Construction set to begin this year on the long-awaited YTL Arena
Its capacity of 20,000 will place the arena in the top five largest in Europe
Yet another year has passed without gigs at the long-awaited YTL Arena planned on the outskirts of Bristol. But a lot of progress was made with demolition of parts of the hangars finally completed and the construction of the giant music venue ready to begin.
Named after the Malaysian billionaire Yeoh Tiong Lay, the arena will be built on the edge of Bristol on the border with South Gloucestershire. Its capacity of 20,000 will place the arena in the top five largest in Europe, the same size as the O2 in London.
Three huge hangars are being converted into the arena. The Brabazon Hangars were home to the Concorde factory, and before that they were where the Brabazon planes were briefly made. Back in October, YTL said the “iconic” Concorde hangar had been stripped back to its original steel frame, while the “iconic” sliding hangar doors have also been removed.
According to YTL, who initially claimed the arena would open in 2022, the project “remains on schedule”. No opening date has been announced yet, but construction is due to finish in 2028. This will be a decade after plans for an arena in Filton were first announced, and two decades after another planned arena near Temple Meads train station was initially due to open.
That arena was scrapped by former Labour mayor Marvin Rees after concerns about costs. YTL also owns Wessex Water and is building 6,500 homes on the Filton Airfield next to the planned arena. A new train station, North Filton, will also be constructed with trains every hour. Last autumn the government said the housing estate would be one of the UK’s 12 “new towns”.
Enquiries are already being taken for premium membership to YTL Arena. Premium hospitality packages will let very important punters “skip the queues, enjoy a seamless arrival with priority parking, a dedicated VIP drop-off zone, and fast-track and VIP entrances”.
The arena promises to be a “new headline act for Bristol”, attracting the “very best of music, comedy, sport and entertainment”, with 500 new jobs. As well as building the arena, YTL will operate the new venue too. 140 events will be hosted every year, with interlinking facilities for conferences and exhibitions.
Last spring the arena prompted fears of parking problems in nearby neighbourhoods like Brentry. The new North Filton train station won’t have enough capacity or frequency to accommodate all 20,000 gig-goers leaving a concert. A Metrobus service will pass by the arena, but journeys into the city centre take around an hour. A car park will have over 1,600 spaces.
Responding to these concerns in April, YTL said the firm had already committed £3.6 million in planning obligations which will contribute to improving transport infrastructure. A transport plan will ensure a “well-structured approach” to managing visitor journeys. 28,000 people attended Massive Attack gigs at the hangars in 2019, with shuttle buses running from the city centre.
The arena is expected to attract music fans from across the West Country, including Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, as the largest venue in the region. A shuttle bus service will run from the Portway Park and Ride, just off the M5 junction at Avonmouth. As well as music, comedy, sport and industry exhibitions are also planned there, with local food and drinks for sale in its bars.