Bristol City Council spends more on Bristol Beacon than schools, flood defences and parks

Bristol City Council spent more on the final stage of renovating the Bristol Beacon last year than on school buildings, flood defences and parks combined, its accounts show.

It spent another £22million on the concert hall revamp in 2023-24, with all of it written off.

When added to the previous running total of £93million, it means the total now written off on the venue’s refurbishment is £115million.

The council says the venue, which reopened in November, is an “essential cultural asset to Bristol that has the potential to generate £13million to Bristol’s economy each year”.

Accounts show the cost of the work almost tripled from an original £48million to £132million – of which £84million has fallen on the city council, vastly more than the initial expectation of £10million – after the state of the Victorian building was deemed a “worst-case scenario”.

Structural engineers found hollow pillars holding up roofs, unknown Elizabethan well shafts and weak arches that were simply covered up, hidden and left unrecorded.

Former mayor Marvin Rees’s administration decided to continue with the refurbishment after analysis showed the alternatives were financially even more calamitous.

Pausing the project, mothballing the hall and restarting after a year would have cost £165million while abandoning it altogether and making the premises safe – requiring contracts to be ripped up and millions in grants potentially repaid – needed more than £200million.

In 2022, auditors Grant Thornton blamed Bristol City Council for having “underestimated the complexity and difficulty” of the redevelopment and that its “failure” to have effective management arrangements in place from the start caused the bill to spiral.

Now, the authority’s draft accounts, which cover 1 April, 2023, to 31 March this year, show the project was the third biggest spend of its £232million capital programme, which is long-term investment to improve big things like buildings, roads and infrastructure.

The largest chunk, £100.7million, was on the council’s housing, including £42million to build new homes.

Another £43million paid for transport schemes such as the Clean Air Zone, some flood defences, Bedminster Green regeneration, buses, New Cut Bridge upgrades, street lighting and road maintenance.

Next came £21.9million on the Bristol Beacon – almost double the next largest area of investment, £12.2million on school buildings, including additional pupil spaces to meet increasing demand.

The main part of this was on Year 7 “bulge” classes and the expansion programme for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The Bristol Beacon spending was also nearly twice that of the £11.5million on housing enabling work to provide affordable homes, including Hengrove Park, Filwood, Lockleaze, Glencoyne Square and Southmead regeneration programmes.

Next came £6.7million on flood defences and ecological infrastructure in Avonmouth and Severnside enterprise area, in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council and the Environment Agency, followed by £6million on the Temple Quarter regeneration.

A total of £4.3million went on energy efficiency schemes in homes, £4.2million on improving IT, £4.1million for housing adaptations and £3.6million on “new housing opportunities as part of the refugee resettlement programme”.

About £2.7million was invested on the South Bristol Light Industrial Workplace project, £2.2million to maintain buildings and waste depots, £1.8million towards parks and green spaces, and rounding off the top 15 was £1.1million in capital grants to community organisations “to support asset improvements”.

The accounts said the capital programme was financed by a combination of £42million through borrowing and £190million from grants, contributions and reserves.

As previously reported, a "lessons learned" report, ordered by Grant Thornton to prevent other major projects suffering a similar fate, has been delayed by months but will finally be presented to the audit committee next month.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "Bristol Beacon is a world-class venue that stands alongside the very best concert halls and music venues in Europe.

“It is a product of significant financial investment contributed by many organisations, including the council, trusts, foundations, and the generous donations of 9,000 citizens from across the city.

“It is an essential cultural asset to Bristol that has the potential to generate £13million to Bristol’s economy each year.

“The refurbished Bristol Beacon has already been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people and delivers an inclusive centre for community learning and education.

“This response from residents and visitors to the first six months of the Beacon being reopened delivers a value to the city that goes beyond the price put on bricks and mortar alone.

“In addition to the net benefit to the city from the boost to our cultural and entertainment sectors, we are also seeing thousands of children and young people already benefiting from the venue’s music education spaces and hundreds of jobs being created directly linked to the Beacon.”

A Bristol Music Trust spokesperson said: “As the independent music charity responsible for operating Bristol Beacon on behalf of Bristol City Council, our mission is to create unity and joy through live music for the whole of the city.

“Since it reopened six months ago, over 130,000 people have heard world-class music in our transformed venue, over 2,300 children and young people have been making the most of the new spaces to practise and perform and we have presented over 200 concerts, including community festivals Be Kind Bristol and We Care Week, that wouldn’t have otherwise had a home in the city.”

Credit: Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service