Bristol’s long hoped for arena cleared its final hurdle this week as its funding package was agreed by the full city council. Work will now begin on appointing an operator to run the 12,000 capacity venue on disused land near Temple Meads station in a move that will deliver a huge cultural and economic boost to the city,
The move means Bristol will be able to host large-scale concerts and other spectator events. 
The city is the largest in the UK without a major indoor venue – a fact some commentators claim has impacted on its economic development and hampered its growth as a major tourist centre.
The city will now be able to attract the kind of major acts that previously by-passed it to play in Cardiff or Birmingham. It will also be able to stage indoor sports competitions such as basketball, major trade fairs and community events as well as the heats of national TV talent shows such as X-Factor.
The arena is due to open in 2017. It will contribute more than £150m to the region’s economy, according to consultants working on the project, creating more than 900 direct and indirect jobs in the city and nearly a further 400 in the towns around Bristol.
Tuesday's full council approval brings to an end more than decade of false starts for the Bristol Arena project including by the now-abolished Regional Development Agency which started work at the Temple Meads site.
The council is set to invest up to £91m to build the arena – around £38m will come from rent paid by the operator and other related income once it is built and £53m borrowed via the City Deal Economic Development Fund, managed by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson, who made the arena an election pledge, said after last night's vote: “This is a real milestone for the city region following many disappointments in the past. An arena for Bristol has been one of my top priorities.
"As a mayoral candidate I was determined to put this back on the agenda and I have seen a huge groundswell of demand and support for such a development.
“Bristol is the only major city in the UK without a facility of this scale and with the funding package now in place we can at last move forward to make an arena for Bristol a reality, taking advantage of learning from other cities’ experiences to deliver the best possible venue.
“The arena will sit in the heart of the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone next to Temple Meads station and will be a major catalyst for the regeneration of the area. With great transport links and the planned electrification of the London-to-Bristol line it can be expected to bring a wide audience to Bristol and local residents will no longer need to leave the city to see their favourite artists and shows."
The mayor said the net cost of the arena to the council is likely to be no more than £15m, depending on the success rate of building up the City Deal Economic Development Fund from new business rates over the next few years. In other cities where arenas have been built, tens of millions of pounds of additional money has been brought to the city regions each year from business activity, hotel stays, visits to restaurants and other related activity.
The funding agreement coincides with the owners of the arena site, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), commissioning contractors Sisk to start work on a new bridge into the site and infrastructure connecting it to the surrounding area.
The HCA is investing more than £11m to build the bridge and 'unlock' the former diesel depot site. Work will start on clearing the ground in the next fortnight, with the major structural work on the bridge commencing in May.
HCA head of area David Warburton said: “Our investment in new infrastructure will play an important part in unlocking the largest cleared site in the Enterprise Zone to enable significant new development and investment and help make the vision for an arena a reality. Preparatory work for the bridge and the other infrastructure will start within the next few weeks and we are looking forward to playing our part in this hugely significant addition to Bristol’s economic and cultural landscape.”
A report last October from the Bristol office of AECOM (formerly Davis Langdon), the city council’s cost consultant and employer’s agent on the arena project, concluded that a 12,000-capacity arena on the former diesel yard site next to Temple Meads station will create 274 permanent jobs in Bristol and a further 113 across the wider West of England in ancillary services such as hotels and restaurants as many event-goers are likely to be from outside the region.
Some 2.2m adults live within an hour's drive time of the arena site – although event-goers will be encouraged to use public transport.
The report also said Bristol could anticipate a “clear return on any financial investment” with £110.9m added to the city economy over 25 years from the arena’s opening with a further £46m going to the wider region.
This is set against a total project investment of around £80.2m in the arena and £8.1m for surrounding infrastructure including roads, shops and other facilities.
The economic impact of an arena on the site would be greater than using it for any other commercial development, the mayor has said.
At present Bristol’s largest music and entertainment is the 02 Academy with 2,500 seats. While Bristol City’s Ashton Gate stadium can seat 25,000, such open-air venues can only stage one or two concerts a year.
The nearest arena-size venue is the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff which has a capacity of 5,000 seated and 7,500 standing.
Ten locations across the UK have arenas with a capacity of at least 12,000. The nearest to Bristol is 95 miles away in Birmingham.
Research by the consultants showed that the rise of TV show-related events such as those based on the X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing had proved popular in major arenas along with gigs by touring bands and artists as well as star comedians. Attendances at UK arenas have averaged around 10m people a year over the past six years.
The arena has been 'soft marketed' to potential operators who had confirmed it could sustain a viable revenue stream.
Having 10,000 seats and standing space for 2,000 people arranged in a horseshoe space offers the greatest flexibility and means the arena can stage events such as major basketball tournaments, according to research. Some seating could be screened off to allow smaller, community events to take place at the arena. The venue will include 20, 12-seater private boxes and hospitality facilities for 400 guests.
Most visitors will be expected to travel to the arena by public transport. There will be very little on-site parking, which will be mainly for staff, VIPs and disabled people. Those driving to the arena will be expected to use park and ride or car parks within a 15-minute walk of the site.
Approximate arena timetable:
April 2014 Work starts to appoint an operator
November 2014 Operator appointed and final approval of EDF funding subject to business case
January 2015-Jan 2016 Design team and building contractor appointed, design developed and planning application submitted
Jan 2016-summer 2017 Construction and fit out
Summer 2017 Arena opens
