Bristol City Council paying 'right to air' over footbridge
Talks have taken 5 years between the local authority and the Crown Estate, which is owned by the Monarchy
Last updated 21st Jul 2024
Bristol City Council has agreed to pay the Crown Estate over £117,500 for the “right of air” at a recently built bridge. The Crown Estate, which is owned by the monarchy, is charging the council an “air space levy” over the footbridge to Temple Island, which was finished in 2019.
Talks over the charge took five years, and council bosses took a decision to pay the levy last September. The Crown Estate gave a half-price discount for the St Philips Footbridge, originally asking the council to pay £300,000 in 2021.
The council agreed to pay a levy of £117,500, plus the estate’s costs. Details of the decision were published on the council’s website, and were first reported on the Bristolian website.
Bristol City Council was asked to comment.
Bosses at the local authority said: "The Crown Estate routinely charge for rights of way, use of waterways or rights to cross land which they own. In this case it’s the right for use of the air space over the river, as they have title over the river and the river bank/bed."
The Crown Estate said it had entered into a commercial agreement with the council.
The decision states: “The council must pay the Crown Estate for the right of air being granted the Crown Estate land in order to provide the St Philips Footbridge connection between Temple Island and Albert Road.
“This has been in discussion between the Crown Estate and Bristol City Council since 2018. Now is the right time to finalise the negotiation, as more construction work begins in the Temple Quarter area.”
The Crown Estate, which generates money for the royal family and the Treasury, is one of the largest property managers in the country and owns £16 billion of assets. This includes much of the seabed and foreshore around England, such as the riverbed underneath the bridge.
The St Philips Footbridge, also known as the ‘bridge to nowhere’, was built between 2017 and 2019, connecting a footpath along the New Cut river with Temple Island. It was originally designed to provide access to a new indoor arena — but after the location of the arena was moved to Filton, the western end of the bridge has been fenced off .
Temple Island will instead be the site of new flats. Legal & General, a financial services firm, is planning to build 500 apartments, a new hotel and a conference centre. The development forms part of the huge Temple Quarter regeneration project covering a much wider area.