BRISTOL – a great place to live or a village masquerading as a city… or both?

With international cricket under threat as Gloucestershire consider moving out of their Nevil Road home following a planning setback, the ice hockey team being made homeless and Bristol City's new stadium plans delayed yet again, many people are asking why the city is so often left behind when it comes to leisure facilities.

Bristol is the seventh largest city in England and Wales, and while its green spaces, lively nightlife and location attract many people to live here, locals often complain about a lack of top-class sports stadiums and facilities, and the public transport network.

Nobody could argue it's not a great place to live, and the Harbourside, The Downs and much of the city's architecture are the envy of other urban areas. Even so, there is a perception that the city is missing out in some areas.

Residents of the city can be forgiven for casting envious glances elsewhere.

Across the Bristol Channel, Cardiff has the Millennium Stadium, a cricket stadium that has hosted an Ashes Test match, and Cardiff City – in the same division as Bristol City – play their home matches in a brand new stadium, as do Premier League side Swansea City, further down the M4.

Hull City, who blocked Bristol City's path to the Premier League by beating them in the 2008 play-off final at Wembley, also have a new stadium, ditto Brighton, Leicester City, Coventry City, Reading, Southampton and even lowly Doncaster, all league rivals for the Robins.

In some ways it paints a false picture to compare individual cities, as circumstances, culture and public expectations are different wherever you go, but there is one place that bears some similarities to Bristol – the city of Nottingham.

Although it's smaller in size (population 306,700 compared to more than 441,300 in the city of Bristol), it has two football teams (one in the Championship and one in the lower divisions) a cricket stadium, an ice hockey team, two universities and vibrant nightlife – as Bristol does.

It's a unitary authority hemmed in by neighbouring councils it has to work with on major projects. Sound familiar?

But there the comparison stops, because while many Bristolians currently bemoan the lack of progress on stadiums, transport and leisure here, Nottingham residents have plenty to boast about.

True, a lot of facilities there were built with a helping hand from central government, but it's certainly a place where things get done.

One modern tram line already carries commuters and shoppers in and out of the city centre, and two more are in the pipeline, partly paid for by a workplace car parking levy.

The city's ice hockey team – albeit in England's top division – play in a modern arena that holds 10,000 people and is also used for big-name concerts, while Bristol's chance for an arena passed the city by.

Trent Bridge, the cricket ground, has been expanded twice in the past decade, and regularly holds Test matches. A short walk away, Nottingham Forest FC's City Ground would not look out of place in the Premier League, and city rivals Notts County have one of the better grounds in League One.

When it comes to public transport, the council that runs the city has a major say in how often the buses and trams run, and how expensive the fares are – because it owns most of the company that runs them.

We spoke to Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins, who has been in charge for nine years, to find out how the city has ended up with the facilities it has...

If there's one development which has changed the face of Nottingham more than any other, it's the tram.

Opened in the middle of the last decade, the first line runs from north to south, and when the first trams appeared on the streets, it was the end of a massive building programme that began from a debate over congestion.

Mr Collins, 51, said: "A decade or so before the tram opened, we were looking at transport trends and in particular congestion in the city centre.

"A tram seemed the best and most practical way to move large numbers of people around the city. I must admit I was sceptical myself when it was first proposed but there was a core group of people who argued fiercely in favour of it and, in the end, they were proved right.

"Based on the success of the first line we are now building two more, the bulk of which will be paid for by the government, between £400-500 million, but we are also contributing, via a workplace parking levy.

"There has been opposition to that, nobody likes paying extra for anything, but if you look at business parking, it only affects a small number of people, the vast majority of the public already have to pay for parking, or get public transport to and from the city centre.

"When you weigh up the fairness of it, to us it seemed a price worth paying to help get decent, reliable public transport."

The fact that Nottingham City Council has such a large stake in the company that runs the buses across the city is down to the tenacity of a lady by the name of Betty Higgins, leader in the mid 1980s.

Despite the backdrop of a public sector pay crisis, she found the money to make sure the buses stayed in municipal ownership, while they were being privatised in many other areas.

"That decision could be one of the bravest ever made in the history of politics here," said Mr Collins. "It was a real bit of long-term thinking, and means we have the bus network we have today."

That network, with buses every ten minutes or less on most major routes into the city, and universal tickets that can be used on all buses – even those operated by other companies – as well as the tram, has seen a sea change in attitudes to public transport.

"There's a certain consistency to public transport here, which means people are confident of using it. You can put your faith in it knowing you won't be left stranded or waiting for ages for the next bus.

