We must be the laughing stock of the country,Bristol the seventh largest city in the country yet we cannot get a simple decision right regards a new stadium. This needs to be put to bed once and for all. We are not just looking at the stadium,we are looking at the huge amount of jobs,the chance to bring major acts to Bristol without having to go to London or Birmingham. The extra revenue it will bring to the city over the years.the fact we will have a venue as good as any in the country. This needs to be addressed and dealt with quickly. Bristol needs to deal with this quickly,apparantly the biggest noises are being made from people from outside the area that have moved into the area.this is not right. We don't want you,we don't need you,holding back our great city,I would recommend moving back to where you crawled out from and leave Bristol to progress with the vast majority of people wanting this new complex to be built.
I know I'll take some flak for this, but City must take some blame for the present situation. From the outset there was an arrogance about the proposal which alienated many. North Somerset Council were marginalised, hence their initial hostility. Not enough effort was put into getting the residents of Long Ashton 'on-side'. The design of the stadium is not particularly aesthetic. It has been compared to a giant red shoe-box. (opinion) An ill-advised video was produced showing the stadium descending like some gargantuan space ship into Ashton Vale. As a proud Bristolian I want the best for my city. We should have the infra-structure and sporting and leisure facilities to match the natural beauty and heritage of our great city. But if you want a template of how not to go about it look no further than Colin Sexstone and his handling of the City proposals.
Must admit I haven't seen the designs - when it does finally get built (in 2060 I expect) I really hope it doesn't look as bad as House of Fraser and the 'entrance' into Bristol from the M32.
It is an absolute mess. I find it astonishing that a private individual (SL) is prepared to bankroll a project that will bring incredible economic benefits to Bristol at minimal cost to the local authorities. It's well documented that new stadia bring new fans to the matches who prefer not to attend matches at an antiquated stadium with shocking facilities. New fans spend money. Money is the economy. The economy is jobs. Jobs create more disposable income and so on. However nothing is easy when dealing with multiple authorities and the NIMBY faction. Just ask our friends at Brighton about this - their stadium row went on for years but they stayed the course and prevailed. just look at the fantastic facilities they now have and more importantly, the support. They were getting 6 to 7 thousand at Withdean. Now they fill the house every match. That is progress. The JR brings tremendous uncertainty and we have to keep faith with SL and his legal team as well as the Council who, despite a few false starts, have been supportive. From the other side of the pond it's amazing to watch this unfold. In the USA, sports franchises are much sought after and a major source of pride for their cities. We boast an excellent new football (US namby pamby version) in Tampa that was funded by a state and city tax surcharge as the economic benefits of hosting an NFL team are huge. Similarly we have a first class 20,000 seat indoor arena for the NHL team, again funded by tax collections. Both venues host musical acts, monster truck shows and other big attended events. That means attendees..... that equates to money pumped into the local economy. Both of these developments were a major burden on tax payers but they were built. Bristol has a willing benefactor to underwrite the cost and some selfish ******s who think a landfill is a counrty style village greem want to block it? Sad.
