Second Annual Report – The continuing campaign

In June Rovers announced that the student accommodation company Opal had withdrawn from the Commercial, Residential and Stadium Redevelopment project and that the stadium build would be delayed by a year.

It would be unwise to assume this is the end of the plans and if Rovers do find another student (or other) Accommodation Company to back the scheme then it is possible the redevelopment will be started next year. That is why, even though things appear to be safe and quiet at the moment, the members of the HorfieldROSE committee continue to work to restrain these plans.

In May HorfieldROSE met with the Ombudsman’s investigator and our thanks go to him for giving us the opportunity to dot the i’s and cross the t’s of our complaint against Bristol City Council’s original planning permission of January 2007. Our thanks also go to the many residents who contributed to the HorfieldROSE complaint, and to those who wrote directly to the Ombudsman’s office. Except to say that the Investigation is ongoing, we have no further information at the present time.

Much work has been done during the year: we have met with Councillors and Officers from the Transport and Planning departments, and have continued to voice our concerns about the suitability of such a large development for this area. We have highlighted the increased density of population and traffic that will come from the development of Southmead Hospital, the Cricket Ground and the various housing projects proposed for the area.

The current situation is that, as no stadium building work is taking place, the mitigation measures (i.e. Residents Parking Zone, Stadium Monitoring Group, Park and Ride, etc.) which were obligations on Bristol Rovers Football Club from the first planning application, do not have to be implemented.

Two of our committee members recently attended a meeting with Bristol City Council, police, traffic safety officers, local Councillors and representatives from the Football Club to discuss parking and traffic control issues. The emphasis is on keeping the area immediately surrounding the Stadium clear for emergency vehicles and spectators. Match day restrictions will be put in place during the season, any permanent measures being subject to public consultation. Please do respond to the Council during the consultation period as measures set up now may well become a precedent.

We have asked for clarification on who pays for these measures, how they will be enforced, and how consultation will be effected. Any concerns you have should be addressed to your local Councillor.

The clamping measures for those who park illegally on Horfield Common are a success and thanks, again, go to everyone who sent in their views on the issue – things can be changed with persistence.

We will fight on and continue to abide by the principles on which we were founded:

1. The protection of the local environment and the amenity of residents in Horfield and Bishopston against unacceptable impacts of stadium development and activity,

2. Support for sport in general and the Bristol teams in particular. Our opposition is to the development plans, not the teams themselves.

3. Campaign in an inclusive manner, working with all involved and remaining politically unaligned.