Bloody good news

Hello to one and all, I decided to join Ja606 'cos it looks like the original and it seems that quite a few of you wonderful Gasheads and some of our 'Ted friends are on here.

I'm surprised that the recent announcement about the stadium hasn't been greeted with a bit more enthusiasm by Gasheads. I know that we've all been let down by the Mem redevelopment debacle and people are understandably downhearted following relegation but I genuinely believe that there are solid grounds for optimism regarding the UWE stadium - I'll tell you why.

I have excellent contacts both at UWE and South Glos Council. Starting with the Uni - they are one of the most successful, wealthiest and expansionist seats of higher education in the country. The amount of development at the Frenchay campus over the past 15 years has been incredible. My contact has confirmed that UWE are deadly serious about this project and have the funding in place - it represents both a serious income stream for them and a prestigious facility.

My contact at South Glos tells me that planning permission will be a shoe-in. The council has a stadium in their Local Plan, the site has excellent transport links as it's close to the motorway, ring road, Filton Abbeywood station and the proposed Bus Rapid Transit route (which incidentally will also get the necessary funding from Govt later this year). There's no Town Green nonsense associated with it and the concerns of the (fairly) nearby residents in the new estate will be addressed by the design of the stadium - into the contours of the site, like Brighton's at Falmer.

The only thing to worry about is planning permission for the enabling development of a Sainsbury's at the Mem. But Bristol City Council gave permission for a stadium, student flats, retail units and a hotel, so it's unlikely that they will reject the supermarket. All I can say to Horfield ROSE is ha ha ha ha. Ha.

I'm 95% sure this will happen. Gasheads will get the facilities we deserve, and probably before the 'Ted's finally, painfully sort out their protracted Town Green wrangles.

Hopefully within 4-5 years both Bristol teams will both get decent stadia and Bristol, at long, long last, will lose its reputation as a hopeless sporting backwater and will have the sporting facilities that a city our size truly merits.