Major plans to transform city’s ‘soulless’ section
A“RUN down” concrete jungle in part of Bristol city centre could be transformed with major regeneration.
Bristol City Council is hoping to improve the area around Broad Plain, by creating a new public square, better transport infrastructure and more green spaces.
Public consultation on its proposals has been ongoing since August, and now the council will be considering the responses.
The area the council is focusing on is bounded by Temple Way, Old Market Street, Midland Road, New Kingsley Road, Horton Street and Avon Street, in the streets around the landmark Gardiner Haskins building.
Its consultation paper states that Broad Plain is “dominated by large expanses of tarmac [and] confusing road markings and cycle routes”.
Nearby Unity Street is branded a “fairly soulless street” with the “notable exception of the landmark Gardiner Haskins tower”.
The description continues: “[The street has] narrow, poor quality footways, often blocked by street clutter, no street trees and flanked by low grade buildings.”
There is already construction along the street as developers build flats and hundreds of student rooms.
The centre of Old Market nearby is celebrated in the document as “a cultural destination and gay quarter” of Bristol, which has been “reinvented” in recent decades.
However, the council also notes most developments are still lacking in greenery and public recreational spaces, with the greenest space cited as being a car park.
It adds: “The Broad Plain strategy area is particularly lacking in parks and open spaces.
“The overwhelming majority of the trees in the strategy area are located within the Gardiner Haskins car park, which creates the impression of a green core.
“Whilst there are no plans to rede
It is too dark, too dirty and too narrow for the large numbers of people that currently use it
The con sultation paper on the Temple Way underpass
velop this at present ... If the car park site were to be developed, this green lung would be lost and the character of the area change dramatically unless significant new tree planting and open space were to be provided.”
The proposal puts forward the idea of creating a “new public square” at Broad Plain, which will require a reduction in parking spaces and through traffic.
It states: “Service access will be retained but through traffic will be reduced and rat running discouraged, through a combination of road closures, one-way streets, bus gates and cycle streets.”
As well as road changes, the consultation material also says it is “essential” to improve the graffiti-covered underpass along Temple Way, so that cyclists and pedestrians feel safe to use it.
It states: “It is too dark, too dirty and too narrow for the large numbers of people that currently use it, even though many positively avoid doing so because they do not feel safe there.
“The complex ramps, steps and railings that lead down to the subway fill the space, creating both a pinch point and very run down impression.”
The underpass is located outside the Bristol Post offices, which are described as having a “blank facade” that “dominates” Broad Plain.
The council hopes to “support the community vision” as outlined in the Old Market Quarter Neighbourhood Plan, to create “an attractive central neighbourhood that is not dominated by traffic, and the creation of convivial public spaces and people friendly streets”.