Why are we regenerating Western Harbour?
Western Harbour is an area loved by many – the regeneration looks to balance local and city aspirations with the need to address some of the biggest challenges facing Bristol. This needs to be done while celebrating Western Harbour’s heritage and existing communities, making sure the infrastructure and Bristol’s flood defences are fit for the 21st Century, and addressing the urgent ecological and climate emergencies.
- There is a need to renew and/or replace the Cumberland Basin road system. As the infrastructure of this road has become older, maintenance has become increasingly costly and the replacement of large parts of the system will be necessary in the near future. The Western Harbour project is an opportunity to make wider changes to improve the area at the same time.
- There is a need to create new flood defences. Without a Strategy to reduce the risk of flooding across the city, existing homes and businesses remain at risk of widespread flooding from the River Avon.
- There is a need to provide new homes for Bristol. There are over 22,000 households on the Bristol City Council housing waiting list and demand for housing in the city is steadily rising.
- Western Harbour is a way of meeting this need in a sustainable location. It is within easy reach of both the centre of Bristol and the green of Ashton Court by foot or by bike. By building in central locations like this, we can support more sustainable travel options, as well as building homes close to jobs, public spaces and leisure activities.
- Much of Western Harbour is brownfield, previously developed land. At the moment, 49% of the land is currently taken up by roads, parking and other hard surfaces – by building the new homes we need here, we can protect greenspaces around the city, helping us to respond to the climate and ecological emergencies while still providing the homes the city desperately needs.
Where is Western Harbour project area?
The Western Harbour regeneration project area sits at the western-most end of Bristol’s Floating Harbour, as a gateway between city and countryside. Click on the map below to see the project area in more detail.
The vision for Western Harbour
The Western Harbour vision was approved by Bristol City Council’s Cabinet on 12 July 2022.
This vision for Western Harbour is a thread that will inspire and guide changes to the area in the future, and has been a key influence in the creation of the masterplan for the area in which more detailed aspects have been considered.
The vision was created from an extensive programme of public engagement held across 2021 and 2022.
Further details can be found in the Western Harbour Engagement Report and the Western Harbour Consultation Report.
What’s happening at the moment?
We have now nearly completed the masterplan for Western Harbour.
The masterplan is a detailed document, based on the vison for the area, ongoing engagement and technical studies which sets out in detail,
- how the road network will evolve
- the wider connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists
- how flooding infrastructure will be sensitively integrated
- where the new homes, community spaces, businesses that Bristol needs could go and the scale of the buildings
- how businesses such as the Riverside Garden Centre can be kept in the area
- the green spaces that will be retained and what could be improved
- how the rich heritage of the area can be celebrated and integrated into the wider plans
The masterplan does not:
- show what the buildings will look like, including their exact footprint – this will be addressed in conversation with the community
- set out the funding and delivery strategy to deliver the masterplan and associated infrastructure
- show the detailed design of spaces and places
- set out the housing and tenure mix
We have appointed Architects, Design consultants and Urban planners, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, to lead development of the masterplan. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands have drawn together an innovative, technically excellent, multi-disciplinary team to work across the whole city, including with the refreshed WHAG, to turn the vision for Western Harbour from broad principles into a tangible long-term plan, setting out a big-picture guide to future development. As part of the masterplanning works, the team have also undertaken a number of surveys in the Western Harbour area to develop a detailed understanding of the site including ecology, structural and topographical surveys.
Recent engagement on the draft masterplan has now closed but you can still view the engagement materials on the ‘Have your say’ page, as well as the results of the engagement that took place in Autumn 2024. Your comments are important and will be carefully considered by the masterplan team as they finalise proposals. Following this, the masterplan will be considered by the council’s Economy and Skills Committee in Summer / Autumn 2025.
More about the area
The site is very complex and we are still learning about it. Through site research and technical surveys, we are understanding the traffic flows, flooding challenges, harbour operations, heritage constraints and the condition of the road infrastructure. The findings of these technical studies have been taken into account along with your feedback to inform the masterplan. These surveys are ongoing and more research will be conducted.
In the 1960s a new road network was introduced, including the Plimsoll Swing Bridge, carrying traffic into the city centre - an average of 51,000 cars a day. This spaghetti of elevated roads includes diversion routes for road traffic when the bridge swings to allow boats into the harbour.
Plimsoll Swing Bridge actually does not swing very frequently. At peak season, during July when the Harbour Festival occurs, it swings roughly 53 times. However, it swings roughly three times in January. When it does swing, on average it takes 10-12 minutes to open and close.
The majority of the existing highway infrastructure is 60 years old, combined with harbour assets such as the Junction Lock Swing Bridge and the harbour structures themselves dating from the 1800s.
Not all of the roads are well used. Ongoing surveys will help determine the life expectancy of the existing structures and inform our decision making.
The lock gates and harbour walls are listed along with the pedestrian swing bridge known as Brunel’s Other Bridge.
The three bonded warehouses are Grade II listed, built in the early 20th Century and used to store tobacco. Now they house a mixture of uses including the Create Centre and a storage company. Some of the other listed elements include:
- Avon Crescent Substation
- Ashton Avenue Bridge
- South Entrance Lock
The site contains landscape designed by the acclaimed landscape architect Dame Sylvia Crowe, including a lookout point with views towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
In the south of the site, Ashton Meadows provides the surrounding community with green space that has a self-built skate park and is surrounded by mature trees, adjacent to where the Riverside Garden Centre is located.
Ongoing studies include understanding the mudflats, surrounding ecology and considering the conditions of the existing trees.
The majority of the area is situated within the Statutory Harbour Authority estate. There is a statutory right of navigation through the harbour. Waterborne craft enter/exit the harbour via Entrance Lock which sits adjacent to Plimsoll Swing Bridge. Space around the lock gates and quayside is required to allow the safe operation of the harbour.
Cumberland Basin is an important feature of the harbour. It provides space for vessels to be held when they are waiting for the lock gates and swing bridges to open. Crucially, it is also designed to be “scoured” (which happens around twice a month) to remove silt buildup in the basin and prevent it from obstructing navigation. Lock gates regularly control the levels of water within the floating harbour, as well as ensuring that there is enough water in Cumberland Basin to carry out the regular scouring process and remove silt.
At the eastern end of Cumberland Basin there are two pairs of lock gates, which form a barrier to high river water levels. However, due to climate change, these gates can become overwhelmed, risking flooding within the centre of Bristol. To safeguard lives and property in Western Harbour and beyond, it’s imperative that we implement robust flood defences. These defences will not only shield the local area but also serve as a crucial line of defence for the entire city.