Brabazon, Bristol

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

Shouldn't that read "arenal"? 

It should, but I resisted. Not all readers here are from the Brissle areal.

[Red Squirrel]

I just attended a YTL presentation about the Brabazon area. Couple of interesting points:

1. Brabazon station could open ahead of Henbury if Henbury is delayed. YTL want Brabazon open in 2023.
2. They very much want the station to be called Brabazon, not North Filton.
3. They want trains to BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) ('across the diamond') by the 2030's.
4. They want to add 1000's of houses to their consented scheme without putting additional cars on the road. They see the only way to do that is with better public transport.

[Red Squirrel]

I've expanded on this in a new post on the FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site) website:

https://fosbr.org.uk/brabazon-development/

[johnneyw]

There's predictions of traffic gridlock reported on Bristol Live if the railway station doesn't open until a year after the YTL venue opens....as seems likely now.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-arena-transport-delays-could-7732864?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Mayor Marv does seem to be blaming current political and economic uncertainty on delays that have been much longer in the making.

[TonyK]

There's predictions of traffic gridlock reported on Bristol Live if the railway station doesn't open until a year after the YTL venue opens....as seems likely now.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-arena-transport-delays-could-7732864?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Mayor Marv does seem to be blaming current political and economic uncertainty on delays that have been much longer in the making.

Portway Parkway was nearly finished in just over 12 years, so this shouldn't be too much longer. I see an hourly service is proposed, which might just take a tenth of the happy people back to the big station next to the original site, and the 75 bus runs until nearly 7.30 pm.

More work needs doing on transport than just hurrying up the station.

[ChrisB]

Bristol Arena will not open until 2026, says developer

 From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A long-awaited city concert arena will not open until late 2025 or early 2026.

The Bristol arena, originally planned to open in 2024, will potentially now not hold its first event until two years later than hoped.

CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) of developer YTL, Andrew Billingham, said Covid and "challenges" in the construction industry are behind the delay.

When completed, the arena - part of the Brabazon development - will have a capacity of 19,000.

The three Brabazon Hangars on Filton Airfield, once home to Concorde, are being developed into the arena, with conference space, after YTL bought the site in 2015.

In a statement released on Monday, Mr Billingham said "good progress" was being made on the arena, and YTL was entering "the final stages" of the design process.

The potential capacity for the arena has been increased from 17,000 to 19,000

But he added: "Given delays resulting from the impact of Covid and the general challenges in the construction market, our estimated opening is now late 2025 to early 2026.

"YTL is totally committed to opening Bristol's first major indoor music arena and entertainment complex.

"Work has begun on key pieces of infrastructure required including new road connections, establishing new power supplies and site preparation works."

In October it was announced that a new train station for the arena also faced delays and will not be ready for passengers until 2026.

"The train station at Brabazon is an important element and discussions continue on how this might be brought forward," added Mr Billingham.

YTL was given planning permission in October to build Brabazon Park, a huge new urban park which will sit alongside the arena.

The company has also announced it will be working with Bristol-based interior designers Studio B on the look of the building.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: "We recognise how the impacts of Covid and the difficulties in the construction market have impacted on everybody and so it's no surprise that YTL have also been affected by a delay.

"We remain delighted and excited that Bristol will have a world class arena that will bring all major acts and sporting events to the city and are grateful for YTL for taking on all the risk and costs that come with the project."

[Bmblbzzz]

Good job Bristol didn't get the Eurovision Song Contest gig!

[TonyK]

Good job Bristol didn't get the Eurovision Song Contest gig!

If Eurovision is still going in 2040, Bristol could be ready to make a bid.

[grahame]

Good job Bristol didn't get the Eurovision Song Contest gig!

If Eurovision is still going in 2040, Bristol could be ready to make a bid.

That assumes we win in 2039.    The "Coffee Shop Moderator Singers" have noted this and will be at practice from later this year to ensure that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) does so ... with their song "When will trains return to Portishead"

[TonyK]

That assumes we win in 2039.    The "Coffee Shop Moderator Singers" have noted this and will be at practice from later this year to ensure that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) does so ... with their song "When will trains return to Portishead"

With the B-side "Is Portway Parkway Open Yet?", they could have a hit in more decades than Sir Cliff Richard.

[Noggin]

Now, if you wanted to get all conspiratorial you might wonder if it's any coincidence that Marv's stint as Mayor ends in May 2024? For that matter, the next UK^▸ (United Kingdom) General Election has to be held no later than Jan 2025.

So get Marv safely out of the way, see which way the political wind is blowing, get the arena soft-launched in 2025 with bookings for the big stuff in 2026.

[TonyK]

Now, if you wanted to get all conspiratorial you might wonder if it's any coincidence that Marv's stint as Mayor ends in May 2024? For that matter, the next UK^▸ (United Kingdom) General Election has to be held no later than Jan 2025.

So get Marv safely out of the way, see which way the political wind is blowing, get the arena soft-launched in 2025 with bookings for the big stuff in 2026.

Not completely impossible is get Marvin out of the way, and install a council with a mandate to build an arena on the original spot. It has planning permission.

[Red Squirrel]

Now, if you wanted to get all conspiratorial you might wonder if it's any coincidence that Marv's stint as Mayor ends in May 2024? For that matter, the next UK^▸ (United Kingdom) General Election has to be held no later than Jan 2025.

So get Marv safely out of the way, see which way the political wind is blowing, get the arena soft-launched in 2025 with bookings for the big stuff in 2026.

Not completely impossible is get Marvin out of the way, and install a council with a mandate to build an arena on the original spot. It has planning permission.

I’m not sure that the fate of the YTL Arena has much connection with the fate of the outgoing Bristol Mayor.

As to the original Arena site: it is vanishingly unlikely that anyone would advocate reopening that can of worms.

[Bmblbzzz]

I think the "causal arrow" between the YTL Arena and Marvin Rees is more likely to run the other way.

[johnneyw]

Planning permission has been granted for an expanded Filton Keynes..... sorry, Brabazon District.  YTL seem to have persuaded the planning authorities to more densely develop the former airfield with talk of staged developments building transport infrastructure alongside.  The article is thin on detail of what this transport infrastructure will actually be and while the long planned station is mentioned, there is nothing to indicate any increased urgency in it's provision.
Article link below.

https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2024/03/01/plans-expand-for-new-city-district-at-bristol-airfield/