"I came here from Watford, where the buses were rubbish to be frank, but here I rarely feel the need to use my car.

"I would say we have the best public transport network outside of London."

Like Bristol, Nottingham once had a threadbare ice arena that badly needed replacing. In Bristol it seems destined to be student flats. In Nottingham they replaced it with a bigger, modern version, and it's been a great success.

The National Ice Arena, close to the city centre, cost £40 million to build and was funded by National Lottery money, and also cash from the council coffers.

It has two rinks – one for public skating and one for Nottingham's ice hockey side the Panthers, and holds 10,000 people, meaning the city can now attract some of the biggest names in the world of pop music.

Mr Collins explains: "The ice stadium we had was a rather poor, battered affair. We had the Panthers and wanted to make sure they had a decent home to play in.

"Building the new arena gave us that, but also top-class facilities for ice dancers from the national squads to train on.

"And now we get concerts from artists we never did before, people like Rihanna and Bob Dylan, who would never have come anywhere near Nottingham in the past."

Considered one of the best grounds in the UK – possibly the world – to watch cricket in, Trent Bridge has seen two significant and expensive refurbishments in its recent history. In 2008, a new £8-million stand was opened, complementing the new Radcliffe Road Stand and cricket centre, which itself was opened in 1998 after a £7-million investment. The capacity is 17,000, and the ground regularly hosts Test matches, one-day internationals and has been used for Twenty20 finals day.

The relationship between Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the city council has been pivotal to the modernisation of Trent Bridge, as Mr Collins explains.

"We have put in relatively small amounts of money in conjunction with other local councils but the bigger aspect has been supporting the club as they have made various moves to expand capacity.

"This was important to secure Ashes cricket on the last tour because there was more competition from other grounds, and also in the run up to the next Ashes tour. We've managed to keep Test cricket at the ground up until 2014.

"Our mindset is that we know Trent Bridge is important for bringing people into the city, and we want to support the club. It's one way we can make sure the city overall is successful, even if as politicians we might not always agree on the finer points."

As landlord of both football teams – Nottingham Forest and Notts County – the council has had to step in more than once.

In 1996, Forest's City Ground stadium was used to host Euro 96 matches, but only with help from city hall.

"Forest needed to invest in one of their stands to make sure it could match the criteria needed to make sure it could be a host stadium. We lent them £2.5 million so they could get the work done and be hosts in that tournament."

Just across the River Trent, Notts County have also had cause to be thankful for political help.

In the middle of the last decade, the Magpies, as they are known, were facing bankruptcy. The council stepped in, and County were allowed to borrow against the value of their Meadow Lane stadium, allowing them to steer the club back into financially safe waters.

"We haven't got tonnes of money to invest, but we do feel it's important that we support the clubs that are representative of Nottingham at the highest level," said Mr Collins.

Having the same party in power for more than 20 years helps when it comes to difficult, long-term decisions, of course.

Labour won overall control of Nottingham in 1988 and has been in power since. Its majority makes pushing decisions through a lot easier than in Bristol, where the Lib Dems rule, but as a minority party.

Out of 55 council seats in Nottingham, Labour holds 50, the Tories five, with the Lib Dems being wiped off the map in the local elections last year.

"Stability makes such a big difference in terms of consistent decision making," said Mr Collins. "When people come and see us they know that if they invest time and effort in working with us, they won't have to start again in a few months with a new administration.

"It is important that you look at the greater good, doing things for the benefit of the city as a whole. Sometimes that means working hard to accommodate the views, concerns and opinions of people who might be against a particular project, but ultimately building a consensus behind something that will have a broader benefit, even if that might be initially unpopular.

"For example, we remodelled the Market Square in the city centre. Now that was very, very unpopular up until the moment we re-opened it, but I would say within three to four weeks of that day, public opinion swung right around. The public want somebody in charge who has a view, argues strongly for it but can be given a really good kicking if they get it wrong. People respect those who are prepared to take difficult decisions and stand by them."

Being in favour of strong decision making might make you think Mr Collins is in favour of elected mayors, something people in Nottingham and Bristol will be balloted on later this year. Far from it.

"The government wants to force cities like Bristol and Nottingham down the route of elected mayors. That, in my view, will introduce instability. It will mean important decisions will come down to the view of just one person, who will then have to be incredibly sensitive to public opinion and will then inevitably become populist.

"This means they'll be following public opinion rather than shaping it, which might not be what the city needs."