THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWNS AND CITIES

The region’s towns and cities are changing – but how, what’s driving the change, and does change look the same everywhere? The Business Magazine asked those in the know for insight.

New homes in city centre locations are changing the face of central Bristol

By Sally Davis, associate director at Avison Young

Over the past decade, Bristol has been one of the UK's most productive and fastgrowing cities and is a focal point for the West of England's £39 billion economy.

The capital of the South West regularly features in shortlists as one of the best places to live in the UK, in no small part due to its prestigious higher education institutions and economy built on the creative, media, technology, aerospace and engineering industries.

Increasing numbers of students and skilled new workers are attracted to Bristol, contributing to the city’s economy and growing housing demand.

The jewels in the city’s crown are its waterways which weave through the city, most notably the Floating Harbour, one of the marvels of the city’s prestigious engineering history.

In recent years many new developments have successfully capitalised on the value of Bristol’s extensive water frontage; the M-Shed, Wapping Wharf and Brandon Yard to name a few exemplar developments.

Planning permission has also been granted for the redevelopment of Redcliffe Wharf, as well as the redevelopment of Bristol O&M sheds on Welsh Back to deliver a music and food hall venue which once built out will further contribute to the animation of the city.

As part of wider plans, Bristol City Council and The West of England Combined Authority have committed to invest in the Floating Harbour’s infrastructure, with planning permission recently granted to install floating eco-systems around new pontoons, helping to boost green infrastructure and create new habitat for wildlife, supported by £480,000 West of England Combined Authority grant funding as part of the Green Recovery Fund.

Bristol set to be transformed

Bristol is set to be transformed over the next few years as investment in new homes, transport and amenities increases. However, unlike many industrial cities, Bristol doesn’t contain substantial tracts of brownfield land or industrial dereliction which can be considered for housing-led regeneration. As a result, available land to accommodate Bristol’s housing and employment needs is in short supply.

The city council’s emerging development plan anticipates the most significant urban regeneration and transformation to take place in the form of higher density mixed use development at key city centre gateways over the next 20 years.

Proposed projects include a new city quarter at the Western Harbour; a mixed use neighbourhood at Frome Gateway beside the M32; the transformation of

Broadmead and St James Barton to make more efficient use of land alongside a greater mix of uses within the city centre. Most significantly, a regenerated city quarter at Temple Quarter and St Philip’s Marsh, one of the largest regeneration projects in the UK, will be home to major housing and employment growth.

Key to the design and delivery of these regeneration areas will be prioritization of waterfront areas next to the Floating Harbour, Feeder Canal, River Avon and River Frome, promoting connectivity through new quayside walkways and green infrastructure.

A further aspiration is to deliver the ‘15 minute city’ or ‘liveable neighbourhoods’, based on the concept that all necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a manageable walk or bike ride from any point in the city. The end goal being to reduce carbon dependency, improve accessibility and reduce congestion.

Within Bristol, Finzels Reach (with Phase 2 nearing completion) represents a successful example of higher density mixed use residential and commercial development.

The development has successfully incorporated a quayside route and an iconic bridge across the Floating Harbour, creating an important and well used civic connection to Castle Park and the wider city beyond. Similarly, Legal and General has ambitious placemaking plans for the redevelopment of Temple Island to deliver a dwellings, offices and hotel facilities, tying in to the wider plans for Temple Quarter.

As part of the proposals, the development will celebrate its River Avon waterfront location and incorporate cycle and pedestrian connections, to stitch and repair the existing severed site into the urban fabric of the city.

Bristol is not short of ambition and ideas. The challenge for decision takers, planners and developers of these key strategic areas of growth and regeneration is to successfully meet key planning objectives, notably to deliver mixed and balanced communities, while weighing the competing demands for land in short supply across the city.

By Dorian Wragg, partner & head of the national commercial team at Bruton Knowles, chair of the GFirst LEP Retail and High Street Business Group, and board member of the Cheltenham Economic Advisory Group and Gloucester Development Forum

The planned redevelopment of Gloucester City Centre will undoubtedly change the look, feel and purpose of the city – but it has been well overdue, and this reincarnation will make Gloucester fit for future purpose.

It is setting the scene to attract future investment and occupation, but the new Gloucester will not mimic the old.

The first phase was marked by the redevelopment of the Bus Station a couple of years back. Completion on The Forum, the joint venture between Gloucester City Council and Reef Developments will mark another major stage.

This multi-million-pound scheme designed as a digital style campus with high-tech offices, leisure and retail, due to be complete by next March, is a unique offering, the likes of which seldom exist outside of London.

Then there’s the old Debenham’s site, acquired by University of Gloucestershire –which will be converted to a training centre for up to 4,000 student nurses alongside commercialised space for new MediTech sector ventures – potentially a huge growth area for the city and set to create jobs and retain graduate talent.

The area around Westgate Street, which was the main commercial street in Gloucester, close to the Cathedral Quarter – has attracted grant funding to bring disused and heritage buildings (some dating as far back as the 12th century) back to life. This will encourage repopulation of the city centre.

South of the Docks and The Peel Centre is Downings Mill, the city’s last derelict docks warehouse, now granted planning consent for a 10-storey residential scheme including retail, food and beverage.

Bruton Knowles has been instructed with the sale of three warehouses in the docks. Formerly council offices, there is a lot of interest to develop these into residential and student accommodation.

Hopefully, the retail offer will come along behind these new works. The average vacancy rate for retail is about 18 per cent and in Gloucester its currently running at about 22 per cent. We hope to see that improve as bigger projects reach completion, new residential schemes open and new investment announced.

The focus is turning back to city centre regeneration and more people want to return to permanent office space, sometimes at the cost of serviced offices. They want smaller but high-quality locations for hybridworking, whose staff want to spend some time in vibrant city centres.

Coming down the pipeline, we have The Fleece Hotel, on Westgate Street, which links the medieval cathedral to the rest of the city. This is now the Cathedral Quarter High Street Heritage Action Zone and the city council is currently stabilising and weatherproofing the site in advance of plans to be considered for its regeneration.

We will see a high level of residential takeover in the coming years, but that’s not such a bad thing. Repopulating the city centre will help it become a viable tourist and visitor destination again. New interest attracts new investment and a new cycle of growth.