Before you sign the petition in support of Bristol City's stadium bid please read .

[Franks Wild Years]

Mr Bristol has only told part of the story of City's stadium bid.

Firstly, there will be no World Cup football in Bristol because there will be no Cup Football in England.

Secondly, City's situation is no way like ours, they currently have a stadium, with a capacity of around 22k which for the recent derby against arch rivals saw a crowd of 16k.
They also have a chairman, Steve Lansdown who has a personal fortune of £452 million pounds and who recently relocated to Guernsey to avoid paying tax.
The Ashton Gate site is easily large enough to be redeveloped, but this would mean Lansdown would fail to make money from the sale of the site.

The club's plan is to sell the site to Sainsbury's (initially they wanted to sell to Tesco, but local opposition to Tesco moving onto the site meant Tesco were dropped in favour of the friendlier public face of Sainsburys.
However Sainsbury's plan to build their largest store in the South West has also come up against massive local opposition and planning permission was recently refused.
Lansdown has stated that unless the site is sold as a large retail site it wouldn't raise the required amount to fund the move. (Thats £452 million he has in the bank incase you missed it)
The opposition to the Sainsburys plan is led by local traders from North Street who fear a large superstore on their doorstep would mean the end of many of the small shops. North Street is a busy shopping street and plays a big part in making that area of Bristol a thriving community. They've been supported by a large chunk of the local population (including some city fans) who've also signed petitions and gone on marches.
Opposition has never been about not wanting the Club to develop and hopefully grow but has solely been about the proposed use of the site.
Why not turn the site into mixed use residential, business, leisure ?

One reason. Lansdown profit margin. And sadly it will be Lansdowns greed that could eventually see them never moving to a new stadium despite him trying to blame everyone else.

(Oh I suppose there is one similarity, weren't we once told of a fantastic new stadium to be built by our previous owners only to see that never happen ?)
I hope your Chairman turns out to be more honest than ours were, Bristol, but I fear he's taking you all for a ride that doesn't stop at the promised land.

 

[Curious Orange]

Don't worry - the petition will make bugger all difference to the Town Green Application decision... but it WAS a spurious application to block the planning application.

In my own opinion Bristol City don't actually need to move in any case - though it is apparently cheaper to build a new stadium than to redevelop Ashton Gate.

 

[Gus Poyet's inner FLAIR]

Not to mention that their new stadium looks rubbish.

 

[severnside gull]

I've been following the saga on West Today for what seems a lifetime and I agree that Lansdown isn't entirely the nicest person in Bristol (when he is there that is) and quite possibly not the most honest either but his personal wealth and the financial status of the club are not intrinsically linked and I'm not entirely sure why they should be. Theoretically at least he has invested money and wants to make a profit.....on the face of it not a problem in any business other than football. The new stadium would be great for the club and its fans and could (Lansdown's integrity allowing) give them the potential to progress that they don't currently have. The objections to the new build are real NIMBY specials with some similarity to our own and I can't see them holding water tbh. However, where I do think the whole thing could well fall apart is selling Ashton Gate for redevelopment.

Like you I also wouldn't be surprised somehow if Lansdown "did an Archer" once he has the cash in the bank but neither their fans or the council seem to be ringing alarm bells in that direction yet at least.

 

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

There is already a Sainsburys superstore less than half a mile from Ashton Gate. It is not only Lansdown's greed but Sainsbury also.

 

[portlock seagull]

Who cares? Football comes first! If you consider everything you'd never get anything built. They need a new stadium and I don't care where it's built. As we know it can considerably improve areas of outstanding natural beauty

 

[Silent Bob]

There is already a Sainsburys superstore less than half a mile from Ashton Gate. It is not only Lansdown's greed but Sainsbury also.

I thought that and wondered if I'd remembered it wrong or was thinking of somewhere else. That one's bloody massive as well (I think).

 

[Bristol]

Mr Bristol has only told part of the story of City's stadium bid.

Firstly, there will be no World Cup football in Bristol because there will be no Cup Football in England.

No but the Club and city need a new stadium. The World Cup would have been the icing on the cake. That's all. The new stadium proposals were well before the World Cup.

Secondly, City's situation is no way like ours, they currently have a stadium, with a capacity of around 22k which for the recent derby against arch rivals saw a crowd of 16k.

The current stadium holds just under 20,000 for football. But the need for a new stadium isn't about general admission seats - it's about structural faults in all four stands, disabled fans being located in wet puddles at pitch level, the study centre provided for free by the Club being too small and having the ceiling cave in a few years back, the temporary offices dotted around the site that are unenvironmentally friendly, the lack of facilities for players, staff, visitors, everyone.

