South Bristol Ring Road

[hilltop red]

Idea from a subber who no longer posts

"(I did have a much more detailed version typed, closed the sodding screen and lost it all, can't be arsed to type it all again)

It has been announced that South Bristol is to be the focus of huge investment in both infrastructure and development.

The major part of this scheme will be to finish the Avon ring road.

The new ring road section will cover from Brislington, all the way to the M5.

With this in mind the opportunity is now there to build a purpose build complex with cracking transports links, on the edge of South Bristol.

We are told the club need non-matchday revenue to go forward. I don't believe a handful of conferences in a new east end, and a couple of yearly concerts will provide the answer.

Imagine a new purpose built site, with a modern stadium (ok I don't like them either) which has lower running costs, boxes and such like and in ground bars. All this we don't presently have (or in the case of bars, not enough of). On the outside, a hotel and a casino? Such developments would make more money than present plans could ever provide.

The ring road and possibly rail (There is the prospect of a new rail line going in that area, but not confirmed) would provide excellent transport links in regards of the stadium.

The club should be knocking on the door of the South West Regional Development agency, the local council and potential investors to see if this is a feasible suggestion.

This suggestion, in its basic form, should be put forward to the club to consider. Forget the 100 year tenure at Ashton gate, it's an outdated monolith that we can simply no longer afford. The rules have changed since we last approached BCC regarding a stadium, and i feel that they would be far more agreeable to a project that would provide a centrepiece to the South Bristol Redevelopment.

What do people make of this?

(ps i don't suppose someone could post this on otib for me? Say it's your own idea)"

wont take credit for willsbridge's work

[Red_Mat]

Well, for a start it wouldn't be Bristol City Council we'd be approaching as the proposed areas of land you're talking about fall in North Somerset and BANES, not Bristol.

Secondly, most of the lane is in the 'Green Belt' so the chances of getting that overturned to build a football stadium are incredibly unlikely.

Then there are the plans to build houses to the south of Bristol, which would probably take up any space that isn't covered by the Green Belt and scupper any chances of a stadium.

Other than that well, yes the transport links would be great.

Having said that, I'm all for the idea of a new, state-of-the-art, purpose-built stadium with great facilities. It'd be nice to think we'd need it a few years down the line. Like Reading.

Rather than like Oxford...

[054123]

I'm quite happy at Ashton Gate thsanks.

Of all the new builds i've been to (Boro, Southhampton, Reading, Stoke, Millwall, i'm sure there are others) the miilenium stadium is the only that was any good. The rest were just heaps of plastic with no soul.

If judge how good a ground is by the facilities thay have, you're going to football for the wrong reasons. My favourite ground was the old home park. Two thirds terracing, intense atmosphere, a real sense of us against them. It was fantastic.

I'm quite happy at Ashton Gate thsanks.

Of all the new builds i've been to (Boro, Southhampton, Reading, Stoke, Millwall, i'm sure there are others) the miilenium stadium is the only that was any good. The rest were just heaps of plastic with no soul.

If judge how good a ground is by the facilities thay have, you're going to football for the wrong reasons. My favourite ground was the old home park. Two thirds terracing, intense atmosphere, a real sense of us against them. It was fantastic.

My spelling and grammar in the above post, is awful! Many apologies.

[Reg Hill]

I think hilltop red has raised a very interesting point here. And the more I think about it the backtracking on redevelopment at AG may have more to do with planning in south Bristol than catering contracts.

Draft Regional Planning Guidance for the South West is about to be published. This will set the framework for all new development in the region for the next 20 years or so. In it there are embryonic plans for the development of a huge swathe of what is now mainly green belt land beyond Ashton Vale between the A370 and the A38. Most of this will be housing - 9000 new homes is the stated target. But it opens up possibilities for other development as well which have previously receieved short shrift due to green belt policies - and if the club has any sense it will already be putting down markers about including a stadium as part of it. A nice new complex which also includes hotel, conference and leisure facilities would be just the job.

None of this will happen very quickly - it will be years in the planning. But an interesting prospect nevertheless.

[Bristol Boy]

All we need is about £30-40m to build it.

I can feel another Catering Contract Coming On

[cider head]

scrap plans for a new stand, wait till the new road system is built around long ashton

linking the upgrade to the air port and roads leading to it and build a new stadium up in bedminster down,

near the david lloyd golf course

nice idea

if true that is

[bobby]

The opportunity is certainly there in the future, areas of green belt in South Bristol/North Somerset will undoubtedly be released for development

I would be very surprised if the club were not already talking to developers/councils about options!

