Internal documents obtained by Bristol Live reveal the council considered two quotes to create the Centre Promenade artwork using durable thermoplastic but rejected them due to high costs
(Image: Bristol Live)
Bristol Live readers are outraged to hear that the City Council rejected two proposals to install its troubled city centre artwork using more durable thermoplastic materials because of the cost.
‘Our Common Ground’, on the Centre Promenade, has faded and deteriorated several times since its installation in September after standard road marking paint was used instead. Internal documents show thermoplastic options priced at £60k and £78k were considered but ruled out, with the council opting for a cheaper approach despite concerns over durability.
The council paid £31k to Upfest to deliver the project, with total funding reaching £61k including a £30k contribution from the Bristol Legacy Foundation. The artwork had already required repainting within a month, and ongoing maintenance is expected to cost between £3,000 and £5,000 a year, expenses not included in the original budget.
Despite this, the council says the deterioration was due to an unforeseeable technical issue, even though it selected the materials. The long term future of the artwork remains uncertain.
Commenter Red93 says: “I have been running a Poetry Magazine in Bristol since 1992 – this year being our 34th year of successful publishing. In all that time, we have not asked for, or received, a single penny from BCC. I look around at all these big Arts Projects that BCC are so keen to fund – many of which, like the street art in the Centre, end up as total failures – and reflect that ‘small is beautiful’, as the saying goes.”
6470 demands: “Bring back the grass and seats, grass holds its own colour, all they have to do is cut some of the green off, one up to mother nature. No bikes or scooters, just people sitting down to eat their sandwiches. Once the council has sorted this out they can put the centre back to one way traffic just like a big roundabout, just because it was done a few years ago don’t make it wrong”
Ricla73 wonders: “What is the point of it when you can’t see it properly unless you/re above it and all the food vans park on it. Total waste of money.”
Blueclipper26 agrees: “An expensive indulgence which has wasted tax and business rate payers’ money.”
Undomesticgoddess pleads: “Please don’t waste any more money on it, just let it fade quietly away. Which won’t be long now, given the rate at which it has already been disappearing.”
Melissa C asks: “Can’t the artwork just be freshened up with better quality paint? Perhaps be given a clear protective coating after?”
Dave S complains: “This is why so many councils across the country are seen as wasteful. It’s not corruption, or even bad intentions. It’s just general incompetence because we vote in people who have the time to be councillors and the ego to want to be one, but lack the actual skills to manage projects and budgets. This project would have been binned at the idea stage if it was in the private sector.”
Craig B asks: “Maybe, just maybe this was the message behind the ‘artwork’? Bristol was once vibrant, colourful and a pleasure to live in. Now it feels like a crumbling mess, with the colour and excitement stripped away, while the council spends recklessly as families struggle to feed themselves and roads are left full of dangerous potholes.”
ProtectTheDownsAdmin says: “Money for paint, but not for people living in caravans or fixing potholes. Council tax keeps rising, yet there still never seems to be enough for the basics people rely on. Meanwhile, families are struggling and roads are getting worse. So where exactly is all that money going?”
Valerie O thinks: “Bristol City Council will never get the city centre right because they refuse to listen to what people actually want. Since the gardens, green spaces and flower displays were taken out, it has never felt the same, and a lot of taxpayers’ money has been wasted.”
The artwork keeps fading despite repairs. Is this really the best way to spend public money? Have your say in our comments section.