Artist impressions show how the area around Temple Meads will be transformed as part of the Temple Quarter regeneration. Earlier this week, the Government finally agreed to hand over £95.8m to kickstart the regeneration project.
The images show how Station Approach will look after the works, as well as the Northern Entrance and the Midland Shed, among others. The project will see Temple Meads station transformed, and that will then open up the area next door at Temple Quarter ultimately for 10,000 new homes, offices, a conference centre and a new University of Bristol campus.
The project has been stalled for almost five years, with Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees calling out Homes England and the Government earlier this year for promising the regeneration money for years but not actually delivering it, when it was left off a list of Government 'Levelling Up' announcements.
Read more: £95million for Temple Quarter finally handed over to kickstart regeneration project
Earlier this week the West of England metro mayor Dan Norris, Marvin Rees and Levelling Up minister Neil O’Brien visited the area at Temple Meads, as Mr Norris said he has signed the £95.8 million deal with the Government and is now getting the money.
The money will initially pay for a major overhaul of Temple Meads station, creating new entrances - including a key one out to the east of the station which leads directly onto the land that is set to be transformed by the University and Bristol City Council.
The Government said the funding will unlock the first phase of this scheme, with future plans to develop 57 hectares of land across St Philip’s Marsh in phase two. “The scheme will help to address regional inequalities by focusing on a highly deprived area of Bristol, delivering new affordable homes, generating skills, training, and employment opportunities while improving transport, boosting regional productivity and economic growth,” a spokesperson said.
The partnership between the West of England Combined Authority, Bristol City Council, Network Rail and Homes England will bring forward the regeneration of approximately 130 hectares - equivalent to about 182 football pitches - of brownfield land.
Mr Norris said the project will end up creating 22,000 jobs, and opens up the whole of the Temple Quarter area for 10,000 new homes, bringing in an estimated £1.6 billion pounds into the region’s economy over the next 25 years. It’s being described as Bristol’s ‘biggest ever regeneration project’.
“Building new homes in the places they are most needed and regenerating our towns and cities lies at the heart of the Government’s levelling up mission,” said minister Neil O’Brien MP.
“It’s fantastic to be in Bristol today to see this levelling up in action; central government working with local leaders and industry to grow the economy, delivering the high-quality new homes this country needs and breathing new life into neglected places.”
Mayor Marvin Rees had said Homes England and the Government had broken their promises on the money in the past, but now Homes England’s boss Peter Denton confirmed they would be signing up to the deal.
