PLANS for a £92-million football stadium in Bristol have been thrown into disarray after councillors refused permission for a new Sainsbury's superstore at Ashton Gate.

Bristol City FC and Sainsbury's are now considering whether to appeal against last night's dramatic decision.

The supermarket chain wanted to move its existing store off Winterstoke Road to the site of City's ground.

But after a four-hour meeting at the Council House, members of the Development Control (South and East) committee turned down the plan by four votes to two, with two abstentions.

Afterwards, stunned club officials and representatives from Sainsbury's said they would review their position during the next few days.

They could appeal the decision, which would lead to a public inquiry, or they could revise the plans and submit new ones.

The councillors had been told the impact on traders in the area, particularly North Street, would be low and certainly much less than the plan by Tesco, which had originally wanted to buy the site.

But councillors were worried about the accuracy of the statistics used in a retail impact assessment, which measures the effect on existing traders. They were also worried traffic would increase by 20 per cent above the volume which currently uses the Winterstoke Road store.

Councillor Derek Pickup (Lab, Hartcliffe) proposed a deferment to see if more buses could be diverted to the superstore but his motion failed to win a seconder.

Councillor Peter Levy (Lib Dem, Horfield), who proposed refusal, said: "I can see many positives but so many other issues have been raised."

His proposal was seconded by Fi Hance (Lib Dem, Redland) who said there would be increases in traffic and air pollution and had failed to be convinced the new store would add to the quality of people's lives.

The four councillors who voted in favour of refusal were Mr Levy, Ms Hance, the chairman, Simon Rayner (Lib Dem, Kingsweston) and Cheryl Ann (Lib Dem, Horfield).

The two councillors who voted against – and therefore in favour of the new store – were Lesley Alexander (Con, Frome Vale) and Kevin Quartley (Con, Bishopsworth).

Mrs Alexander said: "This is a store which is essentially moving from one side of the road to the other. It is a bigger store but there is a lot of evidence the existing store is over-trading.

"We cannot expect Sainsbury's to provide everything and put Bedminster right in every respect."

Mr Quartley said the scheme was not perfect but, on balance, it was the best they could hope to achieve for the area.

Councillors Pickup and Jos Clark (Lib Dem, Hengrove) both abstained.

The club was depending on the Sainsbury's store winning permission so they could go ahead with their new stadium at Ashton Vale.

The club's business development director, Guy Price, said: "Obviously we are very disappointed. We have worked very hard with the planning officers to submit a strong application which would meet the needs of people in the area.

"We will now have to consider our options during the next few days."

Jamie Baker, for Sainsbury's, said: "We are very disappointed with the outcome. We will need to take some time during the next few days to assess the next steps."

The committee's refusal flies in the face of advice from the council's planning officers.

Planning officer Daniel Stone said a previous plan by Tesco to build a new store on the site had been recommended for refusal on a number of grounds.

But the big difference with the Sainsbury's scheme was that it was a relocation of an existing store.

Even though it was nearly double the size of the store on Winterstoke Road, it was still lower in combined floorspace than if there were three supermarkets in the area, when the existing Asda store was taken into account.

He said Sainsbury's would widen Winterstoke Road near the new store's entrance to lessen the impact of extra traffic.

Mr Stone said the council received 229 letters as a result of a consultation exercise with 79 per cent against and 17 per cent in favour.

He said the new store would help to fund the club's new stadium but councillors could only give limited weight to this point in deciding whether to grant permission.

He said when all issues were taken into account, it would be difficult to justify refusing the scheme.

At the start of the meeting, the chairman, Councillor Rayner, took five statements against the plans followed by five in favour until everyone had spoken.

The first was Bristol's only Green Party councillor Tess Green, who is a member of the committee but had to stand down because of speaking out against the plans in the run-up to the elections.

Ms Green said: "If we carry on with large-scale developments like this, we are going to make things worse for people who live in the area."

She said the council should be encouraging local shopping centres with locally-produced food and goods.

Pip Sheard of Beauley Road, Southville, said the threat to traders in North Street was overwhelming.

Alan Baker of Garnet Street, Bedminster, said the environmental impact of the new store would be profound.

He said: "Don't stop the beating heart of our community."

Janet Carr-Hyde, a resident who has lived in the area for many years and who was the first speaker in favour, said the new store would give long-term employment opportunities to the area.

She said: "The injection of money and trade will enrich all local people."

Jess Wright, a resident and local trader, said there were many traders who believed the new store would bring more shoppers to the area and therefore were in favour.

Transport campaigner Dave Redgewell said he was in favour in principle but wanted a better travel plan to encourage more people to use public transport.

Independent business consultant Tony Dyer said the impact on existing traders and jobs would be five times worse than suggested by Sainsbury's.

Bruno Moore, regional town planning manager for Sainsbury's, said the new store would create an extra 400 jobs on top of the 386 at the existing store.

Mr Price, for the club, said the total private investment for the new stadium, store and redevelopment of the Winterstoke Road site was £150 million. He said the local economy stood to gain £260 million during the next 20 years if this private investment was allowed to go ahead.

Ben Barker, representing a support group for Greville Smythe Park, said the increased traffic would mean young children would have less access to nearby open spaces where they enjoyed playing.

Former Green councillor Charlie Bolton said if Bristol truly regarded itself as a "green" city then it should reject the plans and look for alternative uses of the sites.

Architect George Ferguson said the planning officers' report was "conspicuously vague" on issues such as congestion and air quality.

He said: "There is real danger that this vital decision is going to be based on inadequate or incorrect information."

After the meeting, Ms Sheard said: "I think it's absolutely brilliant what has happened – unexpected but brilliant."

The committee earlier agreed in principle to 145 homes and employment use at the Winterstoke Road site if the existing store was relocated.