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Developing Bristol: The New Rules of Regeneration
Insider’s economic debate road show arrived back in Bristol in late June to consider the prospects for property development and regeneration in the light of the public sector cuts. More than 100 businesspeople attended the debate on the 13th floor of Lewins Place in central Bristol, with the views across the city providing a perfect backdrop to proceedings.
The panel included leading representatives from the public and private sectors, and the discussion looked at the city’s property profile from all sides, asking what shape future developments should take, how they might be supported or funded, and what lessons should be learnt from what’s gone before.
Panel members included David Bishop of Bristol City Council, John Wright from architectural practice Stride Treglown, Tony Bray of the South West RDA, Euan Cresswell of the developers Westmark and Simon Prescott of consultancy and planning specialists Barton Willmore.
The main talking points over the course of a lively hour focused on how the development of the city might be able to proceed given the government cuts. While all agreed that the funding of developments would change, the challenge of how to keep projects going loomed large.
“Traditionally the public sector has looked to the private sector to bring forward aspects of infrastructure associated with new development,” said Simon Prescott. “But I’m afraid the private sector won’t be able to meet any funding shortfalls – if anything the private sector needs to be freed up to bring forward development without the burden of meeting major infrastructure commitments.”
Euan Cresswell also weighed in, arguing that “any expectation that the private sector will step in to invest in infrastructure is misplaced. While businesses usually have to work on the basis that income is greater than costs, with a lot of regenerations schemes this isn’t the case. Public sector investment is needed, or the numbers don’t stack up.”
Putting the public sector case, David Bishop said Bristol City Council wasn’t going to blink. “Whatever comes out of the various government reviews, Bristol will be at the heart of any investments that get made. It remains a strong economy. Any government funds would be well-spent in Bristol. At the moment it’s important to keep a sense of perspective.”
And Tony Bray of the RDA saw an an opportunity for government to think smarter. “Even relatively small pots of public sector money can be invested to derisk projects enough for the private sector to get interested.”
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