Quality of Life
Retail
The West of England offers a unique shopping experience with a great selection of small independent shops and boutiques in Bath and Bristol’s Clifton Village, and familiar big name stores in Broadmead and Cribbs Causeway, the South West's premier shopping centre.
The retail offer will be transformed due to important development projects in Bristol and Bath. The new Cabot Circus shopping centre, due to open in Autumn 2008, will provide around one million sq ft of high quality retail and leisure uses, as well as apartments, offices and public spaces in the heart of Bristol. This £500m project is set to lift Bristol into the top ten UK retail destinations and will feature 120 new stores, including Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser, new restaurants, and wide range of leisure uses including a 13-screen Cinema de Lux.
SouthGate is a £350m redevelopment that will create a new retail quarter in Bath with a mix of new shops, restaurants, leisure facilities and homes, all served by a modern public transport hub and set within a series of newly designed streets and public squares. The scheme will provide a new basement car park, 90 new homes, over 400,000 sq ft of retail space, including a new department store, and a modern integrated transport hub, including brand new bus station facilities. The project is expected to be complete in 2010.
Leisure & Sport
The West of England offers a wide range of leisure and sport activities including outstanding galleries and museums, attractions, green spaces, adventures and activities, and a unrivalled choice of restaurants, bars and shops.
Bristol offers a unique mix of award winning attractions, outstanding festivals and events and great shopping alongside the world’s first regular slow food market, the oldest Methodist chapel in the world and the UK Museum of the Year 2006, Brunel’s ss Great Britain. The city boasts attractions to suit all tastes, including the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol Zoo, the International Balloon Fiesta, the Soil Association Organic Food Festival, and a wide range of sport activities including climbing and abseiling in the Avon Gorge and unique caving experience at Cheddar Caves.
Bath is a unique city with an international profile, a renowned Georgian architecture and heritage centres that attract thousands of visitors every year. Consistently ranked as one of the top tourist destinations in the UK, Bath is not just a World Heritage Site but can also offer stunning countryside, a world class spa complex, renowned restaurants and an unparalleled shopping experience.
Other local attractions include the seaside resort Weston-super-Mare, miles of glorious countryside and breathtaking coastline, the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and The Cotswolds.
