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The
future is with us, with work well under way on the biggest
changes to Portishead since the Victorian developments which
included the creation of
Portishead Docks.
In recent years there has been significant growth,
mainly at the western boundary of the town, where new
housing abuts the green belt.
Development
of the land area to the east of the town is now progressing.
This former “brown” land area includes the sites
of the former Power Stations, the Docks, Albright &
Wilson and the large area of poor quality farming land (the
ash-lands) which extends eastwards from the Docks.
There is a requirement to maintain a green corridor
between this new development and the Royal Portbury Dock,
stretching from the coast to the Gordano Valley, itself a
green belt area of considerable environmental and scientific
importance. The Portishead Quays scheme, under construction,
will provide a 450-berth Marina with a promenade planned
along its entire one mile (1.6 kilometres) length of
waterfront.
The buildings fronting both sides of the new Marina
will stand 5-6 stories high to reflect its size, and will
partially enclose areas of lawns and trees.
Three parkland areas will be created, and there will
also be a District centre and supermarket, with shops and
additional communty facilities in its SE corner.
The pedestrian promenades will link with the Coastal
Path near the new lock gates, across which there will be a
pedestrian and cycle bridge. The scheme includes provision
for more employment opportunities behind the waterfront on
its eastern side and additionally at the old MoD oil-tank
land alongside Wyndham Way which is currently under
development for business, industrial and warehouse use.
The land immediately opposite the Pioneer store is
planned to become the site of a further food store plus a few
other businesses. When completed, the Portishead Quays
development will provide around an additional 2000 dwellings
with a range of
styles and values to satisfy the requirements of all
intending purchasers.
These houses will increase the size of the town by an
additional third, swelling the population of the town from
its present 17,000 to 22,000 or more.
Clearly,
a supporting infrastructure of
schools, shops and community buildings will be a
vital part of these developments and it will be the
objective of both Town and North Somerset Councils to
increase considerably local employment opportunities in
order to reduce the need to commute to jobs outside the
town.
We
will once more become a town which has a working association
with the sea and our ancient pill in its new guise as a
marina will once more provide a safe haven for those sailing
its fleet of 450 yachts.
The major change for residents is that it will be
possible to stroll along the quayside and become engrossed
in the bustle and activity of a dock reopened to the public
for the first time in 60 years.The Quays development,
centered around the dock and enclosed by Eastwood, the sea,
Gordano Valley and the northern end of the High Street, will
be a most attractive place to live.
Within easy walking distance will be the shops (both
new and existing), the Leisure Centre, the new Primary
School, the Library, Somerset Hall and several churches.
It is now highly likely that the old railway line
will be reopened and that employment opportunities will be
created on site.
Other
facilities provided by the scheme will be the footpaths
which will enable residents to walk from the Lake Grounds
along the new sea defences to Failand, Avonmouth or the Avon
Gorge.
It will be an option to relax in a quayside pub,
restaurant or hotel and enjoy the marina activities as
sailors mess about in their boats.
All
of these things are to come; the present opportunities and
activities in our town form the next section of the guide.
Portishead
Infrastructure
Industry,
Commerce & Employment
Industry
Though
some of the larger and older industries in Portishead, such
as the Portishead Docks, electricity generation, phosphorus
making and nail making, have now gone, a number of newer,
modern industries have replaced them. Within the town are
now a wide range of smaller and flourishing industrial
companies dealing with a broad spectrum of activities such
as metal fabrication, chemicals, woodworking and food
manufacture, and these are mainly located on the eastern
side of the town, where new developments for office and
laboratory sites are to be provided.
The
heavy industries in the area are to be found on the banks of
the Avon estuary.
Avonmouth, on the northern bank, has a number of very
large factory units devoted especially to chemical
manufacture, while on the southern bank Royal Portbury Docks
has a very large industrial estate built around it to
provide a number of large collection and distribution
warehouses associated with the importation and exportation
trade carried out there; indeed, these docks have developed
into the major British terminal for the importation and
exportation of motor vehicles.
Bristol
and Bath have three of the top-ranking universities in the
UK, making the area a national focus for science based
industries.
Additionally, Portishead is relatively close to the
wide range of high-tech industries sited in and around the
City of Bristol. Bristol has not focused on any one
particular industry
and
so has been relatively free from detrimental industrial
swings in demand, though, in common with much of the South
West of England, has suffered a little from reduced
Government expenditure on defence.
Commerce
Portishead
has as wide a range of commercial enterprises as one would
expect to find in any other similarly sized town, though it
does have a few specialist commercial undertakings, such as
direct mailing.
The
town’s biggest employer is now
the
Avon & Somerset Police Headquarters, which, following
completion in 1995, employs over 1000 people.
While
a
proportion of these will be serving officers, some of whom
will be resident there for short training courses, 700
of
the staff will be civilian employees who will free uniformed
officers from administrative duties for crime prevention
duties. Employment Portishead is fortunate in having a high
level of employment. The educational attainment of young
people leaving the local schools is high and many proceed to
Universities and Colleges of Further Education, with few
subsequently having serious problems in finding suitable
employment.
Only
23% of the employed residents of
the
town are locally employed; the remainder travel out of
Portishead to work, mainly to Bristol.
The Portishead Quays scheme includes proposals for
additional employment opportunities, as noted above, which
will save many residents from the trauma of commuting. The
proposals include provision for at least one hotel, which
will be a very welcome facility for incoming businesses.
The
beautiful locations available for offices, the facilites
within Portishead, the transport links and the wide choice
of homes and sites, make Portishead Quays a perfect location
for businesses.
