Can big screen television tame Bristol's notorious Bear Pit?
A BIG screen television for one of the most notorious parts of the city centre is one idea Bristol City Council wants to fund by selling off green spaces.
Council officers want to "look into the possibility of a technology hub" for the St James Barton roundabout – better known as the Bear Pit.
That could include a TV or projection screen which would be placed in the bottom left-hand corner of the pit as you look towards Stokes Croft, and electronic information points around the edges.
This is despite the fact that a CCTV camera that covers the area was stolen during the summer.
The Bear Pit is used by hundreds of people every day, but mainly as a walk-through connecting Broadmead with the bottom of Stokes Croft, the bus station and the magistrates' court.
It is well known as a hot spot for public drinking, homelessness and the toilets and phone boxes suffer from vandalism.
Drug dealing has also been reported and many people avoid the area at night.
No specifics of cost of the size of the screen have been given, but the size of the space could mean something similar to the large TV in Millennium Square at Harbourside.
Other suggested improvements for the Bear Pit include better paving, seating and subway lighting to create a more pleasant atmosphere.
The area in the middle could be used for performance, a cafe, an ice rink or a market, council officers have said. The toilet blocks would be removed, along with the raised beds.
The officers' report states: "From the consultation undertaken to date it is clear that there is agreement on a pressing need to improve this key gateway space.
"The concept plan includes a range of ideas and is intended to stimulate discussion and debate."
A number of ideas have been put forward to smarten up the tatty square over the years.
In 2002, Bristol City Council looked at either covering over the subway for £4 million or carrying out a £2m refurbishment with cafes, shops and new public toilets.
In June, a taskforce was set up to look at what could be done with the area, involving the council, the police and Broadmead manager John Hirst.
During the summer, a local graffiti artist added a mural designed by young people to one of the walls, in a bid to brighten the area up.
The Bear Pit proposals are included in the Clifton and Cabot part of the green space plan, currently being consulted on by the council. To tell the council what you think, go to www.bristol. gov.uk/agsp.
28 Comments
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by Morrissey, Montpelier
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 9:41PM
“Nothing will happen, it will stay just as it is. More events like the Stokes Croft do earlier in the summer could work? Also they will hopefully carry on allowing artwork up and flowers to be planted to make it a bit nicer. It is a place to get from A to B, not a park for hanging around in, it is under a roundabout!
The bear pit isn't too bad, I have never had a problem there despite walking through it twice a day, sometimes very early and sometimes very late. Same goes for various other "no-go" places nearby - Jamaica Street for example.”
by Green Space - Private Housing Scam!, Redcliffe
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 6:59PM
“Spend spend spend except a penny if you need the bear pit loos in the future!
Do we have a Police station in central Bristol now or are all the Police safe out at sunny Portishhead HQ!? Put a police station in the bear pit!
This council are also inept, what has happened at the Industrial museum - if it aint broke don't fix it! The same with green spaces not this sham of green space improvements, which is just an excuse to sell off our green space for private housing!”
by Peter, Kingsdown
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 6:53PM
“The answer has to be to somehow enclose it and cover it over with a roof. Doors at each of the entrances would help. It is what they did in Birmingham many years ago with a similar problem area underneath the Central Library. And it worked.
For a really off-beat idea how about turning it into Bristol's version of the Eden Project. Certainly makes a change from more empty shops and keeps a form of green space.”
by Cabot, Central Bristol
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 5:45PM
“Living in the area you get used to seeing aggressive drunks, public urination, drug use and street begging. You're really only reminded of the social detritus who make this place a hell for locals when something a bit more unusual happens. Like the group of drunken louts who have decided to set up home there complete with pitched tent! Yet despite the police and the council having registered public complaints over the last two weeks, nothing has happened.
We really need our police to actually do what they're paid for, and do some policing on behalf of the community that pays their wages. In the meantime, getting the council to actually make an effort seems to be lower down their list of priorities than engaging in blue-sky thinking about giant tv sets. The problems of the bear-pit aren't intractable. They simply require certain people get off their backsides.”
by Horatio, Bristol
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 4:43PM
“It's not an Ashton gate overspill area for all those fans who don't fit into the ground every Saturday so that they can watch the matches on TV. Oh no, silly me, they can never fill the ground so really should build a new stadium so that they can fill it even less.”
by ChrisB, Ashton
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 4:32PM
“Why isn't the Spirit of Bristol sculpture in the Bear Pit? With thousands of people walking through, it makes sense to relocate it from where it is currently, so it can be seen better.”
by phil, Kingswood
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 4:16PM
“Fill it in and build a slum.”
by Mrs Trellis, Stokes Croft
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 3:33PM
“BCC will need to internally promote 'key officers' further beyond their competencies in order to 'robustly' ensure that they efficiently waste our money in a culturally diverse and socially inclusive manner.
Plentiful funds should be available provided that the redevelopment has something to do with cycling, re-cycling or tackling 'climate change'.
And never mind the welfare of the down-and-outs who hang out in 'the pit'. The private sector will probably look after them ...
BCC have long since lost the plot.”
by Richard, Bristol
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 3:25PM
“Or how about selling most of this land and building an office block here? With access around the outside similar to what remains of Waterloo's Imax construction..
A futuristic office block here will transform the area. Look at the new development close to the Westminster Bridge, London.
In the roundabout at Lambeth Palace Road and Westminster Bridge Road a new office block has transformed the whole area..”
by Peter, Bristol
Tuesday, October 26 2010, 3:10PM
“Fill it in and build bridges across roads. It always been muggers paradise and drug sellers home. I used to have to use it from the late seventies when it had some good shops and clean toilets but since 90's it has got so bad that most people try to run the roads and not use it.FILL IT IN”