They also have a chairman, Steve Lansdown who has a personal fortune of £452 million pounds and who recently relocated to Guernsey to avoid paying tax.
The Ashton Gate site is easily large enough to be redeveloped, but this would mean Lansdown would fail to make money from the sale of the site.

Ashton Gate can only be expanded on one side actually. The personal fortune of the Chairman is his, not the Club's. The Club itself lost £12m last year. The only factor in Lansdown's wealth is that he will be stumping up a large part of the money for the new stadium. It won't be like many cities around the country where local councils are putting money in. There's no burden to the taxpayer.

The club's plan is to sell the site to Sainsbury's (initially they wanted to sell to Tesco, but local opposition to Tesco moving onto the site meant Tesco were dropped in favour of the friendlier public face of Sainsburys. However Sainsbury's plan to build their largest store in the South West has also come up against massive local opposition and planning permission was recently refused.

Sainsbury's are relocating 100 yards down the road. That's all. And yes it will help fund the new stadium. It will be bigger but it will also be BREEAM excellent, the highest level of sustainability. To call it huge local opposition is misleading. A few national organisations and the Green Party fighting on national lines. Every supermarket in the world has some opposition. This one didn't have "huge" opposition by any stretch of the imagination.

Lansdown has stated that unless the site is sold as a large retail site it wouldn't raise the required amount to fund the move. (Thats £452 million he has in the bank incase you missed it)
The opposition to the Sainsburys plan is led by local traders from North Street who fear a large superstore on their doorstep would mean the end of many of the small shops. North Street is a busy shopping street and plays a big part in making that area of Bristol a thriving community. They've been supported by a large chunk of the local population (including some city fans) who've also signed petitions and gone on marches.
Opposition has never been about not wanting the Club to develop and hopefully grow but has solely been about the proposed use of the site.
Why not turn the site into mixed use residential, business, leisure ?

As above - the store is a relocation not a new one. Planning officers recommended approval. The existing Sainsbury's site IS being turned into residential and business use.

One reason. Lansdown profit margin. And sadly it will be Lansdowns greed that could eventually see them never moving to a new stadium despite him trying to blame everyone else.

(Oh I suppose there is one similarity, weren't we once told of a fantastic new stadium to be built by our previous owners only to see that never happen ?)
I hope your Chairman turns out to be more honest than ours were, Bristol, but I fear he's taking you all for a ride that doesn't stop at the promised land.

If Steve Lansdown deliberately harms Bristol City to make money I will hand you the keys to my own house. He's been here for 15 odd years, has plugged the gaps and meant that unlike Portsmouth, Palace and Cardiff the taxman and local firms are paid their bills. He's already stumping up to plug the funding gap in the new stadium. If he was all about money then the Club wouldn't be forming a new Community Trust, wouldn't be putting over 8 acres of wetlands to the south of the site, or the community gym or the new school classroom.

A lot of nonsense is spoken about new stadium projects by the minorities who object and I'm sure you guys are very well versed in that. We have a project that's crucial to the club, great for the city, will underpin a new community trust, will host over 8 acres of wildlife wetlands, has planning permission from two Councils, will provide huge amounts of investment and jobs to the local area and has huge backing across the whole area. No amount of Steve Lansdown's money can overcome the "Town Green application" (if any of you have any doubts about this - go to the Facebook page linked from acityunited.com to see the pictures and ariel images of the site). That is why I came on here to speak to you Brighton fans who no doubt understand this.

 

[Bristol]

As explained in last post. It's that Sainsbury's that is moving. It's a relocation. It will be bigger but the food offer will be similar. The expansion will be in non-food items.

 

[Martlet]

Lansdown has stated that unless the site is sold as a large retail site it wouldn't raise the required amount to fund the move. (Thats £452 million he has in the bank incase you missed it)

I might have missed something - but I don't necessarily see what's wrong with this. Presumably Lansdown is saying "I need the sale of the club's ground to be able to fund the building of a new one"?

From a business perspective, it seems pretty clear: Ashton Gate isn't much of a ground these days.

City would like to have a new home - but to simply plough money into tarting up the existing one wouldn't make much commercial sense, if they are already playing to under-capacity crowds (how would they recoup the investment?). Selling high-value retail land whilst building a high quality out of town stadium doesn't sound that bad - most of us seem to be looking forward to going to Falmer.

If he had £4.52 the suggestion would still be sound. I can't see that it makes a difference just because he's got a few quid in the bank.

