New Museum for Concorde - draft concept statement
Concorde was developed and built partly at Filton during the 1960s. In over 30 years service it became an international design icon. In 2003 the Concorde fleet was withdrawn from service and the last of sixteen planes, Concorde 216, flew into Filton Airfield in November 2003 where it was decommissioned. The aircraft is owned by British Airways but loaned to Airbus UK, who campaigned hard to bring it back to Filton.
The Bristol Aero Collection, who manage Concorde at Filton, and various local organisations and companies have been trying to find an appropriate permanent location for Concorde to be stored and viewed by members of the public, particularly as the aircraft is currently located outside on Filton Airfield.
The museum proposals seek to provide an indoor permanent home for Concorde, which will allow visitors to view the aircraft and learn about its history and also make it a central feature in telling the wider story of the local aircraft industry in South Gloucestershire.
The Concorde Trust was formed in June 2007 and is a registered charity, whose members are key
stakeholders within South Gloucestershire and Bristol North Fringe. It is the aspiration of the Concorde Trust to make the permanent home a reality. The family of local entrepreneur Jack Baylis has offered the trust a suitable site between the airfield and The Mall regional shopping centre where Concorde can be made readily accessible to the public. JT Baylis Land Development Partnership is the main landowner within the Cribbs Causeway Development Area and has previously worked with South Gloucestershire in delivering the significant commercial development which has occurred within this part of the administrative area during the last decade. It is hoped that the museum project can form part of a wider remodelling of the Cribbs Causeway area in line with emerging policy of the Regional Spatial Strategy.