Tesco

[Guest]

I'm very uncomfortable about this, very uncomfortable indeed. I want a new stadium as much as the next City fan, but i don't live in Ashton or Bedminster and I don't see what right I have to try to influence planning decisions in an area where I don't live. I don't think the Tesco issue is any of my business and the decision on Tesco needs to be taken on its own merits, and shouldn't be influenced by City supporters. Its an issue for local residents, not occasional visitors. We spend about four hours in the area every fortnight; they live there all the time.

We are biased in favour of our club and a shiny new ground which is only natural; the World Cup carrot is dangled in hope as is; we wont "move on" etc without it.

It would be wonderfull for us as a club and open up new oppotunities and would no doubt bring money into the City if we were lucky enough to get the WC games.

We can show our support as the residents have against it going through, both of which seem pretty obvious; Tescos and SL batting on our side is a formidable line up.

The outcome will upset one side or the other for sure. My money is on our new stadium going through.

[havanatopia]

Well, of course there's no 'need'. The people who live in the area don't starve, so they can obviously get food from somewhere.

There's no 'need' for a KFC, a Halfords and a Currys either, but they allowed them to be built anyway.

Seems a pointless document, to me.

Precisely. So i suppose the report cost a few hundred K and the local council tax bill payers have to put up with even worse roads as a result of funds diversion. My dog could have come up with the same conclusion.

Frankly, I am disappointed to hear Colin Sextone's remarks; words to the effect 'give us permission or else' will surely not endear him to anyone. I am surprised they have publicly put all their eggs in one basket with this unhelpful comment. Common sense, surely, would suggest they must have a plan 'B' . And a plan 'B' or, in my view, plan 'A' should have been a mixed use development of retail, office and residential. Or perhaps they should be more creative and, with the local council, come up with a technology/science centre of excellence. Such 'clusters' fuel talent and create long term jobs. This is where the council need to be engaged to take the lead. Sadly, most city councils do not seem to have the gumption to be vastly more creative than simply saying yes or no to a massive retail shed. I know City have a requirement to maximise sale value but it is not a realistic option and, anyway, no council should be held over a barrel.

Perhaps hidden in world cup criteria should be an incentive for host cities to rejuvenate old sites for the long term benefit of the area, to optimise direct and indirect job creation and, as a result, perhaps to subsidise BCFC because, overall, this site and the new one will be large revenue earners for the council by way of local taxes and incoming tourism. I.e... If the council cannot be so obviously creative they need an external force to shake them into action. If I was FIFA i would say you can be a host city but you, BCFC and Bristol City Council, have to come up with something far more creative than yet another supermarket. Football would be far the better for it and we would, i believe, garner a considerable number of new supporters who would see the local club is not just out to pad their pockets to the highest bidder but actually want to elevate the local community and the city at large. Have they shot themselves in the foot therefore?

It would be a huge disappointment if CS and co really do not have a plan 'B' and while i would marginally take an unwanted supermarket to affect the stadium construction I think the long term benefit of all concerned has to be to go back to the beginning and be serious about how the site should be developed. To accept Mr. Sexstone's remark as absolute is to actually defy belief when one considers the potential loss of Bristol as a host city for the world cup should it come to England.

Come on Mr. Sexstone, you can do a whole lot better than that.

[thatcham red]

Stop stressing everyone,Tesco have massive power and friends in all the right places.

Tesco WILL get their new store at Ashton Gate, as they say in football, Its a done deal.

Mark my words.

I'm afraid that this is far from true.

Complacency is our biggest threat. It's easier to gather momentum when objecting to something than supporting it. We are in danger of being the hare with the tortoise readying itself to overtake on the home straight. If City fans and local residents don't mobilise and show support for the project there is a very real danger of it not happening.

[cidercity]

The one thing i think we have on our side is that the council have got fully behind the world cup bid and have spent a decent amount on promoting it, not just here but nationally as well.

I could not see them then going against anything that could jeopardise the bid, how stupid would they look in the eyes of the nation. Lets not forget the Government are also involved in this bid.

[Guy]

Im not wishing to sound dramatic, but I really am more worried than ever about Tesco's not getting approved, and us not getting our new stadium.

It's time to worry. And time to take action. Every City fan needs to make their support count NOW.