But don't expect anything to happen too soon, it has taken years to agree housing numbers for the old Avon area let alone where the development will actually take place!

[Dan C]

However sad it may be to leave Ashton Gate I feel the club will have to do this to be able to move foward.

Remaining at Ashton Gate will over the years prove to be very costly with ground improvements and maintaince.

[BS10 RED]

Why do people keep going on about new stadiums?We wont ever fill it so it will be a waste of money,money we could splash on our squad.Yeah of course ill love a new stadium but ill love a team challageing for promation and getting it before any stadium.

[22A]

I like and agree with the suggeted move to a puprpose built ground with additional revenue earning potential; but only if that finance went to City and not some holding comapny.

We have a problem with completing transport systems in Bristol though. The route was surveyed and costs worked out, but where is Bristol's super tram way system?

Going back further, much of Totterdown was demolished as the M32 parkway was actually scheduled to go through there. The original plans shown in the Central Library even showed a motorway spur going round part of Brandon Hill!

Go back even further and Temple Meads station was only temporary! Brunel's original plan was for the line to go through Queen's Square with the main station on the Centre.

The decision to move puts the club in a cleft stick. Move now whilst land is cheap and we could be stuck in a "wilderness" which ends up with no suitable transport link. Leave a move until the links are in place and we would be moving to prime, expensive real estate which may or may not still be available.

[Dan C]

Why do people keep going on about new stadiums?We wont ever fill it so it will be a waste of money,money we could splash on our squad.Yeah of course ill love a new stadium but ill love a team challageing for promation and getting it before any stadium.

I'm sure Hull fans' said the same before there new stadium was built when they were in League two and there now in the Championship due to the money they have gained through non match day revenue that they wouldn't of got if they would of stayed at there old stadium. This meaning they can spend money on transfers and wages and also players are more willing to join a club who has a nice new stadium.

Same can be said about Swansea really.

Having a new sadium is like buying a house, The banks will lend you the 150k as a morgage but they wouldn't lend you that much money if you wasn't investing it in bricks and water. So we couldn't spend the money we would use on a new stadium on new players because we wouldn't be able to borrow that.

So as I see it we need to invest in a new stadium to be able to afford to sign some top players through the non match day income we would recieve.

[BS10 RED]

I'm sure Hull fans' said the same before there new stadium was built when they were in League two and there now in the Championship due to the money they have gained through non match day revenue that they wouldn't of got if they would of stayed at there old stadium. This meaning they can spend money on transfers and wages and also players are more willing to join a club who has a nice new stadium.

Same can be said about Swansea really.

Having a new sadium is like buying a house, The banks will lend you the 150k as a morgage but they wouldn't lend you that much money if you wasn't investing it in bricks and water. So we couldn't spend the money we would use on a new stadium on new players because we wouldn't be able to borrow that.

So as I see it we need to invest in a new stadium to be able to afford to sign some top players through the non match day income we would recieve.

City has had enough money to spend on players in the last 5 years.

[Dan C]

City has had enough money to spend on players in the last 5 years.

Yes but ths aint the right topic to discuss that.

The board made the right decision indelaying the East End as comitting to that would of ment that any new stadium would of been dead and burried.

[BS10 RED]

Yes but ths aint the right topic to discuss that.

Well your the one going on about investing in players.

[Dan C]

Yea brought that up 1st and I stated what we would need to do to be able to afford these players and attract them.

Ashton Gate is not a long term solution.

It looks like the board have prosponed any redevelopment of Ashton Gate untill we get to the Championship, In this time they will still have to spend hundreds of thousands on stands like the Williams and the Dolman in maintenance costs and modernization when within five to ten years they will need to be replaced at great costs anyway, This meaning the maintenance costs and modernization is a waste of money but it still needs to be done.

[BS10 RED]

Yea brought that up 1st and I stated what we would need to do to be able to afford these players and attract them.

Ashton Gate is not a long term solution.

It looks like the board have prosponed any redevelopment of Ashton Gate untill we get to the Championship, In this time they will still have to spend hundreds of thousands on stands like the Williams and the Dolman in maintenance costs and modernization when within five to ten years they will need to be replaced at great costs anyway, This meaning the maintenance costs and modernization is a waste of money but it still needs to be done.

I would agure back but ive lost you now.

[BS10 RED]

So you like the pictyure?

[Nogbad the Bad]

Yea brought that up 1st and I stated what we would need to do to be able to afford these players and attract them.

Ashton Gate is not a long term solution.

It is for me, i'm very fond of AG.

I'd look at Charlton Athletic as a role model both for redeveloping a far more dilapidated ground than AG and also for making it sustainable as a Premiership ground long term.

