Homes not shops for these sites
I ENJOY watching football, most recently to see Rovers get their first home victory this season and I was last at Ashton Gate to see the Women's FA Cup Final at the end of the last season.
I hope that both Rovers and City are successful and I am happy for them both to get new grounds, if that is what they want, although I have to say that personally I prefer walking to a match than getting into a car and driving.
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But not new grounds at any cost, because I also enjoy shopping at the local independent shops, cafés and bars on the Gloucester Road, pictured, Whiteladies Road and North Street, Bedminster. All of which are under threat by plans for two of the biggest Sainsbury superstores in the country being built if City and Rovers get their way.
As much as I want my local football teams to be successful, I want my local shopping centres to be thriving as well.
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If City and Rovers want to sell off their existing grounds, then let them be redeveloped for housing or new schools, things the community wants, not more supermarkets. And if they don't get as much money as they hope for then they should scale down their plans to the money they have got.
If I want to buy a new house I can only buy it with what I can get from selling my old house, not what I hope to get. The same applies to City and Rovers.
I hope all the mayoral candidates remember about all the local jobs and the variety of independent shops that make Bristol so distinctive being put at risk when they put their support behind plans for new stadiums.
One only has to look at other high streets up and down the country to see that once local shops are lost, they are lost forever. They should remember there are more shoppers than football supporters in Bristol.
Jeremy Nugent
Horfield
Comments
by prohorfield
Thursday, November 01 2012, 8:37AM
“Too many want this to be a polarizing argument but it does not need to be. I live in Horfield and enjoy the change of atmosphere created by people walking to and from the Memorial Stadium and the cheers of the crowds during the match. But if Rovers believe their future lies on the outskirts of Bristol then that is their decision. However, as Jeremy says, that should not be at any cost.
The council will of course do their retail studies, but one thing that the last 50 years of planning tells us is that they get this sort of thing wrong time and time again and to take a gamble on the Gloucester Road by letting a hypermarket in – bigger than Tesco Eastville – risks sucking the life out of an incredible independent street and is a gamble too far. The other thing we can see over the last 50 years is that getting it wrong over and over again with town planning never prevents the supermarket giants from having another go. The Gloucester Road works so lets not take risk destroying it.
Let Rovers find their money in a way that is guaranteed to benefit this community and not trash it.”