Same Old Song and Dance

It is now exactly two years since the signing of the S106 agreement attached to the approved second stadium redevelopment application 08/00061/F, and yet there has been virtually no 'constructive' progress towards starting the development.

Nick Higgs promised a stadium announcement before the end of July but there was nothing of significance. At the September Supports Club meeting he said he “hoped to make a worthwhile announcement about the stadium within a few months.” In a fan’s forum at the end of the meeting he said “an offer was on the table to finance the regeneration of the stadium.”

He points to greater than expected residual debt as the main reason for not being able to progress with plans. Supposedly this is because "returns on student accommodation and offices have dropped", although with record high student enrolments, student accommodation is one of the few areas in the property market that has remained buoyant in the current economic climate.

The planning application approval came with 41 conditions and twelve obligations attached to the S106 agreement. Of the 41 conditions, only one has been complied with so far, and that is condition 28, a scheme for the provision of litter bins at the development. There is no indication that any of the twelve obligations on the S106 agreement have been complied with. A rumoured February 2011 start to construction would be more credible if these preparatory steps had been completed.

But more importantly a fair number of the conditions attached to the planning application, and some of the S106 obligations, were written on the basis of the two teams relocating to other stadiums and the development being built in one stage over a relatively short period. The council has had to seek legal advice as to whether a phased build over a longer period would be possible under the current planning agreement.

Lack of good information from the Rovers board creates uncertainty and has a detrimental effect on everyone. It has no doubt contributed to lower and slower season ticket sales this year. It also had serious impacts on Bristol Rugby. In the Rugby Times, Chairman Chris Booy said:

After we came third in 2007, we tried to push on and we obviously wanted to support our landlords in redeveloping the Memorial Stadium, but we got caught up in the on-off saga of temporarily relocating to Newport in 2008, lost a lot of money and sponsorship over that and our current difficulties probably started then.

It was four years ago in October 2006 that the first application for a significantly enlarged stadium with student accommodation, hotel, offices, conference centre and convenience store at the Memorial Ground site was first submitted. The relatively small site, surrounded on all four sides by residential gardens, remains inappropriate and undersized for this massive commercial development.

HorfieldROSE remains vigilant, monitoring progress (or lack thereof). We will endeavour to ensure all conditions and obligations are met to the letter and should Rovers officially apply for a phased development or any other changes to the plans already approved, we will insist that this significant change will require a further planning application.