Our history and tradition are entrenched in Ashton Gate, BS3 as our home, a bond with generations of fans that cannot be overestimated. We don't need a MUCH bigger ground to fulfil our ambitions, just to maximise our capacity through redevelopment to about 30,000.

The majority of new, characterless grounds are proving to be a big miss with the fans.

[Dan C]

It is for me, i'm very fond of AG.

I'd look at Charlton Athletic as a role model both for redeveloping a far more dilapidated ground than AG and also for making it sustainable as a Premiership ground long term.

Our history and tradition are entrenched in Ashton Gate, BS3 as our home, a bond with generations of fans that cannot be overestimated. We don't need a MUCH bigger ground to fulfil our ambitions, just to maximise our capacity through redevelopment to about 30,000.

The majority of new, characterless grounds are proving to be a big miss with the fans.

I am also very fond of Ashton Gate, AswhereMan City fans' with Maine Road and Swansea fans' with the vetch. I was also very fond with the old Wembley but times have changed and fondness don't come into it. Fondness isn't going to bing us long term success.

To redevelop Ashton Gate into a 30,000 stadium would take between 10-15 years imo. The east end would cost 7 million but when you add on interest I heard it was more like 10 million and that wont increse the capicity. Then next will be the Williams. Which holds 5-6000. The club wont be doing any of this untill were in the championship so each match that will be a loss of 5-6000 tickets. Over a season that is alot of moey plus the 9-12 million it would cost to replace the williams. Then it would be the turn of the Dolman. Again the club would lose alot of money through the loss of tickets etc. And during all this wewill beplaying in a stadium that would not look right and would look like a building site for years. Theatmospherewould also be much worse because of the emptyness of the stadium.

A new stadium, Not to far away would costthe same if notless when compared to all the loses and it would not be to far away from Ashton Gate either, Still in the South Bristol area.

Ashton Gate will one day have lost all it's history with all these new stands so it wont feel like Ashton Gate so why not move to a new stadium and avoid all the hassle that staying at Ashton Gate will bring? Why not make new history at a new stadium? Like a new era? Worked for both Hull, Reading, Wigan etc and look where they are now and look where we are.

[BS10 RED]

I am also very fond of Ashton Gate, AswhereMan City fans' with Maine Road and Swansea fans' with the vetch. I was also very fond with the old Wembley but times have changed and fondness don't come into it. Fondness isn't going to bing us long term success.

To redevelop Ashton Gate into a 30,000 stadium would take between 10-15 years imo. The east end would cost 7 million but when you add on interest I heard it was more like 10 million and that wont increse the capicity. Then next will be the Williams. Which holds 5-6000. The club wont be doing any of this untill were in the championship so each match that will be a loss of 5-6000 tickets. Over a season that is alot of moey plus the 9-12 million it would cost to replace the williams. Then it would be the turn of the Dolman. Again the club would lose alot of money through the loss of tickets etc. And during all this wewill beplaying in a stadium that would not look right and would look like a building site for years. Theatmospherewould also be much worse because of the emptyness of the stadium.

A new stadium, Not to far away would costthe same if notless when compared to all the loses and it would not be to far away from Ashton Gate either, Still in the South Bristol area.

Ashton Gate will one day have lost all it's history with all these new stands so it wont feel like Ashton Gate so why not move to a new stadium and avoid all the hassle that staying at Ashton Gate will bring? Why not make new history at a new stadium? Like a new era? Worked for both Hull, Reading, Wigan etc and look where they are now and look where we are.

Even thou i was dissagreeing with you earlyer in the theard what you have wrote now has made sense so maybe it would be better for a new stadium.

[Dolman Block B]

Even thou i was dissagreeing with you earlyer in the theard what you have wrote now has made sense so maybe it would be better for a new stadium.

Self portrait cityboy99?.........

[bh_red]

personally have no interest in moving grounds, don't see the need for it, I hate these grounds that are away from the communtiy and in the middle of a retail complex such as Reading.

plus it would be a long wlak from the hen and chicken

[BS10 RED]

Self portrait cityboy99?.........

Yeah was me when was a little nipper

[Dan C]

personally have no interest in moving grounds, don't see the need for it, I hate these grounds that are away from the communtiy and in the middle of a retail complex such as Reading.

plus it would be a long wlak from the hen and chicken

Thats what many fans' of other clubs have said that have moved stadiums but they aint saying that now they have moved.

It is no coincidence that clubs that have moved to new stadiums have had success.

Oh well it may not be near your favorite pub, Ashton Gate is 10 miles from my favorite pub but am I complaining?