BERATE are making themselves heard at highest level in Council.

City fans need to do the same, otherwise no foodstore and no new stadium.

Start by pledging ur support at SupportCity on the web

Then follow SupportCity on Twitter for up-to-date news on what you can do - go find SupportCity on Twitter and hit follow!

Most of all, make sure your Bristol City Councillor knows that you expect them to represent YOUR views on this!

[Geoff65]

[Laner]

Unfortunately yes, it is sadly as simple as that. And like I have already said today I really am worried about the consequences for this club if it now doesn't happen.

However...

No Tesco = No Stadium = No World Cup bid.

Aren't the Council are gonna look like right bunch of idiots if they 'back' a bid and then shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to the logistics of that bid?

Although... it is a local council after all so I guess they're used to looking like idiots!!

[stroudy]

[Will Rollason]

Unfortunately yes, it is sadly as simple as that. And like I have already said today I really am worried about the consequences for this club if it now doesn't happen.

Has Steve L said as much? I doubt if his plans rest solely on having to sell to a supermarket......... :noexpression:

[SyntaxtheRed]

Anyone know how many real signitures were taken at AG last week? I would have thought that real sigs rather than online petitions would be more effective with regards to planning applications?

[Dollymarie]

Anyone know how many real signitures were taken at AG last week? I would have thought that real sigs rather than online petitions would be more effective with regards to planning applications?

I believe it was about 1000. I collected 100 myself, and the person organising it estimated there were 1000 altogether as I said.

[Blagdon red]

I believe it was about 1000. I collected 100 myself, and the person organising it estimated there were 1000 altogether as I said.

Marie is correct ... it was around 1,000 ... but despite e-mail requests to around 5,000 fans and posts on here for volunteers, we had the grand total of 2 people come forward from outside of the Trust board to help collect them - we could have collected thousands and thousands of signatures with more people to help... were you one of the fans to ignore our requests for help? Such apathy will get us nowhere and may lead to some very dark days indeed ... I've experienced the doom and gloom of the early 80s, effective bankruptcy and three successive relegations and I don't want to go there again, thank you very much .... but to ensure the brightest possible future for the club - and to be sure of avoiding a potential doomsday scenario, now is the time for ALL fans to become active and to get behind the club's plans.

Support City Now! No food store = no new stadium = no sustained success

As TomF as has been apt to quote in his signature in the past: If not now, then when?

I make no apology for giving you this link once again: supportcity.net

[SyntaxtheRed]

Just because i didn't volenteer to collect signtures (well done to those who did) doesn't mean i'm apathetic towards the project, I've signed every online petition and knowing the paper one was going round made sure i found someone collecting them to sign and got my friends that are new to city (and don't really no anything about the project) to do the same as i have done with the online ones aswell. In the last couple of seasons i've managed to bring down several new customers to the gate (some who don't even like football) to help support the club, two of which have ended up ST holders as well.

[Guest AJ Sylvester]

However...

No Tesco = No Stadium = No World Cup bid.

Aren't the Council are gonna look like right bunch of idiots if they 'back' a bid and then shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to the logistics of that bid?

Although... it is a local council after all so I guess they're used to looking like idiots!!

The World Cup doesn't really come into it. That's organised by the civil service non-political side of the council. The planners will be councillors appointed to that hearing and so totally different bunch of people. You could easily have a load of councillors who vote against for political reasons.

The planning committee would look utterly daft to accept one and not the other but this is very possible as they will try and uncouple the two which let's be honest you can't do. Things in life are linked. Raise taxes and you can put more into education, sell your house for £100k and you'll be less able to buy your £800k dream home than if you sold your current house for £400k, don't go out Friday night and you might be able to afford a night out on Saturday.

[mindjuicer]

Ignore that report, it all comes down to the council in the end, and that is where if anywhere its going to go tits up. BCC are pretty useless if you ask me, nothing decent ever seems to happen in Bristol, our millennium regeneration of the city center was poor, its dull as dishwater when you consider some of the beautiful squares and plazas of other large European cities, ours is just a bland semi-pedestrianised traffic jam.

The council is made up of elected councillors. There was a LibDem minority a couple of years ago briefly and there's a LibDem majority now, but all that shit happened under Labour.

