There are fears the YTL Arena will shatter the peace in Brentry
The entrance to Charlton Gardens, a cul-de-sac on the very edge of Bristol, which will have the YTL Arena nearby(Image: Google Earth)
It’s difficult to tell, if you were to potter around the pleasant cul-de-sacs and estates off Charlton Mead Drive, that just over some of the back gardens will one day – probably, definitely, maybe, be the biggest entertainment venue in the region.
But it’s obvious just from the sheer volume of construction lorries and distant noise of machinery and hubbub, that something is happening in this previously quiet edge of Bristol.
Work to finally convert the huge Brabazon Hangar complex into a 19,000 capacity arena hasn’t actually started yet, but there’s plenty going on in this quiet corner of Brentry, the most northerly of Bristol’s urban areas.
These streets were constructed back in the 1960s and 70s as private housing on the edge of the city. The main railway line from Bristol to South Wales acted as a physical barrier forming both the edge of the county of Bristol, and the natural border between the homes and the vast Filton Aerodrome.
Back in the days when these homes were new, it was a noisy place. Concorde was being developed and the long runways and hangars were filled with activity. That all stopped around 20 years ago, and the airfield closed officially in 2012.
For the past couple of decades then, the only sounds over the hedges of Brentry have been the thwacks and pings and shouts from Filton Golf Course.
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But now, things are getting built. All along the southern and western end of the vast open space on the other side of the railway line, new housing estates are being built, and this little corner of Brentry is now longer a little estate island of quiet with an empty bowl of an airfield to the north, a golf club to the east.
But it’s what is about to happen – probably – at the huge Brabazon building that sits just on the Brentry side of the railway line and so, officially, in the city and county of Bristol, that is exercising the local residents, and their stalwart local councillor.
The Bristol suburb of Brentry, left, with the Brabazon hangar – the site for the YTL Arena – on the right, and Filton Golf Club in the foreground(Image: Google Earth)
Creating a 19,000 capacity arena over the other side of the hedge will transform this quiet little estate, and the new estates on the other side of the main road, from a backwater to a neighbour of a cultural hub.
The YTL Arena has been ‘about to start soon’ for about the last eight years, and never has. But as the homes are built, work on the station on the other side begins, and the boss of YTL talks confidently of the project actually getting started this year, the thoughts of the residents of Brentry turn to how it’s going to affect them.
READ MORE: Fears new Bristol Arena will cause traffic chaosREAD MORE: Parking fears raised over massive new Bristol Arena plans
“I suppose we’ve been used to this being a really quiet area, it’s lovely,” said one resident, June, who has lived here for ‘a good 20 years’. “We really don’t know what it will bring, but it will bring something,” she added. “It will be good for the area, but everyone I know around here is worried about the traffic and people filling the streets with parked cars. No one thinks the trains and buses will be able to cope with it all.”
Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, said he is still unconvinced the arena will happen. “I think it’s been so long, we’ve given up thinking it’ll ever happen. Obviously if it does, then great – we’ll be able to walk to big events there,” he said.
“The one thing I think people are worried about is the parking. They say there’ll be a big car park, and there’s the train station, but I look around at our nice quiet streets now and think ‘if I was driving to an event there I’d park here for free’, there’s nothing to stop them at the moment,” he added.
The nearest homes in Brentry to the Brabazon Hangar are literally just the length of the 18th hole at Filton Golf Club. Access from the roads of Brentry to the arena would, in theory, be just a five or ten minute walk.
(Image: Publicity Picture)
Exactly what the procedure for people attending events and parking would be remains to be seen, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out if people are charged for parking at the Brabazon Arena to encourage them to get a bus or train, then they might start looking around at the roads nearby.
It’s a scenario that has already occurred to Cllr Mark Weston, the long-serving Conservative councillor for this corner of Bristol. With YTL wanting to increase the capacity from the agreed 17,000 to 19,000, and the reality of a train service from the new station that will only be able to whisk away a fraction of those thousands after an event, Cllr Weston is flagging this up as an issue now, before work to create the arena has really even begun.
