Community leaders in Bristol will be able to roll out even more ambitious plans for the city’s enterprise zone thanks to nearly £6 million of Government funding.
The grant has allowed Bristol City Council to acquire the derelict sorting office building site adjacent to Temple Meads railway station. The 2.1 hectare site is a key within the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and has lain disused and derelict for over 17 years.
The acquisition follows the council’s purchase of Arena Island and 1-9 Bath Rd. Over the next few months further work will be carried out to review how these three important sites can work together to create a new quarter within the enterprise zone. This new opportunity will feed in to the planning application for the arena which is currently planned for the end of the summer.
Local Growth Minister James Wharton said:
“This is great news for Bristol. As everyone knows this site has been an eyesore for years and a real blight on the city. It’s why we’ve invested nearly £6 million to get these plans off the ground, which along with the Arena development will create hundreds of jobs for hard-working people and pump millions of pounds back into the local economy. It’s yet another example of how our Enterprise Zone programme is driving forward growth and delivering real benefits to local communities.”
The former sorting office site close to Temple Meads station and Arena Island contains two large interlinked disused buildings – a 1930’s sorting office and an adjoining 1970’s office building. The council plans to use the site for a mix of employment space with some residential use. The site has potential for waterfront offices and provides important links with other sites in the enterprise zone. It will bring better connections to Temple Meads station and could allow landing points for a new pedestrian bridge from Arena Island and links to a proposed floating pontoon cycleway and walkway connection to Temple Quay. The purchase has been made possible through a grant of £5.425 million, from the Department of Communities and Local Government. The grant supported the transfer of Arena Island from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to Bristol City Council allowing funding agreed by the Mayor to acquire Arena Island to be used to buy the former sorting office at Cattle Market Road.