I think all these small things that people are worried about will soon be forgotten with the benifits a new stadium would bring.

[cockney dave]

BRILLIANT! ALLTHE JUNIOR REDS WILL BE HAPPY AS BY THE TIME IT HAS GOT PLANNING PERMISSION. ALL THE 8 9 @ 10 YEAR OLDS WILL LOVE IT IF THEY LIVE TO BE 90 .WILL JUST ABOUT SEE IT FINISHED ROLL ON THE NEW STADIUM!!!

[Nogbad the Bad]

Thats what many fans' of other clubs have said that have moved stadiums but they aint saying that now they have moved.

Many are complaining, like Man. City fans hate Eastlands and Swansea are none too keen on their new stadium. Stoke fans also regret the move. They all feel they've lost their identity. We'll see what happens at the Stadium of Light if they have to spend more than one season out of the Premiership.

It is no coincidence that clubs that have moved to new stadiums have had success.

Stoke City, Darlington, Derby County, S****horpe?

Of course others have had success after moving, but so have the likes of Charlton, Plymouth & West Brom who have receveloped their existing stadiums.

Oh well it may not be near your favorite pub, Ashton Gate is 10 miles from my favorite pub but am I complaining?

If you live 10 mils away perhaps Ashton Gate isn't so entrenched in your local community.

I think all these small things that people are worried about will soon be forgotten with the benifits a new stadium would bring.

They're not small things. It's the surroundings that add to matchdays too. The Park, the pubs, the Suspension Bridge and the way the locals have been able to walk to their ground for generations. If a new ground was very near to the present site it may work if City are noticably progressing, but if everyone has to drive and wait an hour to get out of a car park in a soul less new development with no local amenities then it could be an irretrievable step backwards.

[glastonred]

It is for me, i'm very fond of AG.

I'd look at Charlton Athletic as a role model both for redeveloping a far more dilapidated ground than AG and also for making it sustainable as a Premiership ground long term.

Our history and tradition are entrenched in Ashton Gate, BS3 as our home, a bond with generations of fans that cannot be overestimated. We don't need a MUCH bigger ground to fulfil our ambitions, just to maximise our capacity through redevelopment to about 30,000.

The majority of new, characterless grounds are proving to be a big miss with the fans.

I completely agree with that. Ashton Gate is our historical home, and hopefully will be for decades to come. Call me old-fashioned, but I think tradition and history are important, and as a club we need to cherish that thread through time which links us to the present.

Every time a new stadium is threatened the local media automatically link us with a groundshare with the Gas, and how many City fans would relish that? Before we know it we could be swept away with notions of a Bristol United, kitted out in red and blue quartered shirts.

New stadiums can be soulless, with zero atmosphere - just witness Huddersfield Town's ground. Also who wants to support a sponsored name, like 'First Bus Stadium, or 'the Screwfix Direct'?

In these trying times community is vitally important, and BS3 is our community.

[tin]

Read this.

http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=53858&hl=tin

I started a thread on a new stadium a few weeks ago but near or next to David Lloyd's leisure centre. believ this would be ideal for the progression of the club. If Colchester and Doncaster can get new grounds why can't we??? Funding shouldn't be an issue...

[22A]

Juventus are top of the Italian League and usually qualify for Europe. Last night on Radio 5 they stated only 12,000 turned up for Juve v Roma and because crowds are on the downturn, Juve are going to reduce the size of their ground to 30,000. All too often this season, in all divisions, there are swathes of empty seats at many if not most grounds. If soccer's bubble has burst, perhaps we don't need a new ground after all, just a few improvements @ AG meaning City could spend 1 million instead of 10 million.

[Dan C]

Juventus are top of the Italian League and usually qualify for Europe. Last night on Radio 5 they stated only 12,000 turned up for Juve v Roma and because crowds are on the downturn, Juve are going to reduce the size of their ground to 30,000. All too often this season, in all divisions, there are swathes of empty seats at many if not most grounds. If soccer's bubble has burst, perhaps we don't need a new ground after all, just a few improvements @ AG meaning City could spend 1 million instead of 10 million.

The reason for wanting a new ground is not for wanting more seats. Ashton Gate will eventuall be increased to 30000 anyway so a new stadium I would guess would be around the same mark. 75% of ashton gate needs to be pulled down and replaced at that will cost more than 1 million and even more than 10 million. More like 20-25 million. On a par with a new stadium.

We need to maximis are non match day income. A new stadium can provide that within 5 years, Doing the same at AG will take 5-10 years and still then Ag wouldn't be of the same high quality as a new stadium would be.