status.
It shows innovative new work hubs, residential apartments, the new arena, and an expanded interchange area with a world-class railway station at its heart. All this would be linked through people friendly streets and spaces.
Mayor Ferguson said it would be much more than another office park, which was only used during business hours.
“The Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone is one of the largest and most successful urban regeneration projects in the country, and this document is a key part of ensuring that it delivers for all those people living and working in, and visiting, Bristol,” he said.
“The Enterprise Zone will become a thriving new city quarter and will, in time, deliver a fitting welcome for the thousands of people who travel into Temple Meads station every day, in contrast to the dereliction and ugliness that has been the arrival experience for too many years. This is a long term vision for the area and I would like to encourage residents and businesses to comment on the plans.”
The Spatial Framework is being consulted on alongside two complimentary documents: a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, a strategic transport plan that focusses on how walking, cycling and public transport use could be encouraged to and within the zone, and the Public Realm Guide that sets out the council’s expectations for the design of people-friendly streets and spaces.
Residents and businesses are now being invited to have their say on the proposals, which cover development layout, land use, public spaces, transport and access.
