Your say / Bristol Arena
‘There are better uses for the land at Temple Meads than an arena’
For 30 years as the leader of the Bristol Initiative and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce, I was involved with many of the major improvements within Bristol.
The building of Cabot Circus and the regeneration of the harbour waterfront are just two examples where the facilitation of private investment has transformed the city. We, the Initiative, had at our peak more than 30 joint venture public/private partnerships.
Our input has always been based on getting business organisations to understand the practical value of making some investment in the wider issues facing the city community. Many have responded generously, and the Bristol Initiative has remained strong and has grown over the 30 years.
is needed now More than ever
We are passionately dedicated to the improvement of Bristol as a great city and for the benefit of all who live in and around it. Not least from the view that any sustainable improvement in the environment, the whole milieu, in which we operate and employ many thousands of people will also add to the wellbeing of our member organisations and their staff.
The current unfortunate politicisation of a location for an arena as an isolated matter betrays the absolute need to be aware of and to strive to achieve the best uses for all of the limited land available.
There are better uses for the land at Temple Meads and we have a golden offer for provision of an arena elsewhere within the city and completely at the cost of the private sector.
There is now an identified and highly credible private investment proposition for Temple Meads and that includes a much-needed conference centre, a matter that I understand well from my role as chairman of Destination Bristol, the city’s tourism and destination management company, which is a continuing joint venture with the City Council.
I have great conviction that the current mayor has performed well against difficult odds and has become an impressive leader. He has successfully for the moment dealt with the appalling challenges of reduced funding for local government.
But the pressure for savings will continue relentlessly and the key council responsibilities, including most importantly for child and adult care, will be a grinding problem for the public purse until a more realistic funding arrangement is secured from Government.
On this point alone, it is unthinkable that the mayor should contemplate the use of over one hundred million pounds of public money to enable the building of an arena at Temple Meads.
This highly desirable addition to the cultural provision for the city should and must be at the risk of private enterprise.
The alternative location requires no such public intervention apart from the modest cost associated with a short railway link, which would be provided anyway from a different public purse and which would, in any case, be very helpful to the anticipated population in that area.
Decisions like these should be derived after a reduction of options and of confusing nuances of opinion down to the hard and salient facts and the strongest reluctance for the potential to misuse public money on what may be seen by some as iconic vanity projects.
It looks to me, in this case, that we can truly eat our bun and keep our penny.
John Savage is chairman of Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative, chairman of Destination Bristol and chairman of Learning Partnership West. In 2017 he stood as an independent candidate for the West of England metro mayor.
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