Back in January we received confirmation that Filwood had been selected to recieve £14.5 million of money from the government's Levelling Up Fund. £6.7 million of this will be spent to rejuvenate the Community Centre, with the remaining money being spent on and around Filwood Broadway to improve facilities there.
At the end of August, representatives from Bristol City Council and community stakeholders (Filwood Community Centre, Knowle West Media Centre, Knowle West Alliance, re-work) met to discuss the latest developments in the plans to regenerate the area around Filwood Broadway.
Although some elements are still at an early stage in the planning process, we are now able to give you a much needed update on what’s happening.
There are six parts to the planned reinvigoration of the area. Please bear in mind we do not yet have detailed information for all six but are sharing as much as we know.
1. Re-create Filwood Public Realm (Broadway playground and road layout)
Work on new Filwood Broadway play area is due to start in October and continue until mid/end November. These works include relocating the existing play equipment into the new play area, and adding new equipment, boundary railings and surfacing. The old playground will revert to a grassed area.
Bristol City Council (BCC) has been working closely with Filwood Broadway Working Group and Public Realm Working Group on the new high street design over the last few years.
BCC will be holding an event in the autumn to demonstrate the proposed new road layout at Filwood Broadway and gain feedback.
The design must be finalised before the end of the year so BCC can apply for any changes to road layout and the flow of traffic through a Traffic Regulation Order.
2. New Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA)
A new site has been identified and we are working towards getting planning permission. A new planning application was submitted on 31/08/23, and has now been published online.
BCC has been engaging with local youth clubs and working with Making Space for Girls, to find out what facilities they'd like to see. We really want to make this an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome.
BCC also held three public engagement events during early design work in February and engaged with people attending the Filwood Community Picnic in June, and Knowle West Fest in August.
We are planning to hold further engagement events with young people during the detailed design and build phases with an estimated completion before the end of 2024
3. Filwood Community Centre: Cultural Hub
We have yet to decide on a name for what is currently Filwood Community Centre once the works are completed, Cultural Hub is the project name for funding purposes. We will consult with stakeholders including the community to make sure the name reflects who we are and what we do – we may decide to keep it as Filwood Community Centre!
Surveys are being carried out on the existing building, including a bat survey.
An invited tender opened at the end of August for a design team to develop the concept for our cultural hub.
We want to have a design team in place by October and will be able to share more detail once that team has started to develop a detailed programme and design.
The aim is for a design to be finalised ready for the planning application to be submitted in spring 2024.
We are considering whether to incorporate the library into our plans as we believe it would benefit the library and the community.
Building work is currently expected to take place from the end of 2024/early 2025, with completion required by the end of 2025.
We’ll be organising some activities and events from this autumn to next spring to make sure the whole community is informed and involved.
4. Former Filwood Cinema site
The proposal for this space includes flats with commercial/community space underneath and houses behind. The proposal is for 100% council housing.
BCC is in the process of finalising the technical design before tendering for a contractor, with the aim to start on site in Spring 2024.
Please see the announcement at the top of the Visit Filwood Broadway webpage by Cllr Tom Renhard (Cabinet member for Housing Delivery and Homes) for a summary of the planning application.
5. Westside Development (4-16 Filwood Broadway)
No decisions have been made on this part of the project as we are in the process of awaiting the results of various surveys to be carried out.
6. Commercial Improvement scheme
This incorporates improvements to the shopfronts on the east side of the Broadway.
BCC is still at a very early stage with this and we therefore have no information to share now, but we will be working closely with all stakeholders of the ground floor commercial spaces once a brief is developed.