WHILE politicians continue to debate the merits of a new stadium in Bristol, other cities around England have been reaping the rewards of building theirs.

From Cardiff to Coventry, Swansea to Southampton, cities smaller than this one have pressed on and approved developments which have attracted cash to invest in their futures.

Bristol City FC's proposed new 30,000-seat stadium and conference centre in Ashton Vale has planning permission.

But while wrangles continue about its funding and the redevelopment of City's Ashton Gate ground it is the competition who are hoovering up the business Bristol could be cashing in on.

Cardiff City's new stadium and retail park opened its doors last summer.

Cardiff City Council leader Rodney Berman heralded the estimated £110million it will bring to the Welsh capital, including around £32m of community benefit and an estimated 1,200 jobs.

On the eve of the first match there Mr Berman said: "There have been improvements to local roads, new sports facilities at Fitzalan High School and an upgrading to the area around Tesco and the community hall in Canton.

"We also have an additional 1,500 park-and-ride spaces and coach parking facilities and various community-focused sports pitches and facilities for disabled athletes.

"We have an excellent sporting tradition here in Cardiff and this stadium is a fitting addition to all the other first-class venues the city offers.

"From the Ashes to the new series of Torchwood, Cardiff is garnering a global reputation and long may it continue."

Less than a 90-minute drive from Bristol in a different direction is Coventry, which has struck gold with the Ricoh Arena.

When Coventry City FC hit financial difficulty and faltered with its plans for a new stadium, the council stepped in.

The end result is a multi-use complex complete with a 32,000-seat stadium and 10,000-capacity arena and conference centre, which has attracted more than two million visitors since its opening in 2005.

In its first two years more than 1,500 business events were staged there. And according to Barry Butterworth, senior projects manager at Coventry City Council, more than 3,000 jobs have been created, and Cardiff's £110m of estimated investment has been thoroughly eclipsed.

Coventry council bought an old gas works and colliery and banked £60m by selling 32 acres of it for retail. It then put in £10m of its own and secured the rest of the £113m project through grants and charity tie-ins.

"The Ricoh Arena has given us facilities Coventry didn't have before and now attracts events, concerts and conferences which used to go to Birmingham," Mr Butterworth told the Post.

"Only 25 per cent of the Ricoh's revenue is drawn by the football team. We have conferences, exhibitions, catering, rugby, England Under-21 internationals, rock concerts with Bon Jovi and Take That, as well as a hotel and casino.

"And we've now been appointed one of the venues for the football in the 2012 Olympics. We're hosting nine games," he added.

"The economic draw of having big rock concerts throughout the summer is huge. We had Take That for three nights playing to a sell-out 40,000 people a time. All those people coming here is a significant financial boost to the area."

Club attendances jumped too, something particularly noticeable in Swansea, whose council built the Liberty Stadium in 2005. The average attendance for Swans matches tripled with the provision of a new stadium and retail park.

Swansea City Chairman Huw Jenkins told the Post: "A large proportion of that increase has been down to the fact that we now play our football in a family-friendly stadium with clean, modern facilities.

"In particular, the number of youngsters and female fans has increased dramatically because the stadium guarantees a great experience for the whole family." Back in Coventry Mr Butterworth underlined the importance of understanding the end goal of the project.

"We've given advice to a lot of new stadiums to look at the reasons why you are doing this," he said.

"We weren't looking at a football stadium with a couple of conference rooms. We were doing it because Coventry didn't have a lot of the necessary facilities and by putting them all in we created a centre which attracts a critical mass of business and further investment.

"(The Ricoh) is in an area that has been blighted for some time. Now it is a thriving economic area."

Bristol City and Sainsbury's are considering whether to appeal the council's decision to deny planning permission for the supermarket, which the club says is vital to fund the new Ashton Vale stadium.