A new £350m plan for the wasteland next to Temple Meads station where a 10,000-seater arena was once supposed to be built has finally been submitted to council chiefs – and has been backed by Bristol’s new council leader. Legal & General wants to build 520 new homes – including more than 200 ‘affordable’ homes – two new office buildings, retail space, ‘flexible workspaces’ and a new hotel with conference facilities on ‘Temple Island’, the area next to the Bath Road Bridge that was once known as ‘Arena Island’.
It’s been almost seven years since former mayor Marvin Rees stopped what was described as a ‘shovel-ready’ plan for a major entertainment arena on the site next to Temple Meads, drawn up by previous mayor George Ferguson, and instead decided a mixed development would be better on the site as part of the vast Temple Quarter regeneration area.
The deal with L&G has been a controversial one, with council taxpayers guaranteeing the returns for the developers, and now finally, in 2025, L&G has submitted a planning application which could see work on developing the wasteland start next year.
Some of Temple Island is already earmarked for student accommodation as part of the University of Bristol ’s new Temple Quarter campus, but the rest of the vast site will be mainly flats. L&G said it was ‘working in partnership with the city council, the metro mayor and other public sector partners’, to make it so 40 per cent of the 520 new homes would be classed as ‘affordable’.
That would mean 208 new homes could be at reduced social or ‘affordable’ rents, or made available for shared ownership or to keyworkers like teachers or nurses, at lower than market rent.
“It’s great to see proposals for much needed new homes and commercial space submitted for Temple Island,” said Tony Dyer, the Green Party’s council leader who has taken over from former Mayor Marvin Rees. “The council has been working with L&G for a long time to bring these plans forward, so this is an exciting milestone to reach after so much hard work.
“Temple Island will be a key part of the wider Bristol Temple Quarter area, contributing to our ambitions to deliver 10,000 new homes and thousands of new jobs across the area. This planning application is a brilliant springboard to kickstart 2025 for Bristol Temple Quarter, which looks set to be a significant year for the project,” he added.
Ben Rodgers, L&G’s head of regeneration, said the development was an ‘exciting opportunity’. “Legal & General seeks to deliver precisely-targeted investment through a place-based approach to creating transformative mixed-use communities,” he said.
“We are excited by the opportunity to regenerate Temple Island, revitalising the urban landscape and providing the key infrastructure that businesses, universities, and the public sector need to thrive alongside much-needed housing for the local population in Bristol.
“All the feedback from the public engagement has immensely benefited the final planning application, and we are grateful to the residents and stakeholders who took the time to speak with us. We look forward to continuing to work with our long-term partners to develop a new landmark on this prominent city centre site,” he added.