Worries have surfaced over regeneration around Bristol’s new arena.
In just over two years’ time, Bristol residents could be crowd-surfing or head-banging in a 12,000-capacity audience in the city’s new arena. But local property professionals have begun to question what the surrounding area will look like to the arriving crowds and whether the arena plans will kick-start wider development in the city’s enterprise zone.
After decades of waiting, a funding package has been agreed, an operator picked and consultations on the arena’s design are about to go ahead. A planning application is due to be submitted this summer.
“There is reticence towards residential-led mixed-use development due to an employment-first policy,” said Jonathan Orton, founder and director of Bristol-based planning consultancy Origin 3. “People would be more interested in the area if they could work on mixed-used schemes.”
To read the full feature, including what Bristol mayor George Ferguson, Invest Bristol and Bath, and Salmon Harvester think of the regeneration plans, click here.
