News / Temple Quarter
Temple Quarter ‘seems a bit of a purpose-built student accommodation-fest’
Plans for a huge regeneration project are pressing ahead with 10,000 new homes and space for 22,000 jobs.
But details of the Bristol Temple Quarter scheme are still unclear with a masterplan not yet made public.
The regeneration will cover 135 hectares of land to the east and west of Temple Meads. Entrances to the station itself will be upgraded, as well as transport links around the area.
Overall the project is expected to provide a £1.6bn boost to the region’s economy.
Some building works have already begun, such as the new University of Bristol Enterprise Campus as well as purpose-built student accommodation around Avon Street.
Temple Quarter promises “quality and affordable homes, fosters job creation, cultural celebration, and environmental revitalisation for the region” – map: MapBox
At an update on Temple Quarter given to councillors on the economy & skills policy committee on Monday, Green councillor Serena Ralston said she was “concerned that we’re putting the cart before the horse”.
Ralston said: “We do have development popping up in the Temple Quarter area, but it seems to me there’s not a cohesive masterplan.
“To be frank at the moment it seems a bit of a PBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) fest and not quite the design we’re looking for. It’s a bit piecemeal. A lot of the process seems opaque.”
There is already a masterplan for the first phase of the regeneration, covering the area west of Temple Meads but this has not been shared yet with councillors or the public.
The second phase covers St Philip’s Marsh, with a masterplan set to be drawn up to cover this second part of the project and due to be formally consulted on this autumn.
St Philip’s Marsh “is a longer-term strategic opportunity to deliver thousands of new homes, alongside businesses, greenspace and improvements to the waterways” – photo: Bristol Temple Quarter
The joint project includes Bristol City Council, Homes England, Network Rail and the West of England Combined Authority.
Chairing the board of the partnership will be Lyn Garner, who led the Olympic legacy programme via the London Legacy Development Corporation. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park saw a new stadium, fashion college and thousands of homes.
In February, the search began for a developer to carry out the regeneration. Shortlisted companies will be quizzed from June to October, before a decision is made in November. As well as constructing new buildings, the work includes improving the streets around Temple Meads and creating three new entrances to the station.
One entrance has been finished but will not open until 2026. This eastern entrance leads onto the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus scheduled to open in September 2026.
The campus will be home to 4,600 students and 650 staff, including those working on cutting-edge quantum technology. The existing northern entrance will be vastly improved for passengers.
The southern entrance will be built on Bath Road, making access to the station easier for people living in South Bristol. New bus stops will be created, as well as a “future-proofed space for mass transit”.
A secure cycle hub will include space for more than 700 bicycles, and a new 350-space car park will be created for passengers and staff.
Relocating the parking, from the north and west of the station to the new car park at the south, will free up area for new public spaces and passenger facilities. A planning application is due to be submitted for the southern entrance later this month.
Bristol Temple Meads’ new eastern entrance will open out onto University Square, part of the University of Bristol’s new enterprise campus – photo: Network Rail
Extensive public engagement has already taken place on the Temple Quarter regeneration, with drop-ins and workshops, events at the Wellspring Settlement, and a specially designed Minecraft world to explain to children at primary schools what the plans will involve.
However, despite this, some councillors complained they were still left in the dark about the project.
Green councillor Jenny Bartle said: “Over the last year I have been very under-informed about this project’s progress. There’s been some governance opacity.
“In terms of the masterplans, I would quite urgently like to see where those are. It’s very important that this has sufficient public scrutiny and an audit trail. It’s quite difficult for me to get a sense of it.”
Lib Dem councillor Andrew Brown, chair of the economy committee, added: “Hands up if I’ve maybe not communicated as well as I could have. I’ll take that on the chin as a learning point.
“Part of the reason we’ve not seen that (the first phase masterplan) is lining up with getting in place a (development) partner.
“There have been things that maybe organisationally meant that progress hasn’t been as obvious as it could have been. Potentially we could have done a better job on communicating what was happening.”
Main image: Prior + Partners
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