He wants Bristol City Council to be pro-active, and undertake a survey and review of the roads of Brentry, and have this as a pre-arena baseline. And if there’s no way of knowing what life was like on the kerbs of Brentry before the arena opened, then there’ll be no way to show there’s a difference and make YTL fund something that does something about it.
Mark Weston, councillor for Henbury and Brentry, in Crow Lane Open Space(Image: James Beck/BristolLive)
“If we don’t do the parking survey at some point, we’ll never get it done. And then we won’t have a baseline, and we won’t know if things have got worse. Then we can’t trigger money from YTL to put in the mitigation,” he said.
“YTL has committed that if there’s an impact by the arena on parking in the surrounding areas, Southmead, Henbury and Brentry, they have to put in mitigations in place to stop it, like an event parking scheme or something else,” he said.
“What I would hate for us to do is get the arena open and then go ‘oh, we haven’t monitored the parking’. If we don’t have a base to judge it against whether it’s got worse, we’re going to cause a problem. Redrow is the final bit of housing in that area, and they’re selling now. So within about six months, we’ll know what the parking is,” he added.
Bristol City Council doesn’t exactly have a great track record when it comes to allowing a major events venue and making sure the people living around it don’t have their roads clogged up by parked cars when there’s an event on.
When council planners gave Steve Lansdown permission to turn Ashton Gate from a much-loved but functional football ground into a 27,000 capacity stadium, they included the idea that the stadium should fund a ‘matchday parking’ system – common around almost all football stadia in England – which sees drivers parking in the residential streets returning to find their cars have been towed.
Residents have long complained of fans’ cars clogging up the roads around Ashton Gate on matchdays
But the council’s small print for that mid-2010s planning permission was woolly to say the least. The stadium would only have to fund a matchday parking scheme if one of two situations were triggered – Bristol City reached the Premier League, or three of five consecutive men’s football matches saw more than 25,000 fans enter the stadium.
Despite crowds returning in greater numbers than before the Covid pandemic, it’s a condition that’s never been triggered.
Nevertheless, council chiefs believe they can deal with this issue when YTL formally do come and ask to increase the capacity of the Brabazon Arena from 17,000 to 19,000. Alex Hearn, the council’s director of economy of place, told a recent meeting: “The suggestions of increased capacity means they’ll be required to have more engagement with the planning authority and a new planning application. That will require a new transport assessment as well, so we can look at that.”
The Brabazon hangar has been used for a big music event before. Back in 2019, Massive Attack played twice there to about 14,000 each night, to showcase the site as a music and events venue, and show it was possible.
That required a convoy of double decker buses from the city centre to Filton Airfield the likes of which Bristol had never seen before or since, with thousands heading from Broad Quay to Brabazon up the M32. The idea that this would happen again on a nightly basis is, frankly, fanciful.
Shuttle buses, Massive Attack
Andrew Billingham, the chief executive of the YTL arena, is aware of the issue before it’s an issue, but points out the council gave planning permission to approve the Arena with a 17,000 capacity, and has already required millions of pounds from YTL to be contribute towards transport improvements. “
“We understand the concerns raised regarding transport and parking as we progress with the development of YTL Arena,” he said. “Our commitment is to ensure that concert-goers and visitors can travel to and from the arena efficiently while minimising any impact on neighbouring communities.
“YTL has already committed over £3.6 million in planning obligations, which will contribute to transport improvements and infrastructure. A comprehensive transport management plan has been approved as part of the planning process, ensuring a well-structured approach to managing visitor journeys.
“When Bristol hosted the Massive Attack concerts in 2019, more than 28,000 people attended without dedicated rail infrastructure, and the event was a great success. Building on this experience, YTL is investing heavily to promote sustainable transport and reduce reliance on cars,” he said.
Bus heading straight to Massive Attack(Image: Martin Booth – bristol247.com)
“We are committed to monitoring parking levels in surrounding areas and will work with local authorities to address any potential issues. If at any point further mitigations are needed, we will take appropriate action.
“Should we seek to increase the arena’s capacity beyond the already approved 17,000, we will work closely with all relevant authorities to assess and manage the transport impact effectively. Our goal is to create a world-class venue that benefits the entire city while ensuring the needs of local residents are respected and safeguarded,” he added.
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