 

[Billy the Fish]

franks wild years just got OWNED

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Quote : Bristol : "Sainsbury's are relocating 100 yards down the road. That's all. And yes it will help fund the new stadium. It will be bigger but it will also be BREEAM excellent, the highest level of sustainability. To call it huge local opposition is misleading. A few national organisations and the Green Party fighting on national lines. Every supermarket in the world has some opposition. This one didn't have "huge" opposition by any stretch of the imagination".

Erm thats bollocks. It's not 100 yards it's about three quarters of a mile and it's moving from a trading estate to a residential area opposite a well used park (not just down the road)
And as I live in Ashton I think I know how big the opposition is and has nothing to do with national arguments and everything to do with the local community.

As for Lansdown's personal wealth, it does come into play when he claims that the only way to fund the move is to sell to Sainsbury's. As we know through the actions of our chairman, if he really cares about the club then he could put his hand in his pocket.

The issue, Bristol is, as I've already stated, not about the new stadium but about the use that the old site is put to. A superstore is completely inappropriate, unecessary and unwanted by the majority of the population.

And please don't tell me that the 'wetlands' and the gym etc are being created because the club care care about the community, they were part of an agreement between the club and the council in which the club recieved two parcels of land free from the council in exchange for certain conditions, one of which includes free gym membership for council employees !!

So I don't think I have been owned.

 

[Dominoid]

I used to live in Bristol and Sainsbury's was a bugger to get to. Moving it away from the arse end of nowhere would have been much welcomed!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I doesn't feel right signing a petition supporting a new stadium, when they already have one, without knowing any of the facts and so on and so forth.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

No but the Club and city need a new stadium. The World Cup would have been the icing on the cake. That's all. The new stadium proposals were well before the World Cup.



The current stadium holds just under 20,000 for football. But the need for a new stadium isn't about general admission seats - it's about structural faults in all four stands, disabled fans being located in wet puddles at pitch level, the study centre provided for free by the Club being too small and having the ceiling cave in a few years back, the temporary offices dotted around the site that are unenvironmentally friendly, the lack of facilities for players, staff, visitors, everyone.



Ashton Gate can only be expanded on one side actually. The personal fortune of the Chairman is his, not the Club's. The Club itself lost £12m last year. The only factor in Lansdown's wealth is that he will be stumping up a large part of the money for the new stadium. It won't be like many cities around the country where local councils are putting money in. There's no burden to the taxpayer.



Sainsbury's are relocating 100 yards down the road. That's all. And yes it will help fund the new stadium. It will be bigger but it will also be BREEAM excellent, the highest level of sustainability. To call it huge local opposition is misleading. A few national organisations and the Green Party fighting on national lines. Every supermarket in the world has some opposition. This one didn't have "huge" opposition by any stretch of the imagination.



As above - the store is a relocation not a new one. Planning officers recommended approval. The existing Sainsbury's site IS being turned into residential and business use.



If Steve Lansdown deliberately harms Bristol City to make money I will hand you the keys to my own house. He's been here for 15 odd years, has plugged the gaps and meant that unlike Portsmouth, Palace and Cardiff the taxman and local firms are paid their bills. He's already stumping up to plug the funding gap in the new stadium. If he was all about money then the Club wouldn't be forming a new Community Trust, wouldn't be putting over 8 acres of wetlands to the south of the site, or the community gym or the new school classroom.

A lot of nonsense is spoken about new stadium projects by the minorities who object and I'm sure you guys are very well versed in that. We have a project that's crucial to the club, great for the city, will underpin a new community trust, will host over 8 acres of wildlife wetlands, has planning permission from two Councils, will provide huge amounts of investment and jobs to the local area and has huge backing across the whole area. No amount of Steve Lansdown's money can overcome the "Town Green application" (if any of you have any doubts about this - go to the Facebook page linked from acityunited.com to see the pictures and ariel images of the site). That is why I came on here to speak to you Brighton fans who no doubt understand this.

You had me wavering with your first post but having read Bristols response and considering your argument sounds very LDC like I'll now be signing the petition.

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Can I make it clear that I'm not against City's new stadium plans.
I live round the corner from Ashton Gate and I love the fact that I have a football ground so close to my house, it's a big bonus,You can't beat the sound of a crowd celebrating a goal (mind you it is City so that doesn't happen often)

I don't appreciate being compared to LDC.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I don't appreciate being compared to LDC.

What about a Falmer NIMBY?

 

[Franks Wild Years]

What about a Falmer NIMBY?

Steady now, thats fighting talk.

 

[bhaexpress]

Well I'm in favour of superstores and I'll sign it too.

 

[little al]

I wouldn't do f*** all to to help Bristol Shitty.