No 'expensive' new car park for Bristol Arena

The council estimates there will be about 20 "full-capacity" events per year

Plans for a new £91m entertainment arena being built in Bristol will not include an "expensive" dedicated car park, the council has said.

Two planning applications for the Bristol Arena, a 12,000-seat venue set to open in 2017 near Temple Meads, are to be submitted next month.

People living nearby raised concerns about parking but the council said city centre car parks had "spare capacity, within a 20 minute walk of the arena".

A consultation closes on 13 October.

'Cycling and walking'

Paul Breedon lives in nearby Totterdown and runs community magazine South Bristol Voice.

He said he was not against the arena, but when he had asked local people about their concerns, they replied "parking, parking, parking".

"Some of the closest places you will be able to park on the street are in Totterdown and the worry is that there's no plan at the moment," Mr Breedon said.

Peter Mann, of Bristol City Council, said: "Building a car park next to the arena will send all the wrong messages about the sustainability of it.

"So using public transport, cycling and walking and investing in that side of it, rather than building an expensive car park."

'Fantastic regeneration'

Mayor George Ferguson said parking for disabled people and operators would be provided but visitors would be "encouraged to travel to the venue sustainably".

He said: "Of course, I absolutely respect that Totterdown have got parking pressure and I've had a lot of people from Totterdown already, because of commuter parking, saying we should have a residents' parking scheme, and we might do that.

"This is for the end of 2017, early 2018, by which time we'll have the Metrobus and have made arrangements with Great Western for additional trains for major events.

"This is not a parking story, it's a story about fantastic regeneration for Bristol."