LOTTA BOTTLE
SOUTH BRISTOL FILM STUDIOS COULD EXPAND
BRISTOL City Council has agreed to buy land at a business park in South Bristol which could soon become home to the city’s successful Bottle Yard Studios.
The film studios, which is currently located in Whitchurch Lane, could be moving part of its business just half a mile down the road to Hawkfield Business Park.
The studio has been home to major productions including Sherlock, Poldark, Wolf Hall, Broadchurch and the Crystal Maze. The move is part of an aim to expand the successful business which is run in partnership with the council. But the council also has more practical reasons for buying the former Kelston Gears site in the business park.
The authority say it wants to “protect employment land” in Hengrove – an area of the city which is in the midst of a huge housing development programme which will see nearly 2,000 new homes built in the area.
But there is also the fact that while these new homes are being built nearby, work there could be a major disruption to Bottle Yard Studios.
During a cabinet meeting at City Hall on Tuesday night deputy mayor Craig Cheney said: “Purchasing the Kelston Gears site also allows us to extend the success of Bottle Yard Studios which is a hugely successful business.
“Elements of which will be disrupted by the forthcoming Hengrove Park housing development.
“A lack of soundproofing in older unadapted buildings will render three, potentially four of the studios inoperable thereby reducing the ability for Bristol to continue to attract high profile, economically beneficial and employment-generating television and film productions to the city.
“And later phases of housebuilding work will further impact on the operation of other studios.”
During the meeting cabinet agreed to acquire the land through a compulsory purchase order, but it is hoped that funding from the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) could help deliver the project.
And if the funding bid is unsuccessful Cllr Cheney said there would be an option for Bristol City Council to re-sell the land.
During Tuesday’s meeting Mayor Marvin Rees described Bottle Yard as an “incredible asset to the city” which he said played a significant role in Bristol’s recent success at becoming a creative hub for Channel 4.
The Bottle Yard is not only home to some famous productions. Behind the scenes there is a hive of activity taking place in the form of creative companies - from costume making to animation and casting.
There have always been businesses on site, but in the last few years an increasing number of firms have relocated themselves to the studios. The studios have also become a key employment driver in the city’s film and TV production sector, attracting a regular supply of UK and overseas film and TV productions to the city since 2010. This was not lost on Hartcliffe and Withywood cabinet member Cllr Helen Holland who hoped this expansion of the Bottle Yard would lead to even more opportunities for local employment.
According to a report on the CPO phase one of the project is the purchase of the Hawkfield Business Park site. Meanwhile phase two would see the refurbishment of the former Kelston Gears site in order to relocate four studios from Bottle Yard, “thereby maintaining the current level of television production, employment, training and economic benefit.”
Phase three involves a new build of two purpose-built studios on the expansion land on the Hawkfield site, leaving the business operational across two sites within half a mile from each other.