Despite determined efforts by all three partners to come up with a workable scheme, latest estimates confirm that the likely public sector contribution needed would be at least £88 million. This cannot be justified as good value for money by the public sector.
Since 2005 the public sector partners - the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) and Bristol City Council - have been working with private sector consortium Bristol Waterside Arena (BWA) on the project.
The partners had hoped to build a £250 million mixed use development including a 10,000-seat arena on the site if it proved economically viable to do so. As was made clear at a briefing in June this year, there has never been a guarantee of success and final approval always depended on the results of detailed financial assessments. Indoor arenas cannot be built without public sector investment because the value of the completed buildings is significantly lower than the construction costs.
-- Advertisement --
However, a mixed housing and commercial development, which could include shops and leisure facilities, is still planned by the RDA to take place as part of the wider £750 million Temple Quarter development which has already helped to transform this part of the city.
The diesel depot land would have had to have been bought, cleaned and provided with water, power and transport infrastructure as part of the wider development. The work carried out to date will help regenerate a disadvantaged inner city area of Bristol by creating new jobs, businesses, affordable homes and delivering new retail and leisure opportunities. Without public sector investment, this site would have remained an eyesore.
Ian Knight, South West RDA area director, said: "We are very disappointed that it has not proved feasible to build an arena for Bristol, but the latest figures show that it would simply not be a good use of public money. We were always supportive of including an arena in this development - but not at any price.
"Whilst our initial feasibility studies demonstrated that an arena could be viable, more detailed work on the specific designs and the building and infrastructure costs had to be carried out before we could make a further commitment.
"This work has revealed that the costs are higher than originally anticipated, and combined with changes in the market, have made it too expensive to deliver."
Detailed studies were carried out before choosing the land next to Temple Meads as the site for the development. Best practice across the country shows that arenas should be built in city centres and close to major public transport facilities if they are to bring significant benefits to the local economy and be sustainable.
(JM)
