George Ferguson: Let's rally behind new Bristol City stadium

I am positive we are going to get a new football stadium for Bristol City, and the club should be heartily congratulated for its determination in gaining the support of the city planners, even if it is technically to be built in green belt and has attracted some understandable local opposition.

There are, of course, some important interests that should be taken into account and the principle of the green belt as a resource for recreation and food production should be upheld.

However, a stadium adjacent to the David Lloyd centre on reclaimed land at Ashton Vale is the best we have on offer and I believe the time has come for Bristol to rally behind it and City's premiership ambitions.

However, we need to do everything we can to avoid the new stadium becoming an excuse for spreading a rash of development over the green belt and losing a much-loved resource for existing residents.

Apart from housing, which can and should be provided primarily on existing brown field sites, we now hear that there are plans for an arena adjacent to the stadium which would ensure that virtually every day and night is a "match day" with the resultant traffic.

Bristol badly needs an arena – an indoor entertainment and general sporting venue for 10,000 to 12,000 spectators – but it must be as accessible to the maximum number of people by sustainable transport. Stuffing it out on the edge of the city may be OK for Bristol City and its supporters, but it is not the answer for a venue that belongs to us all.

There was bitter disappointment at the failure to see through the arena project near Temple Meads, but I strongly believe that this was the right place and it should be re-visited. After all, the land has now been remediated at vast public cost and should be put to good public use.

By siting it adjacent to the A370 at Ashton Vale, car use would be encouraged and would undoubtedly be the prime form of transport, even if public transport links are improved. By siting it at Temple Meads, rail becomes the transport of choice. We simply cannot afford to carry on developing car-dependent facilities.

So just because an almighty cock-up was made of the previous plan it does not mean it was not right in principle and cannot be achieved at reasonable cost with a supporting mixed use development.

There can be no better facility to place at the city's heart than an arena that could display the best of Bristol's talent and attract great acts and events that sadly shun us for lesser cities that have dared to take the plunge.