It is quite simply absurd for Bristol City Chief Executive Colin Sexstone to claim that building a giant Tesco somehow won't impact on our local shopping streets.

A giant Tesco will demand a huge customer base and seek to take a huge portion of local trade, and it is quite obvious that they will take their customers from wherever they can. This undoubtedly includes small, independent traders who contribute so much to the local community and trade in and around North Street – but lack the financial muscle of Tesco.

Of course, even Mr Sexstone admits that his plans for a Tesco put a quarter of the shops in the area at risk.

It is a credit to those campaigning against Tesco at Ashton Gate that Bristol City have been forced into a desperate appeal to the 'silent majority' for aid. This shows that Bristol City Football Club have noticed the hundreds of people who have signed the petition against having a new Tesco, all those who have put posters in their window against Tesco, and all those who are helping BERATE.

However, the scale of the task those of us who oppose is clear. Multi-billion pound Tesco, multi-million pound Bristol City Football Club – who can seem to get the front page of the Evening Post at will – against a few locals, acting in their spare time.

So to all those like me who oppose the building of Tesco at Ashton Gate – please make sure your voice is heard. Oppose the planning application, sign the petition, get involved. We need all the help we can get.

Charlie Bolton,

Green Party councillor,

Southville.

I AM sick and tired of the moaning Nimbys of Ashton Vale. Where was the Ashton Vale heritage group when David Lloyd built on the adjoining fields or when an indoor bowling centre was built on the only local playing fields?

Or when the car Auction Centre expanded? Why the sudden concern for the local wildlife? They should be more concerned over the fact that the nearest play ground for my young children is nearly a mile away.

Their only concern is for the value of their properties, something which none of them have the courage to admit. It is worth reminding the self righteous of Ashton Vale that many of them probably bought their houses on the cheap when the fields in question were a refuse site!

Most of the area is populated by passionate Bristol city supporters and I find their objections to be the height of hypocrisy.

Will they boycott the club at the new stadium? I think not. If there were season ticket concessions for locals I suggest many of these Nimbys would be at the front of the queue.

These people should look at the bigger picture, more local employment and a fabulous stadium for many hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy for many years.

I applaud Steve Lansdown and the current board for all the fantastic work they are doing in the South West and the encouraging form of the team!

Maybe I won't be able to park my car on a Saturday afternoon or be kept awake by an occasional concert but I'll live with it if it means a better future for the club I love.

Bobby Ball,

Ashton Drive.

AS a resident of Ashton Vale who was brought up in the area, I was disgusted by what the Club Chief Executive Colin Sextone stated.

For weeks now I have read all the articles in favour of the new stadium and the support for the World Cup 2018.

I have nothing against the World Cup being held at Ashton Gate (because a new stadium can be built at Ashton Gate) but I am against a new stadium being built in Ashton Vale on green belt land. Ashton Vale is a very special area to live in but if the stadium goes ahead then it will never be the same.

I urge everyone in Ashton Vale and the surrounding areas not to support the new stadium and a new Tesco.

When the plans were first announced it was stated that to build a new stadium they needed to build new houses on the site to raise funds for the new stadium. Now it is stated that to be able to build the new Stadium they now have to build a Tesco.

Mr Sextone said a single-storey supermarket at Ashton Gate would be "infinitely better" than a new stadium because the stadium would dwarf nearby houses.

He has no concern about dwarfing the houses in Ashton Vale or building on green belt land and taking all the nature away from the area. There is no mention that people in Ashton Vale will no longer be able to see deer at the bottom of their back gardens or that they are going to cull them.

He obviously doesn't care about nature or the residents of Ashton Vale or the surrounding areas, he is only concerned about the money he will make out of it all.

Winterstoke Road is always busy now, just imagine what it will be like with a Tesco open 24 hours a day. The big lorries delivering goods all day long, all the cars driving to Tesco.

The residents of Ashton Vale will have the same problems as the people now have at Eastville with Tesco and Ikea – on a weekend they stay at home because of all the traffic.

There is no need for a Tesco to be built at Ashton Gate as there is a Tesco in North Street and also West Street both of which shouldn't have had planning permission because there was no thought of lorries delivering goods.

Tesco had a big supermarket in Bedminster but closed it, so why build a new one in Ashton Gate now?

If Tesco is allowed to be built it will be the ruin of Ashton, North Street and Bedminster.

There are enough problems in Ashton Vale and the surrounding areas at the moment with parking on match days, rugby and concerts without having a new stadium. People park on pavements and corners, they have no thought for people who are disabled or anyone else.

If you don't want Ashton Vale or the surrounding areas to change don't agree with a new stadium at Ashton Vale or a Tesco at Ashton Gate.

Chris Pratley,

Ashton Vale