The company behind the redevelopment of the former Filton Airfield has submitted plans to create the UK’s third biggest entertainment arena complex within three redundant hangars on the site.

YTL Developments (UK) Ltd has submitted a suite of four planning applications to Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council – proposing a repurposing of the enormous Brabazon Hangars, the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the adjacent railway line, the provision of a temporary car park for 2,000 vehicles and highway improvements to allow access for service vehicles.

The developer says the new complex will create more than 500 new jobs and inject £1.5 billion into the local economy over 25 years.

Managing director of YTL Arena Complex, Andrew Billingham, said:

“YTL’s commitment is demonstrated as we submit our exciting plans to deliver a 100 percent privately funded entertainment complex for Bristol. It uses the 28,000sqm floorspace of all three hangars to create something unique in the south west: an arena, exhibition and leisure space all under one roof.”

Three venues in one

The arena will be in the Central Hangar and with 17,080 capacity, it will be the third largest in the UK after Manchester and the O2. The East Hangar will house a new Festival Hall, a flat floor event space for conventions, exhibitions and working in tandem with the arena to attract large scale events. The West Hangar, The Hub, will be a place to eat, work and play, with leisure facilities, food and drink and home to small or start-up businesses.

Mr Billingham continued:

“We’re building much more than just an arena – it’s a 365-day entertainment destination inside the iconic Brabazon Hangars that will create new jobs, bring new business to the region and enhance Bristol’s position as a leading European city.”

“Sustainability is a key focus. Our plans include zero waste to landfill, harvesting rainwater and installing solar panels on the vast roof area. By repurposing the existing hangars, the proposals will save more than 18,600 tonnes of carbon emissions alone. The development of a landscape strategy will be sympathetic to the local surroundings and the approved former Filton Airfield scheme.”

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The area’s newest hotel, Village Hotel Club Bristol, has appointed youth club charity Young Bristol as its official charity partner for 2019.

The partnership will see the hotel donate 1,000 hours of employee time throughout the year to support the charity’s campaigns through fundraising and assisting with the charity’s numerous activities for young people in the city.

The Young Bristol charity partnership is part of the hotel chain’s new volunteering initiative, Village Green.

Launched in September 2018, the Village Green initiative is a national commitment being made by Village Hotel Clubs across the country to become a welcoming community hub, with the chain offering to donate 30,000 hours to local projects across their 30 hotel sites each year.

The team at Village Hotel Club Bristol will assist with the charity’s youth clubs and help run activities including climbing, abseiling, archery, bushcraft, caving and orienteering, as well as running courses held at Young Bristol’s water-based activity centre at Pooles Wharf on Bristol’s harbourside.

In addition to the volunteered time, the charity will be able to use the hotel’s high-tech facilities, including the state-of-the-art gym, swimming pool, event suite and business club, V Works. Using the hotel’s extensive meeting spaces, hotel staff will host talks and workshops regarding careers in the hospitality industry to inspire young people.

Young Bristol’s youth clubs have been a prominent and often life-changing place for thousands of children in Bristol since 1928. Generations have been helped by the charity, which has 15 clubs around the city. The charity provides a city-wide programme of activities and training schemes, supporting over 7,000 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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South Gloucestershire Council has announced that it is to build a new £6.5 million Sort It centre and waste management complex at a site off North Way in Filton.

The new facility, which should be operational from 2023, will improve recycling services for residents and increase capacity to manage household waste from the growing communities in the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood, which includes Charlton Hayes and planned new developments on the former Filton Airfield.

Back in 2016, the council disclosed that it was in talks to acquire land on the former Rolls-Royce East Works site (now known as Horizon 38) to use as the site of a new waste facility for the North Fringe. However, a recent report to Cabinet revealed that this plan had now been dropped and permission was sought, and duly granted, to instead purchase the Viridor waste processing plant on the nearby North Bristol Park industrial estate, which is also home to the NHS Blood and Transplant facility and a Safestore self-storage warehouse.

Initially, Viridor will continue to operate from the site, but after they vacate in 2021, the council will demolish the existing facilities and deliver:

• A new transfer station – where collection vehicles can drop off waste collected from households
• A new Sort It centre – to serve residents who currently use the Little Stoke site; providing an improved facility as well as meeting the needs of expanding local communities
• A depot for waste vehicles – allowing collection trucks to be based closer to the areas they serve, reducing traffic movements and their impact on local roads and the environment

The council says it will also explore the option of a ‘reuse shop’, whereby certain unwanted but serviceable items can be safety tested by its staff and made available for sale second-hand.

Once the new facility is complete, to modern standards similar to the recently redeveloped and improved Sort It centres at Mangotsfield and Yate, the existing Little Stoke Sort It centre will be closed.

More: Council has a target of recycling 60 percent of waste »

A local railway campaign group has staged an event to mark the completion of a major infrastructure project which will help provide more reliable services for rail passengers travelling to and from local stations in the Bristol North Fringe.

On Friday 22nd February, Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR) held a ‘party’ on the platform at Filton Abbey Wood Station to celebrate the success of the four-tracking of Filton Bank.

Network Rail completed the bulk of the engineering work in November 2018. The extra two tracks have resulted in a substantial improvement in recent reliability of local services as local stopping services now run on separate lines to the faster intercity services.

At the event, FOSBR chair Rob Dixon thanked Network Rail representatives for their successful delivery of the project Network Rail were represented by Andy Spencer (senior programme manager, West of England) and GWR by John Lanchester (regional stations manager).

Those present shared a ‘four-track’-themed cake and sang Morningtown Ride accompanied by a ukulele – “Rocking, rolling, riding, via Abbey Wood, all bound for Temple Meads, not so far away” (with apologies to The Seekers).

Tim Bowles, West of England mayor, attended and said:

“I’m delighted with the new platform at Filton Abbey Wood, which supports my ambitious plans to improve our rail network, including direct services between Severn Beach and Bath, re-opening Henbury station and a brand new station at Portway. I am also working with North Somerset Council on plans to re-open the line to Portishead. I am committed to working with all partners to ensure the West of England has a railway service that is fit for the future.”

More: FOSBR wants a half-hourly service to all Bristol local stations »