Berate Juggernaut To Depart For Bristol City FC
By Hannah2009 | Thursday, September 10, 2009, 10:48
Today is being billed as one of the most important days in Bristol’s sporting history and it’s a big day for Bristol City Football Club: FA delegates are visiting Bristol to help decide whether the city would be suitable for a World Cup venue as part of the England 2018 bid.
The benefits for Bristol are reported to be huge – a chance to really put our city on the map – but what would the impact be here in Bedminster? It’s a question that many local people feel isn’t receiving the attention it deserves.
Bristol City’s bid to build a new stadium at Ashton Vale which would be worthy of hosting World Cup matches has left the door open for Tesco to build a superstore at the Ashton Gate site. Only by selling the land to Tesco, so the argument goes, can Bristol City FC hope to raise sufficient funds for their new stadium.
The Chairman of Bristol City Football Club, Steve Lansdown, says on BCFC’s website that the new stadium would bring substantial benefits for both the Club and the city as a whole, creating a world-class sports facility, strengthening the local economy and driving the ongoing regeneration of south Bristol.
But not everyone in Bedminster shares Mr Lansdown’s confidence in the benefits of Bristol City's proposed move. Some residents of the greater Bedminster area have expressed the view that far from strengthening the local economy, the arrival of a Tesco superstore could drive it and the ongoing regeneration of our part of south Bristol into the ground.
The campaign against Tesco’s development of the Ashton Gate site is spearheaded by Berate (Bedminster Residents Against Tesco’s Expansion Into Ashton Gate).
On Saturday 12 September, Berate will be holding a public Juggernaut demonstration against Tesco’s application to build a superstore at the Ashton Gate site. The event starts at North Street Green at 10.30am and demonstrators will walk the length of North Street and then to the entrance of Bristol City Football Club on Ashton Road. ‘Tesno’ banners will be available but demonstrators are welcome to bring their own if they prefer.
Comments
Where's that silent majority that Lansdown was calling for??
By LittleBlue1 at 17:18 on 11/09/09
ReportWhat about something for the community, some green space to encourage young people to play sports. Thiscannot be allowed to be just about Bristol City FC ambitions.
Has anyone seen the super store that Tesco has built at Bradley Stoke? I tell you it is a monster, is that what we want for Bedminster, it really is not appropriate where there are existging shops etc.
By Susie710 at 20:35 on 10/09/09
ReportToo true. Nothing against City's bid and all that, but Bedminster gets left with Tesco = loads more traffic, loads more pollution and a declining high street. Nice.
By anna20093 at 12:27 on 10/09/09
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