September 2018
southbristolvoice
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n NEWS
• Rees has shown rival plan too much favour and should not take decision, say opposition • Misleading, noisy campaign is obscuring the facts, says the mayor MAYOR Marvin Rees has been accused of compromising himself so badly in the row over rival sites for Bristol’s arena that he should withdraw from making a decision on the venue, according to his opponents. Papers for a cabinet meeting to decide the fate of an arena at Temple Meads are about to be released, shortly after the Voice is published. The mayor says he wants to follow the evidence on whether the city centre plot is a suitable site – but at every turn he seems to voice reasons why the arena
THE ARENA SHOWDOWN
Mayor under fire as arena DECISION TIME IS NEAR
Last gasp? Mayor Marvin Rees has little in support of an arena near Temple Meads
T
HE CABINET meeting on September 4 will hear the mayor’s view on whether an arena should be built at the city centre site long reserved for it. Councillors do not get a vote – most decisions are taken by the mayor and the cabinet, which is now Labour-only. But a majority of councillors and many Labour members back the Temple Meads option. Back in March 2018, they voted by 34 to 12 (with 17 abstentions) in favour of a city centre arena. Most of South Bristol’s Labour councillors backed the Green party motion. Few Labour members supported
the mayor’s position, apart from cabinet members. But the vote was only advisory. The full council meeting on September 11 can be expected to hear a tide of objections if the Temple Meads option has been ruled out. Lib Dem deputy leader Gary Hopkins said: “There will be
every form of challenge we can muster.” The Greens and the Conservatives have both questioned whether the decision should be left to Mr Rees. Cllr Hopkins claimed that 70 per cent of the Bristol public, and the same proportion of councillors, back a city centre arena.
shouldn’t go there. His opponents allege that he has already made his mind up to back an alternative, larger arena at Filton funded by Malaysian firm YTL. Former mayor George Ferguson called the Filton option
“a lunatic plan”. YTL funded flights and a night’s hotel accommodation for Mr Rees in Malaysia in December, as a side-trip while he was in China trying to win investment for the city. He met YTL again at a
property conference in Cannes, France, in March, where the firm funded dinner, and for a third time when YTL paid for a lunch in Kuala Lumpur while he was on a trade mission to Singapore with West of England mayor Tim
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September 2018
n NEWS
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THE ARENA SHOWDOWN
debate reaches point of no return THE SEQUENTIAL TEST – IS THIS THE VITAL QUESTION? ORMER mayor George Ferguson says several planning experts have told him that the plan by YTL for an arena at Filton Airport is unlikely to get planning permission. “It would be impossible for any self-respecting city planner to recommend approval for such a significant venue on the edge of the city when alternative sites exist in or near the centre, as they clearly do,” Mr Ferguson wrote in an open letter on August 8. “This is known as
the Sequential Planning Test, an excellent piece of planning legislation, which was introduced in 2014 to ensure the vitality of our town centres,” he added. This means that the planning system is supposed to support town and city centres, and only to approve out-of-town projects if no alternatives exist. Critics of Mr Rees say that his actions appear to be pointing towards ruling out a Temple Meads site for the arena. Only with that proviso would a Filton arena have any sign of success, they say. Green party leader Eleanor Combley points to emails disclosed in Bristol Live under Freedom of
Bowles. In contrast, the firm behind the city centre venue, Arena Island Ltd (AIL), claims it has been unable to meet the mayor since December. Mr Ferguson broke his relative silence in public life to tear into Mr Rees’s conduct, saying his acceptance of “thousands of pounds worth of hospitality” from Malaysian firm YTL “disqualifies the mayor from being involved with the arena decision, both legally and morally”. Meanwhile, Knowle councillor and deputy Lib Dem leader Gary Hopkins accused Mr Rees of effectively making his
mind up in favour of the YTL scheme as early as the beginning of last year. He called the affair “disgraceful – the worst decision making I have seen since I became a councillor.” Bristol Live has reported that the council was in talks with YTL about building an arena at Filton airport in April 2017 – six months earlier than previously disclosed. Council officers offered help with the YTL plans, and agreed to sign a statement of support for it in alliance with South Gloucestershire council. The council says it is normal to be in contact with a developer
THE MAYOR’S RESPONSE
Mr Rees says he is only looking for the best use for the Temple Meads site – which used to be called Arena Island, but which he has started calling Temple Island. A study by KPMG shows that a conference centre, five-star hotel and 400 homes on the site would bring 2,000 jobs and £900m in economic benefit – much more than an arena, which would bring 650 jobs and £350m of benefit. In his Mayor’s Blog on August 15, he said the Temple Meads arena was “yesterday’s plan”. Having 10,000 seats and 2,000 standing spaces is too small for today’s mega-tours, he says. Critics, including Bristol South MP Karin Smyth, say the KMPG report only produced the answers that were required. Live Nation and SMG, who would operate the arena, say the city site could be a success. The mayor’s blog: thebristolmayor.com
F
M
AYOR Marvin Rees has accused his critics of a “nonsense campaign” of “noise and attack” against his attempt to take a “sober look” at the viability of a city centre arena. In an interview with Emma Britton on BBC Radio Bristol, he denied his head had been turned by the hospitality he received from YTL in Malaysia. “It was a £120 a night hotel room and a breakfast,” he said. He rebuffed ex-mayor George Ferguson’s claim that he could have signed off the Temple Meads arena before he left office in May 2016. “This is so misleading, it was in no fit state,” said Mr Rees. “We would be building the most expensive arena in the UK.” A new contractor, Buckingham, has reduced the cost of a Temple Meads venue to £135m from a bill which Mr Rees said had ballooned under Mr Ferguson to £190m.
Information requests. She says these show the council is trying to overcome the sequential test by ruling out Temple Meads and thereby helping YTL. She quotes an email from a
council source, whose name has been redacted, on March 19, 2018, who “has been appointed by BCC to prepare a statement of support for the Brabazon Arena project proposed by YTL”. The council has no one working in the same way for the Temple Island scheme, she said. On April 26, another email states: “We agreed that BCC would work with us on the sequential test… (which) will require the TQ (Temple Quarter) option to have been eliminated.” This implies the council would be helping YTL to overcome the planning rule which stands in its way, said Ms Combley.
about a major scheme in this way. It says there have also been contacts between the council and Arena Island Ltd – but it did not say why the mayor has not met AIL recently, despite his multiple meetings with YTL.
Green party leader Eleanor Combley said that any arena decision the mayor makes now “will be tainted in the eyes of the public” and she fears it could leave the council open to legal challenges.
Favoured? The Filton arena
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