Having said that, it's up to the planning committee, not the full council, and I don't know how the former works.

Agree it doesn't look good. 2 recent contentious building proposals have been rejected recently - the superstore on Ashley Down Road and the redevelopment of Castle Park.

We need a backup plan. It doesn't seem impossible to me to demolish and put up a new stand in off-season. It could be put in the contract that the builder pays the cost of lost attendance if it isn't finished in time.

[Hanhamreds]

Marie is correct ... it was around 1,000 ... but despite e-mail requests to around 5,000 fans and posts on here for volunteers, we had the grand total of 2 people come forward from outside of the Trust board to help collect them - we could have collected thousands and thousands of signatures with more people to help... were you one of the fans to ignore our requests for help? Such apathy will get us nowhere and may lead to some very dark days indeed ... I've experienced the doom and gloom of the early 80s, effective bankruptcy and three successive relegations and I don't want to go there again, thank you very much .... but to ensure the brightest possible future for the club - and to be sure of avoiding a potential doomsday scenario, now is the time for ALL fans to become active and to get behind the club's plans.

Support City Now! No food store = no new stadium = no sustained success

As TomF as has been apt to quote in his signature in the past: If not now, then when?

I make no apology for giving you this link once again: supportcity.net

I signed whilst outside BS3, it may have been Marie doing it.

Would it be worth creating a standard letter of support for the stadium which fans can print off and sign, then post to the council?

[madmax]

were you one of the fans to ignore our requests for help?

I personally didn't ignore the request for help, but timing with family issues and other stuff before the game meant I was unable to get down at the required time. I think it's a bit harsh to use 'ignore' but like others I have signed every online and physical petition including Saturdays.

MM

[Orbital]

Ok - click on this right now EVERYONE.

http://e2eweb.bristol.gov.uk/PublicAccess/...o=KODA82DN08900

It will take 30 seconds. Make sure you tick the "do not object" box in the middle. Put your own reasons - they don't all need to be based around the football club. I for one simply can not see any reason at all to object to the application.

Get your comments in right now. Not later, not tomorrow, NOW.

Well done in advance to taking 30 seconds to help the football club and our City.

Done. Comments left below:

It is imperative that Tescos are allowed to build. It has been illustrated by recent research data that this new provision would not have an adverse effect on North St, which is the major concern, as there are only a small percentage of shops that are not supermarkets which are actually in direct competition. One of these is due to close down and others are a proportionate distance away enough not to lose measurable trade.

People do a weekly or mothly shop at supermarkets and supplement these with more frequent visits to more specialist shops, such as are scattered on North St. If anything, building the supermarket could bring more people to the area and enhance their trade. It is a free market economy, give people the freedom of choice to select where they wish to shop, at the same time enabling progress to finally occur in this city where so many positive schemes never come to fruition.

[Blagdon red]

I signed whilst outside BS3, it may have been Marie doing it.

Would it be worth creating a standard letter of support for the stadium which fans can print off and sign, then post to the council?

There is just such a letter on the supportcity.net site.

If you have already signed up on the site, you can access it by signing in here:

supportciy.net login

If you are yet to sign up on the site, you will get to the same page by signing up here:

supportcity.net first-time sign-up

[sunningdalered]

Unfortunately yes, it is sadly as simple as that. And like I have already said today I really am worried about the consequences for this club if it now doesn't happen.

OK - lets assume that I am completely stupid - not far from the truth, I'm an EE'der after all. This has probably been discussed over and over (sorry) but can you explain to me how the economics of this new stadium work vs our present position?

AG is rarely full, and we are not as saddled with debt as we would be with the new stadium.

Is the belief that with a new stadium more people will come and watch city even if we are non-prem? Isn't true at Southampton.

Yes, I understand that if we were in the prem the whole financial picture would look different - but how many seasons would we have to achieve this before the club went bankrupt? Most other non-prem clubs have only achieved the new stadium thing with the personal backing of a wealthy individual/s haven't they?

I'm not negative towards the new stadium - far from it - although I do enjoy the old-school feel of the EE - but don't see why it would be such a financial disaster if we couldnt pull it off. If SL got fed up with bank-rolling the club to the tune he does now, surely we could find someone (or a consortium) to replace him?