Anniversary of S106 Signing

Twelve Months ago today (17th November 2008) a S106 agreement was signed by Bristol City Council, Bristol Rovers (1883) Ltd. and other interested parties in the Memorial Stadium land.

S106 agreements are agreements negotiated, usually in the context of planning applications, between developers (in this case Bristol Rovers (1883) ltd) and local planning authorities. Signing the S106 agreement is also the final step in approving a planning application where a S106 agreement is required.

A S106 agreement is intended to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms. In other words to mitigate adevelopments' adverse impact by, for example, providing payment for additional buses, improved road junctions or traffic calming measures.

The stadium development S106 agreement includes the following obligations:

1. Provide Supporters buses the number depending on previous season average attendance at matches.
2. Provide a Park and Ride bus service again depending on previous season average attendance at matches.
3. Pay contribution towards a Residents parking zone.
4. Travel Plan to encourage alternative modes of transport to the car.
5. A Student Parking and car ownership restriction.
6. Upgrade the access roads to the site to adoptable standard.
7. Pay Highways Contributions.
8. Produce and implement a Traffic Management Plan.
9. Agree the constitution of a Stadium Monitoring Group with the Council.
10. Enabling Development not to be occupied unless the stadium is completed.
11. Provide a Landscaping plan and a strategy for residents access to the Amenity Area.
12. Provide a strategy for including Public Art in the new stadium.

See http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=28759004 for full details.

So what progress has there been to meeting the S106 obligations after twielve months?

True, some of the obligations cannot possibly be met without a new development being in place, but there are some where progress can be made if there is a desire to make progress, even if it is just to prepare a plan to meet an obligation when the development is complete.

For instance, the Stadium Monitoring Group constitution could be in draft form by now, but efforts made by Councillors and others to get meaningful discussions started have not produced any significant progress.

Also there is a requirement to produce a landscaping plan and to allow the land at the southern corner of the stadium site to be used as residents amenity land. What we have seen is the clearance of trees and bushes before any landscaping scheme being agreed, and certainly without any warning to, or consultation with, local residents.

So, in spite of searching for and asking for information to the contrary, there is very little evidence to suggest significant progress in meeting any of the obligations.

Obligations contained in a S106 agreement are there to mitigate the adverse impacts from a new development, and whilst there is a possibility the development will not be started within the three year planning permission expiry period, one year already elapsed, residents will continue to be very concerned that, should the development actually be started, obligations will not be in place to mitigate the adverse impacts.

November 2009 Update - Little Change

Over the past four months HorfieldROSE has continued to communicate with our own members, the Council, Councillors, and other organisations over various aspects of the development to ensure that should a start with the development be made we will be in a position to react accordingly.

The principle aim is to stop the Commercial, Residential and Stadium development at the Memorial ground as the site is totally unsuitable for the scale and changes planned, and the surrounding residential areas can't absorb the impacts.

Our objection is not to the sporting activities on the site, but to the non-sporting enabling development and the inability of the surrounding area infrastructure to support a vastly increased stadium capacity.

Permission has recently been granted for the Southmead "super hospital" which will inevitably increase the amount of general traffic in the area. This will also mean more ambulances passing through the area which may well be hindered by congested streets. The County Cricket ground application if approved will also have an impact on the area around the Memorial Ground. While HorfieldROSE does not take a view on these other applications, we do note that these other projects further impact issues such as congestion and pollution around the Memorial Ground.

In May 2009 HorfieldROSE and other local residents thought, as did some supporters of the football club, that a start to the development had been made with the clearance of the trees, etc. from the land to the south of the stadium. Residents reacted strongly against the work and a complaint has been made to the Council as the work was carried out without the conditions relating to landscaping being approved, and certainly not in the spirit of consultation and cooperation as promoted by the Stadium Company.

However, since May very little appears to have progressed. We believe a delay was caused in July 2009 due to one of the developers' agents contracting swine flu, and we trust he/she recovered quickly from the illness. We also believe another company has been requested by the stadium company to look into options for the stadium site.

We also continue to watch progress with the traffic orders in Bishopston and Horfield, and hopefully we will see an improvement to traffic flow, and for ambulances, etc. being able to travel through the area without undue delay on match days.

On behalf of all our members we will continue to monitor the situation and if there is any change we will let members know in the usual way.