Bristol City Council has shattered an ambitious plan to put a pyramid made from recycled wine bottles on the top of the Create Centre, even though planning permission had been granted for the project.
Bristol’s sustainable development chief Diane Bunyan rejected the scheme after the council’s insurers, Zurich Municipal, described the proposal as a “possible catastrophic risk both in terms of liabilities and property exposure.”
Bunyan said the Bristol Pyramid Foundation, which was behind the scheme, had not addressed serious concerns about its financial and structural viability.
“The council granted planning permission for this ambitious and exciting temporary art installation symbolising Bristol’s sustainability objectives. But planning permission is not an endorsement of project viability,” said Bunyan.
The Foundation had planned to construct the pyramid atop the Create Centre, a listed former warehouse in Cumberland Basin to the west of the city, but had failed to raise anything like the £2.7m needed to complete the scheme. The Create Centre is owned by the council.
EGi News 01/11/01
