News / bristol city council
Fountains and five trees to be removed in major remodelling of Centre
The dribbling fountains on the Centre once infamously described as “a load of dead men peeing” will be removed as part of plans to completely remodel the area between the Cascade Steps and the Neptune statue.
The three sunken fountains will be filled in and five trees next to Broad Quay that have outgrown their planters will be removed during the works that are set to be carried out in early 2025 and take up to three months to complete.
This will enable the area officially known as the ‘Centre Promenade’ to be covered over with what Bristol City Council describe as “a light coloured surface (which) will be decorated with a large-scale 2D artwork that integrates with the area’s planters and plant selection”.
is needed now More than ever
Construction work to create a continuous surface and replace five trees should start in the Centre early in 2025 – map: Bristol City Council
The remodelling of the Centre – named after when this was the Tramways Centre – is just the latest attempt to beautify the area built over the top of the River Frome which was last remodelled in 1999.
These changes hope to allow more space for markets, events and the thousands of people who travel through the area every day.
Harbour estate manager, Eric Dougall, said that the Harbourside Market is “key to animating the area”.
Although not part of this project, the council say that they are already “considering options” for the future of the cycle route on the St Augustine’s Parade side of the Centre on “to make it more visible to reduce conflict between pedestrians and cyclists”.
The Centre is built on top of St Augustine’s Trench where the River Frome was re-routed in the 13th century – photo: Martin Booth
Andrew Brown, chair of Bristol City Council’s economy & skills committee, said: “This is a busy area in the city and one that has many uses, from the food stalls and events through to thousands of passing pedestrians and cyclists.
“While the fountains were a good idea in principle, they reduce the available space and have not worked properly for many years because of limited water storage capacity underground.
“By creating a flat surface across this whole area, we can give more room for events and people travelling through the Centre, which will make the area work better and take much of the pressure off all these competing needs.”
The fountains were installed in 1999 but have not worked for several years – photo: Martin Booth
The five London plane trees removed as part of the works will be replaced with five smaller blossoming trees that are more suited to growing in raised planters.
The council say that they have worked with arboricultural specialists to look at other options, but felling the trees in sections is the only way to remove them safely.
The felled trees will be processed into woodchip and used to fuel bio-mass boilers, with the woodchip also used as mulch around the bases of the newly planted trees.
Five London plane trees will be removed and replaced with trees more suitable for the limestone planters – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
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