Decision date set Mayor drops biggest hint yet over arena site with decision due in six weeks
MARVIN Rees has given his strongest hint to date that Bristol Arena will not be in the city centre. The Labour Mayor has listed four major reasons - including traffic, jobs and capacity - as to why a city centre venue might not be the best option for Bristol.
Mr Rees has held back from overtly stating where the long-awaited arena will be based, but has instead outlined the “parameters” for the decision making process.
The Bristol Post understands a final announcement on whether the venue will remain in the city centre will be made at the next cabinet meeting on September 4.
The comments were made during Mr Rees’s annual address to the council on Tuesday where he told the chamber it is not a straight choice between building an arena at Temple Island or opting for Malaysian investment firm YTL’s offer to privately fund a venue at Filton Airfield.
Instead, he claims the city has to first figure out if it can afford an arena, and secondly consider what the best use of the Temple Island site might be.
Mr Rees assured the chamber his decision will be made “without emotion” and based wholly on fact.
“I need to be sure we are building an arena that will bring the expected attractions to Bristol that citizens want to see, not just deliver a profit for the operator, who is determined to leverage this decision for his own benefit,” he said.
“I will ensure you that when I make this decision, it will be without emotion. It will be determined by facts – facts that make sure I make the right decision for Bristol and for the next 50 years .”
During his speech Mr Rees said by “holding its nerve” the Labour administration cut down the cost of the city centre project by £50million and is now able to offer the city a “genuine decision for the first time”.
He also took the opportunity to hit out at former Mayor George Ferguson and his use of the arena as a personal “vanity project”.
“The former Mayor claimed he wished he had signed the [arena] agreement [before he left office] – there is a reason he didn’t and it wasn’t because he forgot, it was because borrowing two hundred million pounds for a vanity project was a step too far,” Mr Rees said.
“By holding our nerve, that project is now deliverable for more than £50 million less. A lesson for those sat here who don’t take the public’s money seriously.”
While not overtly stated, the 46-year-old implied the council is in a position to afford a city centre arena, but has to consider whether it wants to see Temple Island used for a different purpose.
Mr Rees said he will take into consideration the results of the independent KPMG report which found an arena at Temple Island would be profitable, but the land would provide more jobs and money to the city if it were used for housing, retail and business space.
“I have to consider the value for money report that says building the arena on Temple Island brings £375million of economic out-turn and 650 jobs.
“A mixed-use site, including a conference centre, hotel and residential, brings an economic out-turn of £900 million pounds, more output and over 2,000 jobs.
“That is a big statement and a big impact on the city to walk away from.”
Mr Rees told the chamber the mixed use option has already sparked interest from developers and is “deliverable at pace”.
He also suggested 10,000 seats – the number allocated to the Temple Island venue – is not enough to attract the “right calibre” of acts and raised concerns about the level of traffic in the city centre on event days.
“We now know that using any average across existing comparable arena locations, 3,500 hundred cars will come into the city centre for every sell-out event,” the Labour Mayor said.
“That’s 3,500 cars driving into and around the city centre and neighbouring wards looking to park.
“On events where teenagers are the target audience, this number will go up as experience shows us that parents mostly choose to ferry younger people to and from the event for security. And all without a car park in the original flawed plan.”
All of these arguments suggest the Bristol Mayor is leaning away from building a city centre arena.
Mr Rees made no mention of the Filton Airfield proposal – presumably as a way to emphasise his point the argument should not be focused on a battle between the two locations.
But with no other option on the table, many in the chamber believe an arena on the northern fringe of the city must be a done deal if Mr Rees is to keep his manifesto pledge.