The Council has started work on changes to the public realm on the Centre Promenade (opposite the Hippodrome). This implements plans that became public in August 2024 when they came to the Harbour Committee.
The current changes are partly to deal with maintenance issues, and partly to implement a low-cost improvement to the public realm. We accept and support the need for the changes to improve public safety – replacing the trees and covering the defunct fountains. But we had concerns that a temporary fix, such as using a buff-coloured surface over the area of the fountains rather than quality paving, can easily become permanent, especially as there is no longer-term vision.
A few of us from the Society’s Transport and Place-making Group met with Council officers in January to discuss our concerns. We were joined by representatives of the city centre Business Improvement District and of Bristol Legacy Foundation, which is charged with commissioning a piece of art that captures the diverse spirit of our city, following the removal of the Colston statue.
Officers confirmed to us that, in the context of budget constraints, cost has driven the choice of the buff-coloured surface, rather than quality paving that would otherwise have been chosen. But officers are glad to be able to do something in order to allow more and better use of the space.
The increased space will make room for more market stalls and permanent concessions, which will raise money to help balance the Harbour Estate budget. The space is part of the Harbour Estate, and the Estate’s budget is ring-fenced. The space has to be flexible to work with and without the market stalls.
With the fountains gone, there will be a wide open space that is usable by pedestrians, which creates opportunities for more activity. An artwork is to be applied to the buff surface. It is intended to be part of making the place feel more playful. The BID will be curating games for the place. You can vote for your preferred games in this survey <https://www.bristollegacyfoundation.com/city-centre-promenade>.
The works started at the end of January 2025. The plane trees that had outgrown their concrete bases have been felled.
Alan Morris
The Council’s announcement of starting the works.
I’ve seen elsewhere a suggestion of a statue of Paul Stephenson. In my view that is an excellent idea and would be ideally positioned on the ex-Colston plinth, provided there was a plaque or information board to explain the history of Colston, Stephenson and the plinth.
I think the Central Promenade needs as much vegetation as possible. The hard areas of concrete and stone need to be softened to make the area more exciting.
Before the current Centre re-fit, the gardens at least gave the impression that the Centre is indeed a city central area. The present scheme gives the impression of a vast roundabout; ie an unexciting area between roads. I admit that I haven’t read the current plan in detail, but the summary I have picked up from different sources doesn’t leave me with any notion that the Centre will be visually exciting, giving visitors to the city and passing pedestrians a sense of the centre of a city. I write this having walked across the Centre to and from the Watershed. The Sunday street food market just added to the Centre looking an absolute mess. How does making the space a meeting place for a large number create a city focal point? I appreciate the difficulties: major through roads, bus lanes, hardly any visually interesting surrounding buildings, the dead end steps at one end down to the Harbour. But surely someone could take a long, hard look, to come up with a design based on different levels, including garden areas, some water ( !!!!! ) , and commissioned (long-lasting) sculptural art? Or is the Centre to be left as just an extension of the Park Street bus lane?