Western Daily Press (Saturday)
ARC GETS THE GO-AHEAD
UNIQUE TOURIST ATTRACTION:
AN “alien” 79-metre Bristol Arc viewing pod has been approved unanimously by councillors against planning officials’ advice.
All eight members of the city council’s development control committee voted on Thursday night to grant permission for the controversial moving observation capsule despite objections from Historic England that it would ruin views of the cathedral.
The unique tourist attraction at We The Curious will take up to 42 passengers on a 20-minute “flight” up to 67 metres above Bristol via a pivot moored in Anchor Square, although the top of the structure will be 12 metres higher than the cabin itself.
It will be solar powered, move at 5mph, operate up to 18 hours a day, attract between 250,000 and 330,000 visitors a year and boost the local economy by £13.3 million, with about 10 per cent of trips given for free or subsidised for people from deprived areas.
A Bristol City Council planning official told the committee there was “serious concern” about the visual harm to heritage assets, including the Grade I-listed cathedral, Grade II*-listed abbey buildings alongside it and three conservation areas.
“Taken together that is a lot of harm. It will have an adverse impact and it is on such a scale that it is not outweighed by the public benefits,” he said.
The official said the view from Park Street would be an “alien shape and structure coming behind the medieval cathedral which would really change the whole feel and ambience of the church”, adding that the old and new would “clash very badly”.
He said the Arc’s design was “innovative and unique” but that the reaction had been very mixed, with some seeing it like the natural historic movement of masts and sails in the harbour but others as detrimental to the skyline.
However, there was widespread support from business leaders, tourism chiefs and the Dean of Bristol Cathedral for the plans by Arc Global and We The Curious.
Hotwells & Harbourside ward Cllr Mark Wright told the meeting he was baffled by the recommendation to refuse, adding: “The Arc will put Bristol on the map in a way that Brunel would have loved.”
Transport campaigner David Redgewell said the objections from Historic England and the Victorian Society were “heritage gone mad”.
Committee member Cllr Richard Eddy said officers’ advice to reject the application made him feel like he was “living in a parallel universe”.
“If this committee was receiving an application for Brunel’s suspension bridge, I do wonder whether it would be recommended for refusal,” he said.
“This application is for a graceful, stylish and elegant structure, and the fact it is 100 per cent solar powered should be a real boon for us.
Cllr Fabian Breckels said the Arc could be compared with the London Eye and the i360 in regency Brighton which had both changed the skyline without harm.
He said: “Millennium Square is already a mash-up of the historic and the brand new.
“It is quite a fabulous mix. I love it down there.
“It’s very Bristol; it’s the unique thing that could give us the kind of shot in the arm economically we are going to need as a city coming out of this Covid depression.
“I have to support this. It is a brilliant, exciting thing, and to throw it out and the potential regeneration would be incredibly unwise of us.
“The skyline of Bristol is already changing. Things happen, stuff changes and that’s how cities evolve.”
Cllr Fi Hance said: “It is completely bonkers and nothing would make me set foot on that thing but I am happy to vote for it.”
It is understood that the application is not subject to be called in by the secretary of state for re-examination despite Historic England’s objections.
An Arc spokesperson said afterwards they were “delighted” members had overturned officers’ advice.
“It was absolutely clear to councillors the economic, social and environmental benefits far outweighed the technical ‘harm’ to the docks conservation area and the cathedral,” they said.
“From the outset we have been met with huge enthusiasm for Arc.
“We strongly feel this is a really positive message that this wonderful, creative city, with its rich history and heritage buildings, is also bold and ambitious and understands how the new and old can co-exist beautifully.”
If this committee was receiving an application for Brunel’s suspension bridge, I do wonder whether it would be recommended for refusal CLLR RICHARD EDDY