IT will hardly come as any great shock â but new research has revealed that Bristol has the worst sporting facilities of any major British city. The research was released just days after a campaign group announced it is launching a judicial review which is set to halt work on Bristol Rovers' new £40 million stadium at Stoke Gifford. Protesters want to stop a super- market planned for the site of the club's existing ground, the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, as they fear it will hit nearby traders. At the same time Bristol City has shelved plans to move to a new stadium at Ashton Vale and could abandon them altogether, following a lengthy legal battle with opponents The one scheme going ahead in the city is the revamp of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club's home in Bishopston â but only after a hard-fought campaign against the scheme. Jones Lang LaSalle, which has its South West headquarters in Clifton, is one of the UK's leading property firms. The consultancy has carried out its own research and found that Bristol lags behind all of its rival cities when it comes to facilities and major sporting venues. Jeremy Richards, the man in charge of Jones Lang LaSalle in Bristol, believes that the city's economic prospects will be badly hit if nothing is done to improve the situation. He said: "Other UK cities have shown that sports and social facilities are vital to the wellbeing and growth of an area and produce a major boost, as evidenced by the Olympic facilities and new sporting facilities elsewhere, such as the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Cardiff City Stadium and Exeter Chiefs Stadium. "Bristol is desperately in need of new sporting facilities but attempts to deliver these are being constantly thwarted. Our sports clubs are experiencing uphill battles in their desperate quest to deliver new facilities â witnessed in the recent past with Bristol City and Gloucestershire Cricket, and now Bristol Rovers appear to be experiencing yet another barrier. "At times one feels that constant barriers are being erected, despite planning applications and proposals going through due processes, such as the case with Ashton Gate. "Our experience shows that there is a crying need for new and improved facilities in the greater Bristol area and this is not just in the sporting sense. It is also the need for an arena. Bristol is the only major city in the UK without an arena. "Leeds has just delivered one, even through the face of the worst recession in the last 50 years. Interestingly, this was delivered because the people in Leeds demanded it as their highest priority. "Clearly there will be influences and effects. It is a matter of balance." Mr Richards also said that the concept of 'enabling development' â the funding of new facilities by commercial developments such as the Sainsbury's supermarket planned for the Mem â is vital. "In the world we live in, it is unusual for a sports facility to be self-funding," he said. "They have to be cross-subsidised. This has been the case with two of our closest cities, Cardiff and Swansea. Both of these have had new stadia delivered and paid for by retail development. "And I do not think it is a simple coincidence that both cities now have risen through the leagues so that Premier League football is now being played in these cities." Last week in the Bristol Post, elected mayor George Ferguson spoke out against the use of legal ploys to block developments which had won planning approval. He said: "Judicial reviews have their place, of course. But I think there's a manner in which they're being used in Bristol by minority pressure groups, with the result of putting major development and progress in danger. And it's not good for the city's reputation. "In particular, putting a block on the development of the new Rovers ground is going to be very damaging to the local economy and sport in the local region. "We are in danger of the tail wagging the dog. One judicial review inspires another and there's a real danger of it getting out of hand." Who would of thought it
it is shocking that we are the biggest city without a decent stadium for sport or for anything. cardiff and swansea have shown the way. its disgusting that councillor willingham (who voted against sainsburys having the mem before approval was given) has come out and said "Rovers deserve a judicial review if they have no intention of carrying out a public consultation. Rovers deserve judicial review if consultation is a sham". http://www.itv.com/news/west/story/2013-09-11/rovers-judicial-review-setback/ im sorry councillor willingham! i thought this was sainsburys planning application not rovers application. i thought it was sainsburys who does the consultation with the locals not rovers. so then councillor willingham, how does rovers deserve this judicial review??? shouldnt you be saying 'sainsburys deserve the judicial review'??? think he has made a cock up here!
Just a clueless twat who quite simply does not know what he's talking about; he's also let his fig leaf slip and laid bare his real motives. Because he's taken gip, quite rightly from peeved Gasheads, he's know making it his personal mission. Shameful little man.
When you look at the facilities that all other major UK cities - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Cardiff and Sheffield, Bristol's facilities are truly lamentable. The city hasn't even got an bloomin' ice rink, let alone any athletics facilities, decent stadia, an arena - now that we haven't had much international cricket at Nevil Rd recently, Bristol doesn't even host any international sport, of any kind. The city is missing out on millions of investment and thousands of jobs. It's a real shame and it's largely down to minority groups, mainly incomers, imposing their will on the quiescent majority.
My mistake - this year is Mem is holding a Rugby League World Cup Group D match between the Cook Islands and the USA. Yeehar - all my wildest dreams have come true, all my Christmasses have come together - Rugby League/Cook Islands/USA - what's not to love!
