Your say / YTL Arena Bristol
‘When it comes to Bristol’s arena, does size matter?’
In February 2014, under mayor George Ferguson, plans for a 12,000-capacity arena at Temple Island were approved by Bristol City Council.
But, following an all-expenses-paid visit to YTL in Kuala Lumpur in December 2018, mayor Marvin Rees embarked on the convoluted process of cancelling Bristol’s central arena in favour of YTL’s proposal to retrofit the Brabazon hangars at the edge of the city.
Rees, now The Lord Rees of Easton, wrote that he “inherited a plan to build a 10,000-seater arena in the centre of Bristol (which) was too small to make it on the big circuit”.
is needed now More than ever
Writing in Bristol24/7, Rees said: “To compete, arenas need to have at least 15,000 seats… However, enter YTL to the theatre, with a plan to build a 17,000-seater arena, at their cost and fully at their risk and the picture changed dramatically and instantly.”
Even without the attempt to diminish the size of Ferguson’s arena, it is true that YTL were proposing a bigger arena.
It is also true that the proposed arena is within the Bristol boundary, although only just over the railway line from YTL’s new housing development of Brabazon in South Gloucestershire.
To avoid being excessively dependent on private car use, the travel plan for the arena includes a new train station, a pedestrian bridge over the railway line, highways alterations, additional park & ride facilities, improved cycling and walking infrastructure, a new Metrobus service, and shuttle bus facilities.
In March 2019, Massive Attack played two shows in a custom-built temporary venue on the former Filton Airfield; with YTL saying in an article on their website about caring for the environment they had demonstrated their ability to deliver a successful traffic management plan for “two concerts with 14,000 fans attending each night”.
Shuttle buses took concertgoers from the Centre to Filton for Massive Attack’s two shows in March 2019 – photo: Martin Booth
A Bristol City Council report in February 2020 was more circumspect, stating that “the arena proposals have been demonstrated to generate material and acute impacts on the highway greater than that of neighbouring developments, given that these proposals deposit up to 17,000 visitors to and from the highway and public transport networks within a single 2-3 hour period prior to an event and in a single 1-hour period following it”.
Nevertheless, in March 2020, YTL was able to announce: “Bristol City Council’s planning committee voted to approve the application to build a 17,080-capacity arena in the Brabazon Hangars on Filton Airfield…
“We will build the third largest arena in the UK… Doors open 2023!”
The doors did not open in 2023, but in January of that year, arena CEO Andrew Billingham gave an update: “We have been improving our design and have created the opportunity to increase the maximum capacity of the Arena from 17,000 to 19,000.”
This increased capacity was widely reported, with no apparent interest in whether the existing planning permission or travel plan were affected.
In March 2024, as the mayoral system was abolished, Billingham said “a pivotal milestone” had been reached at what would now be the “fourth largest indoor arena in the UK”, although an opening date was no longer specified.
In January 2025, the stated capacity of YTL’s arena rose again.
Subsumed within announcements about a high profile visit of the Malaysian prime minister to the UK, and the transformation of the former Filton Airfield into “a thriving new town”, the YTL arena was described as having a capacity of 19,500.
Once again, this was widely reported and apparently accepted.
But, in response to questions about the arena’s capacity at Bristol City Council’s transport & connectivity policy committee, I was told in a written answer that an event condition states “no single or combined event capacity or attendance across one or more of the areas defined as ‘West Hangar, ‘Central Hangar’ or ‘East Hangar’… or adjacent concourse or adjacent public spaces shall exceed the maximum 17,000 overall venue capacity”.
“If the applicant were to request an increase, that would be considered and appropriate evidence to justify and mitigate the increase would be sought.
“Modelling has yet to be submitted to the council for an arena of 19,500 capacity. If that is proposed the council would seek appropriate evidence and justification for any change to capacity.
“No formal communication to discharge or change conditions has been received by Transport Development management.”
The high-profile, unsubstantiated announcements from YTL suggest a somewhat arrogant assumption that Bristol will simply approve of whatever YTL decides to do.
But evidence is required to justify and mitigate such an increase in the arena capacity.
Despite claims that all the cost and risk are with YTL, many millions of pounds of public money will be spent on the necessary transport infrastructure, and there will be consequences for residents in the surrounding areas if 17,000 visitors become 19,500.
Press releases may be easier to produce than travel plans but, when it comes to an arena, size does matter.
In a statement to Bristol24/7, a spokesperson for YTL said: “The final arena design allows for a potential increase in maximum capacity from 17,000 to 19,500, should we choose to pursue it through the planning process in the future.”
This is an opinion piece by Suzanne Audrey, the editor of the book ‘Our City: Community Activism in Bristol’
Main image: YTL
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