£2.7m in public money sought for transport measures around Brabazon development

New details about shuttle buses that will take people to and from the new YTL Arena at Filton emerged this week.

The buses are part of a £4.9m package of transport measures linked to the huge stadium in Filton, the funding of which the city’s transport chief has been forced to defend.

The 17,000-capacity arena in the Brabazon Hangar in Filton Airfield is due to open in 2024 after previous plans for an arena in Temple Island were scrapped by mayor Marvin Rees.

Papers describing ‘YTL Arena Bristol travel mitigations’ came before Bristol’s Labour administration this week, along with a request for £2.7m of public funding.

Bristol City Council has always insisted Malaysian investment firm YTL will pay for the arena, and the developer has promised to contribute £3.1m towards transport infrastructure in the area, where a number of large new housing developments are being built.

‘Bespoke arena shuttle bus stops’ in the city centre were among the measures listed in the papers to the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Others included expansion of the Portway Park and Ride, an event-day residents’ parking scheme for Brentry and Southmead, and a segregated cycle route along Charlton Road.

Deputy mayor Craig Cheney, who chaired the meeting in the absence of the mayor, said: “The operator’s going to be putting on some shuttle buses from various locations and paying for them.”

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Read more: YTL to spend £3.1m on transport around Filton 

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YTL must put on the shuttle buses for every event with a capacity of 7,000 or more, it says. The operator is planning 130 events of this size every year – up to three a week.

For a 17,000-capacity event, 37 city centre shuttle buses would be needed beforehand and 93 afterwards to ensure 16 per cent of people choose that option, as expected by the council.

Alongside the arena, there are a number of major housing developments planned for Filton – image: YTL Developments

Officers sought and received cabinet approval for the council to join with South Gloucestershire Council in asking the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) for £2.7m towards the package of travel measures.

The report requesting the funding referred to “measures required to be delivered and operational by [the] summer/autumn 2024 opening date for the YTL Arena”.

It said: “The timely delivery of a package of sustainable transport and network management interventions is required in order to enhance the accessibility of the arena whilst minimising its impact on local communities in north Bristol as well as supporting delivery of various housing developments in the area.”

Introducing the report, cabinet member for transport Don Alexander said: “The arena is in a major development that includes several thousand homes, a park and a lake with excellent facilities.

“This paper provides a match of private and public funds to support the housing, from which the arena will benefit.”

Resident Suzanne Audrey queried the request for taxpayers’ money to help pay for the transport infrastructure, saying “it has been repeatedly stated that no public money is needed for the YTL arena”.

“I just wanted to know if you could explain the extent to which public money is needed for the arena to go ahead,” she asked.

Alexander said: “We haven’t really put any money in. Actually what we’ve done is we’ve saved money.

“The arena itself and the access roads to it are funded entirely by YTL. This has saved the city at least £165m and removed all the city’s liability to the private operator, YTL.

“There are also new housing and employment developments planned for this area. Like any major mixed-use regeneration project, the increased rail, bus and network management infrastructure to serve this area relies on a mixture of public and private money.

“I’m very happy to put public money into transport infrastructure in order that we create a sustainable neighbourhood.”

Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol 

Main image: YTL

Read more: First look at latest plans for neighbourhood built on former airfield site 

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