After the pandemic What to expect in 2021
FOR almost all of us, 2020 will be a year we’re now glad to see the back of, and 2021 could not have come soon enough.
But while 2020 will go down in history as the year of the coronavirus pandemic which changed everything in everyone’s lives, what will 2021 have in store?
For now, it seems like more of the same – as the second wave of the winter of 2020 continues into this shiny new year.
But there are things we know should happen, could happen, even if no one is brave enough to say they will happen.
For when we come to the end of 2021, what might have changed in Bristol?
Brabazon Arena
The saga over former mayor George Ferguson’s ‘shovel-ready’ plan for a 10,000-seater arena next to Temple Meads station came to define the first couple of years of Marvin Rees’ term as mayor, as he met YTL chiefs in various locations around the world, came back persuaded to eventually drop the city centre plan and instead give his backing to YTL’s idea of converting the huge Brabazon Hangar at the former Filton Airfield into a bigger arena.
As the pandemic hit, the mayor pointed out the wisdom of that decision. Had the Temple Meads arena been built, the council would have been paying top dollar in repayments and to whoever was operating it, only for it to sit idle since March, although one might imagine the council would be using it for some kind of emergency relief effort by now.
Meanwhile, YTL got planning permission. Then it got the backing of the Secretary of State in April last year and, despite the pandemic, YTL says its programme of construction work will start in mid2021 as originally planned, with the doors of the arena expected to open in 2023.
The YTL Arena will become the third largest arena in the UK – after the O2 in London and Manchester Arena – when it is finished, with a capacity for more than 17,000 spectators.
“The first few months of 2020 promised an exciting year ahead when in March we were granted planning permission, and just as we all headed into lockdown and a new world, the Secretary of State rubber stamped that approval,” a YTL spokesperson said.
“While inevitably the Covid pandemic has had an impact on us all, we have continued to be busy and productive throughout the year.
“We have made significant progress with our technical design in preparation for construction; we also managed to bring some outdoor events to the airfield, including three drive-in cinema events in July, October and in the run-up to Christmas.
“We will continue to explore opportunities to hold live events this year.”
The developers also said they are “determined” to work with local people, organisations and businesses following the pandemic.
And it won’t just be the arena either.
Hundreds of new homes are
being built at the old airfield, and the developers are calling it Brabazon, hoping this will become a new suburb of Bristol.
Bedminster Green
Anyone driving from the city centre into the wilds of South Bristol with the intention of heading for the airport or Somerset are almost certain to start to notice some changes in 2021.
Developers have been jostling for position of half a dozen sites they’ve started calling Bedminster Green. It’s either side of Malago Road, between East Street and Bedminster station. They all want to build tall blocks of flats that will change the skyline in this part of South Bristol.
And in 2020, one of them, finally, got planning permission, which has spurred on the others to submit and resubmit applications and appeals. Expect more approvals, more plans and building work to start there.
Redcliffe and Temple Way
Tall buildings and swanky new office blocks are already beginning to appear in the area of Bristol just to the south east of the city centre.
Imagine a rough circle that includes the Old Market roundabout to Castle Park, across the harbour to Finzel’s Reach and round to Victoria Street, down to Temple Meads and back up Temple Way.
Already in 2020, Temple Way became lined with office blocks and, at One Castle View, the tallest modern building in the city will be finished this year.
And 2021 will see also the rise of the EQ building on Victoria Street. Work started just before Christmas and its builders say it is the ‘largest committed speculative office development in the south of England’ at the moment. Then, just up the road, Gavin Bridge’s Cubex company is continuing its plans for the old fire brigade headquarters, as a complement to the Finzel’s Reach development across the road.
Why are all these large-scale office blocks springing up in this area, when last year became the year of home working? Well, the developers don’t think that will last, and new, Covid-secure working spaces will be in demand.
A charge to drive into Bristol
Those planning the Clean Air Zone for Bristol went back to the drawing board in 2020, after the pandemic brought lockdown and suddenly the roads were empty and the air was clean again. How we emerge into the post-Covid world – whether it’s back into our cars to drive into Bristol city centre again like we used to, will depend what happens with the Clean Air Zone.
The decision was put off, and a second consultation has just ended. In February 2021, the council will put its proposals to the Government, but it looks likely it will include a £9 charge for anyone and everyone driving a petrol or diesel car into or across Bristol city centre.
It looks likely too, that will also include the Brunel Way and the Plimsoll Bridge, which effectively puts a £9 charge on anyone from South Bristol driving a fossil fuel-powered vehicle to access the rest of Bristol or the M32. Watch as this becomes a hot election topic if the election does indeed go ahead in May.
Bristol Airport
Plans to expand Bristol Airport with a new terminal and an increase in passenger numbers have been a huge issue in and around Bristol over the past couple of years.
The pandemic now means the average Bristolian is more likely to go to the airport to get tested for Covid19 than they are to fly to Malaga. But despite this, Bristol Airport is pressing ahead with the project for when we’re all ready to fly again.
The expansion bit was refused planning permission by North Somerset’s planners, and airport bosses are now appealing to the Government to overturn that decision.
The decision will be made after a four-week public inquiry scheduled for July.
Whether or not success for the airport will mean work actually starts this year remains to be seen – but Bristol Airport is very keen, so it would not be a surprise if the Conservative Government backed the plans to provide a post-Covid economic boost, and the airport cracks on with it straight away.
Southmead
Residents cheered in May last year as the council approved resident-led proposals for the redevelopment of Glencoyne Square.
The project will turn part of Southmead into 120 homes, a health centre, library, office space and community facilities including a launderette.
In the museums
The optimistic among us are imagining Bristol’s attractions and events opening back up again in the summer. And when people do start going to visit things expect many to flock to see a new exhibit at the M-Shed.
It’s the statue of Edward Colston, and will be exhibited with all the graffiti daubed on it over the years, all the Black Lives Matter placards that surrounded it on the day it was toppled on June 7, 2020, and even the bike tyre that the statue hooked and dragged up when it was fished out of the Floating Harbour later that week.
What might also be exhibited, could be the letters or essays written by six people who have accepted a conditional caution for the criminal damage to the statue that day. One of the conditions was that they write to the newly-set up History Commission to share their thoughts on what happened.