March date set for new Sainsburys application

The planning meeting to consider the latest application for a giant new Sainsburys for Ashton Gate is now confirmed for 2 March 2011. So if you want to object to the proposed store you must do it as soon as possible. You can send them in by writing to:

Development Management
City Development
Bristol City Council
Brunel House
St George’s Road
Bristol BS1 5UY

Or you can email them to development.management@bristol.gov.uk

Along with your objections you must include your name and address and quote planning reference 10/04777/P

Evening Post backlash at Sainsbury decision

You can just imagine it can't you? Evening Post office on Wednesday night preparing to pop the champagne and claim 'It was the Post that won it' on Thursday's edition. Maybe they started to sweat a bit when the planning meeting passed ten o'clock in the evening. And then the unthinkable, the supermarket proposal at Ashton Gate is refused.

In Thursday's edition they just manage to get the decision on the front page, but not too much more. Damn those deadlines. The hacks must have been pretty miffed. Bet they couldn't wait for today to unleash their finest on the Ashton Gate scandal (could this be Aston Gate-Gate?).  Mike Ribbeck, Ian Onions, Andy Sloan and Uncle Tom Cobbly all had their say on the story. Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 and the back page all cover the story. Come on guys, don't you think you're going a bit over the top? Balanced reporting? Well let's just say the Post has maintained its pro supermarket, sod the local community stance.

Through all the froth and frenzy my favourite quote was Cllr Mark Bradshaw (Labour Bedminster) who said: 'Suggestions that everyone in Bedminster was opposed to the development are about as fanciful as suggesting that most of my constituents can afford to do their weekly shop in North Street'.  Having read this I immediately contacted Aldi (in North Street) to check they haven't doubled their prices. I was assured that they hadn't and would continue to provide excellent value for money for the local community.

And so the saga rumbles on...

What next for Ashton Gate?

So now the Sainsbury’s planning proposal has been turned down what happens next?

Well if we are to believe the rhetoric coming out of Bristol City last year, then no new superstore means no new stadium. So that’s it then? We all pack up and go back to how things were?

Of course there could be an appeal against the decision but there is no guarantee the outcome will change. They could revise down the size of the new site, but then you start to ask why Sainsburys would want to move. Or City’s Chairman could find another buyer for the site and raise the shortfall in funds for the stadium elsewhere.

Let’s not forget $teve Lansdown, who upped sticks earlier in the year and moved to the Channel Islands to avoid paying tax, has amassed a personal fortune of £452 million. He knows how to cut a deal to bring in some cash. So perhaps, just perhaps there could still be a happy ending. Ashton Gate gets redeveloped bringing much needed affordable housing and small business units that would complement the community. A new stadium gets built and England win the bid for 2018 World Cup.

Although a blow has been dealt to the supermarket proposal this isn’t the end of the story. We’ll have to wait for a few more days to see what action City and Sainsburys take next.

At Simply Southville we are proud of our local community and the green credentials of the city we live in. The Sainsburys' proposal doesn't fit, it's not right and this website will continue to oppose it.

Newsflash - Councillors refuse application for Ashton Gate superstore

Well I never! At the Council House tonight councillors on the South & East Planning Committee have rejected Sainsbury's proposals for a massive supermarket on the current site of Bristol City's ground at Ashton Gate. Simply Southville understands it was rejected by four votes to two, with two abstentions.

Well done to the people in Southville, Ashton and Bedminster who have campaigned to stop this unnecessary development. Let's hope Bristol City can find an alternative use for the site which is more suitable, so it can fund its plans for a new stadium.

More to follow tomorrow...

It's D-Day for Ashton Gate superstore

On Wednesday 21 July at 6pm councillors on Bristol South Planning Committee will meet to decide whether to approve the planning application for the Sainsbury’s giant store at Ashton Gate. If it goes ahead, they will then consider a second application for the existing smaller Sainsbury's at Ashton Vale to be demolished and 145 homes built on the site.

Since last week, Bristol Friends of the Earth has been co-ordinating the local campaign against Sainsburys and they urgently need your help to:

Turn up at College Green at 5.30pm Wed (30 mins before the meeting starts) for a 'WE LOVE NORTH ST SHOPS, NO to NEW SAINSBURY'S SUPERSTORE' group photo with local residents and North Street traders.

Support the local residents including George Ferguson and one of the North St shop owners who are giving 3 minute submissions against the planning application at the planning meeting by coming into the Council meeting and sitting in the gallery. The submissions come at the beginning of the meeting.

Even if the store is approved by the planning committee, it is not over. The application will have to be considered by the Secretary of State for Local Councils, Eric Pickles. He will take 21 days to consider whether to hold a public inquiry or not into the approval.