Bristol: YTL Arena in Filton 'will open in 2028'
Bristol's long-awaited arena "will open in 2028", the chief executive of the company behind it has said. The 19,000-seater YTL Arena, initially announced in 2018, is planned to be the centre of the Brabazon development in Filton, which will also include 6,500 homes. The huge scheme has been much delayed, with developers - Malaysian-owned YTL -initially saying it could be open by 2022. But Colin Skellett, the chief executive of YTL UK, has now said the project is "ready to go", after "lots of pricing, lots of detail".
Asked how confident the firm was about this date, he said: "It's the best guarantee I can give you."
The Brabazon arena has been promoted as a more affordable alternative to a previously council-backed site next to Bristol Temple Meads railway station.That was first been proposed in 2003, but building work never started.
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Since the project moved to the Filton site there have been delays, and from the outside the giant existing aircraft hangers look unchanged. YTL say some internal preparatory work has been done, but Mr Skellet explained that that the Covid-19 pandemic had set progress back.
While construction is yet to begin on the arena, work on a railway station to bring concert-goers to the venue is under way. The brand new station, North Filton, is set open as an unstaffed station in late 2026, though this is set to be enlarged later when the arena nears completion. Elsewhere, hundreds of people have already bought and moved into new homes as part of the development, and there are plans for schools, student accommodation and sports facilities.
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