Around 250 people came to our ‘Delivering the Vision’ event at the Passenger Shed yesterday to hear about the latest developments in the Zone and see a potential vision for Temple Meads station.
Network Rail and their consultants, Alan Baxters Associates, gave an update on their emerging plans to transform Temple Meads station, alongside electrification of the route and the introduction of Intercity Express trains.
Patrick Hallgate, route managing director for Network Rail Western said: “Transforming Temple Meads railway station is fundamental to the future success of the Enterprise Zone. We are moving on track with this ambition as we continue our discussion with the government on funding whilst getting started on investigating the Victorian structure. Being one of the busiest stations in the country and one of the most congested, we believe the redevelopment is much needed. We are already seeing 9 million passengers through here a year and we are predicting that to increase by up to 44% by 2020.”
Also speaking at the event was Paul Wilson, chief executive of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. He said: “Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone is the flagship project for the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and is tasked, alongside the region’s four other enterprise areas, with creating jobs and delivering growth.
“We need to ensure we get the infrastructure right to enable the jobs growth and we are now seeing funding being lined up and starting to be spent – including almost £21 million from the LEP’s Revolving Infrastructure Fund that has been allocated to improve the infrastructure in the Zone and over £11 million from the Government’s Urban Broadband fund so that we can offer world-class connectivity here. We have also created a dedicated inward investment service to attract investment and support home-grown growth and this will act as a ‘shopfront’ to the West of England, based in the new Engine Shed.”
Details were also outlined of 16 infrastructure projects to improve accessibility in and around the Zone. £20.85m has been allocated from the LEP’s Revolving Infrastructure Fund for these projects, which include over £9m for Temple Circus and improvements to cyclist and pedestrian routes.
Last week it was announced that the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) will be investing £11 million to create a new access bridge to accommodate service traffic to new developments on the Diesel Depot site, including dealing with the servicing needs of the potential arena project. The three lane bridge with cyclist and pedestrian facilities will open up access to the Diesel Depot site, the largest cleared opportunity site in the Zone, and also deliver improvements to infrastructure around the site.
David Warburton, head of area for the Homes and Communities Agency, says: “The HCA’s significant investment in this site shows our commitment to and support for the programme. As landowners with six sites totalling over 5 hectares in key locations in the Enterprise Zone we are committed to working with our partners to make sure we deliver the jobs growth and regenerate this part of the city.”
Feedback from the morning
Thank you to everyone who took part in the round table discussions. There were some great debates and comments made. We will now take these away to look at in more detail. In the meantime, here’s what you said – BTQ Delivering the Vision 4th July Notes
