Cabot Circus
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| Location | Broadmead, Bristol |
|---|---|
| Opening date | Thursday, 25th September 2008 |
| Developer | Bristol Alliance |
| Management | Richard Belt |
| Owner | Land Securities & Hammerson |
| No. of stores and services | 250 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 15 |
| No. of floors | 4 |
| Parking | 2500 spaces |
| Website | Official website |
Cabot Circus is a shopping mall situated in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is one of two major shopping destinations in the Bristol area, the other being The Mall, Cribbs Causeway. Cabot Circus is located in Broadmead, which was the original shopping district in central Bristol.
Apartments
In addition to the 120 retail outlets, Cabot Circus will feature 200 luxury apartments and will open in Autumn 2008[1].
History
Cabot Circus was named after John Cabot, following a public vote taken in November 2007 after the original chosen name 'Merchants Quarter' came under criticism due to its associations to the slave trade[2]. Work began on the site in September 2005[3] following the approval of the planning permission in December 2003[4]. The design of Cabot Circus consists of six retail environments with an individual section allocated for apartments. The central point promotes the shopping centre's glass roof. Cabot Circus was officially opened on Thursday 25th September 2008 at midday.
Retailers
Cabot Circus features over 120 shops [5] and two department stores. The current major department stores are House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols. Other outlets include French Connection, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Urban Outfitters, Zara and The Apple Store [6]. HSBC Bank will open its largest UK branch with over 60 customer facing staff. Cabot Circus will also feature a thirteen screen Cinema de Lux, the third in the United Kingdom (after Westfield Derby and Highcross Leicester).
Transport
Cabot Circus has its own car park that consists of 2,500 car parking spaces. Bristol Alliance along with Bristol City Council have launched a new park and ride scheme that will run from Frenchay to Cabot Circus from late September 2008 to coincide with the opening of the shopping centre[7]. This is in addition to the current park and ride schemes currently in operation.
Controversy
The development has been marked by controversy right from it's inception. Back in 2002 local newsletter The Bristolain reported, "Last Thursday residents of St. Pauls met to oppose the Broadmead development: "Is Our Community under threat from BIG BUSINESS DEVELOPERS?" "The Broadmead Expansion Plan, backed by the council, will mean a massive increase in traffic congestion, pollution and parking chaos."[8] While a local blogger wrote an article for the magazine Bristle, " "The developers need to ensure that the PR process of such a major development goes without the potential hitch of, say, the local people not wanting their benign assistance. For this they have turned to London based Opinion Leader Research, who...claim to excel at. Opinion Leader Research have detailed methods which involve the use of 'protagonists'. These are, "persuasive people; skilled at encouraging others to adopt their point of view." "[9]. At it's launch, there was a number of critical voices over the project and it's coverage in the local media, ""Bristolians are being subjected to unprecedented levels of hype in advance of the opening of the new shopping mall at Broadmead, or rather Cabot Circus as all loyal Bristolians must now call it. The Evening Post can barely contain its enthusiasm for this £500 million development, complete with car parking for over 2,600 cars, due to open its doors in just a week's time."[10]
Criticisms
Del Naja of Bristol band massive attack described cabot circus as 'how to spend 500 million pounds and bring the city to its knees- a star studded night of portable TV celebs, shopping debt repayment collectors and total auto gridlock. carrot circus is an amazing piece of work that ingeniously manages to capture that gripping 80’s shopping mall look of mid America slash the midlands, just what we need to compliment the mall and the giant Barrett business towers down temple way. The galleries now feel like a taxpayers bargain at the price and look how well they have performed compared to the wasted cash drizzled into welfare health and education.'[11]
Numerous Bristolians and Bristol based organisations have criticised the development and the impacts it will have on their city on Bristol Indymedia '[12] [13] [14]
On the day of its launch, activists hung a banner off part of the development saying 'crunch the cabot credit circus,' linking the opening of a multimillion pound retail development with the late 2008 economic climate and global credit crunch. [15]
See also
References
- ^ "Cabot Circus Homes". Cabot Circus. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ "New shopping centre name revealed". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ "£500m City centre revamp begins publisher=BBC News". Retrieved 2008-11-04.
{{cite web}}: Missing pipe in:|title=(help) - ^ "City development plan approved publisher=BBC News". Retrieved 2008-11-04.
{{cite web}}: Missing pipe in:|title=(help) - ^ "Cabot Circus - Visit Bristol". Visit Bristol. Retrieved 2008-25-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Cabot Circus Store Listing". This Is Bristol. Retrieved 2008-25-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Free Broadmead Park & Ride". Cabot Circus. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/2305 Bristolian 67
- ^ http://anarchist606.blogspot.com/2004/05/this-is-article-written-for-bristle.html Welcome to the Plunder-dome: The Broadmead Development
- ^ http://greenbristolblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/cabot-cacophony.html Cabot Cacophony
- ^ url=http://thebristolblogger.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/stop-press-no-really-this-time-massive-objection/
- ^ http://http://thebristolblogger.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/stop-press-no-really-this-time-massive-objection/
- ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688946
- ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688948
- ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688937
External links
