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Bristol Development Corporation

Bristol Development Corporation
Formation1989
Dissolved1995
HeadquartersBristol
Location
  • England
Official language
English
Chairman
Christopher Thomas
Key people
Miles Collinge

The Bristol Development Corporation was established in 1989 to develop parts of eastern Bristol, England.

History

[edit]

The corporation was established as part of an initiative by the future Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine, in 1989 during the Third Thatcher ministry.[1] Board members were directly appointed by the minister and overrode local authority planning controls to spend government money on infrastructure. This was a controversial measure in Labour strongholds such as East London, Merseyside and North East England.[2][3]

Its flagship developments included the Bristol Spine Road linking the M32 and the A4, which allowed developments such as the Avonmeads Retail Park to proceed.[4] During its lifetime 1.3m sq.ft. of non-housing development and 676 housing units were built. Around 4,825 jobs were created and some £235m of private finance was leveraged in. Circa 180 acres (0.73 km2) of derelict land was reclaimed and 4.1 miles (6.6 km) of new road and footpaths put in place.[5]

The Chairman was Christopher Thomas and the Chief Executive was Miles Collinge.[6] It was dissolved in 1995.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "The Bristol Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) Order 1988". Legislation.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  2. ^ Parkinson, Michael; Duffy, James (1984). Government's Response to Inner-City Riots: The Minister for Merseyside and the Task Force. Vol. 37. Parliamentary Affairs. pp. 76–96.
  3. ^ Crick, Michael (1997). Michael Heseltine: A Biography. Hamish Hamilton. p. 238. ISBN 978-0241136911.
  4. ^ "Spine Road vital to success of Bristol's regeneration". 31 May 1991. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Impact of Urban Development Corporations in Leeds, Bristol & Central Manchester". Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. 18 November 1998. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  6. ^ "Hard sell to lure £1 billion; Bristol". The Times. 29 May 1991. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  7. ^ "The Bristol Development Corporation (Dissolution) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2018.


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