News / Tourism
Plans for new attraction above Bristol’s harbourside set for refusal
A planning application for a new glass viewing cabin that would lift people above the harbourside, giving them a view across Bristol, is being recommended for refusal.
Bristol City Council planning officers say Arc Bristol would cause harm to the city’s heritage assets, including the Bristol Cathedral. They claim the proposed £13.5m tourist attraction in the City Docks Conversation Area would clash with its surroundings.
The Arc is also being objected by Historic England and The Victorian Society, but has received support from residents and organisations across the city. This includes the Very Reverend Mandy Ford, Dean of Bristol, who says Bristol Cathedral fully supports the Arc.
is needed now More than ever
“A flight in Arc will show a fabulous new view of the Cathedral to visitors and the people of Bristol,” she says.
“The Cathedral has successfully navigated 881 years of change and we need to look to the future, embracing whatever the 21st Century will bring – welcoming beneficial changes like Arc as well as building resilience against damaging changes like the [COVID] virus.”
Bristol City Council planning officers say the design of the Arc would clash with heritage buildings like the Bristol Cathedral. Photo: Martin Booth
The Arc, which is hoped to launch in 2022, would lift 42 passengers 69 metres above the harbourside at a time. Passengers would enter the glass cabin from a new lounge built on the roof of We the Curious in Millennium Square.
The attraction is hoped to attract 250,000 visitors a year, adding £13.3m to the local economy.
The Arc is also seen as vital to the financial recovery of We The Curious, which has lost £3.4m in revenue and made significant redundancies over the last year.
We The Curious chief executive Donna Speed says: “As we move towards reopening, we’re starting to look to the future, and as part of that, Arc will be an important part of our financial recovery after the difficult year we have just faced.”
Arc’s founder and architect Nick Stubbs adds: “The whole point of Arc is to be able to see the wonderful Harbourside and the beautiful heritage buildings and landscape from a new perspective.”
A Bristol City Council planning committee will decide on the application for the Arc on Thursday, April 15.
Main photo courtesy of Arc Bristol/Conversation PR
Read more: Plans for £13.5m attraction above Bristol’s harbourside submitted
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