Bristol City's Ashton Gate Tesco battle 'winnable'
The verdict will be music to the ears of City fans and the club, who desperately want to see a new store at the site of the ground to help fund a new stadium.
The Post understands that some council officers and politicians are against the idea of another supermarket in the area because of the impact on local shops.
But Mike Orr, from Bristol-based CSJ Planning, said: "I think there is a very powerful planning argument in favour of Tesco going on this site.
"It's a development that would stimulate the local economy, it would not be so far away from a town centre to cause serious damage, it would help to improve local transport and it would help to regenerate the area."
Mr Orr has worked on many high-profile and controversial planning issues in the city for years.
He said that under planning guidance, there are two tests which must be passed before consent for a store can be given.
First, it must be demonstrated there is a need for the store and, second, it must be shown what damage, if any, would be caused to an existing town centre (North Street).
Mr Orr said the need could be shown because Sainsbury's has had to expand recently to cope with soaring demand and thousands of homes are expected to be built in nearby Ashton Vale during the next 15 years.
On the impact to existing shops, Mr Orr said he believed that many people who live in the North Street area prefer to shop in independently-run outlets and others from a wider area enjoy the convenience of a supermarket but choose to buy some items, such as meat, bread and fish, from specialist shops.
"The impact of a new supermarket on North Street is going to be a big battleground and nobody can gaze into a crystal ball and say whether it's going to have a positive or a negative effect," he said.
"But North Street is being regenerated by independent traders and attracting a customer profile that wants individual shops.
"If they were not doing this, then they would be going to Sainsbury's."
For these reasons, Mr Orr thought it was unlikely that Tesco would "undermine the function of North Street".
In fact, he believes that Tesco will argue that a new supermarket would help anchor shopping trends in the area.
"With a retail development of this type, the planning guidance says they should be built in town centres and if that is not possible, then they should at least be on the edge, which is recognised to be within 300 metres of the town centre," added Mr Orr.
He said this policy was drawn up because supermarkets in town centres encouraged shoppers to use local shops.
"The first test is whether the store would be within 300 metres of North Street and the answer is that it's about 550-600 metres," said Mr Orr.
"In planning terms, therefore, this does not quite meet the test but it is definitely achievable."
He said this was partly because there was no alternative site which was nearer to the North Street shops.
Another major factor in winning planning permission was the prospect of World Cup football in the city.
A new store would be the key link in funding a new 30,000-seat stadium at nearby Ashton Vale.
Club chairman Steve Lansdown told the Post that redevelopment of Ashton Gate was crucial to the funding of the new stadium.
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