tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150854159364820604.post6151221617917608398..comments2023-05-10T16:38:37.925+01:00Comments on Stockwood Pete: Stocktaking Time for SainsburysPete Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07115478143080295370noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150854159364820604.post-28496958320232532632011-03-05T21:42:23.838+00:002011-03-05T21:42:23.838+00:00I don't know why my post on the transport inte...I don't know why my post on the transport interchange seemed to be temporarily lost in cyberspace. It seemed to be accepted when I submitted it but had gone when I came back, then you somehow later retrieved it. Let's see what happens to this one.<br /><br />Looks as though Sainsbury's has jumped a major hurdle this week; all depends now on Eric deciding whether to have a go at overriding the councillor's decision or whether he will figuratively give them the money and stand aside.<br /><br />Except it doesn't, quite. The Town Greeners may yet come in from the side and scupper the whole football ground and Sainsbury's plans.<br /><br />The city council is desperate not to designate the area a town green but the Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee may find they have no choice if arbitration fails (it seems it has) and the councillors have to (reluctantly?) finally decide.<br /><br />There is no doubt that as a major city Bristol lacks facilities taken for granted in similar-sized towns and cities and even in smaller ones.<br /><br />A major sports stadium, an arena and modern conference hall are just three examples. Unlike, say Cardiff, that has public money thrown at it for all sorts of sporting and cultural venues, Bristol is deemed too prosperous to need such public gravy train handouts and is largely left to fend for itself.<br /><br />It is therefore ironic when a rich person comes along and is willing to stump up a lot of cash to provide a much-needed (in the opinion of many though not all citizens) major sports stadium that the path is strewn with so many obstacles. <br /><br />And yet a fair-minded, neutral individual can understand the worries and objections of those who don't want the stadium or the giant supermarket - it seems the one cannot proceed without the other.<br /><br />So it comes down to quite a simple conundrum: should the wishes of those who want a spanking new stadium be overriden by whose who don't and who don't want the supermarket either (for the most part the same group), or vice versa?<br /><br />Some say that a way out is to rebuild the existing Bristol City football ground but that apparently will not generate sufficient off-field revenue streams to sustain a Premier League side which a city the size of Bristol should really have as a matter of course.<br /><br />I'm glad I haven't got to decide. I don't know which way I would vote. Fences are quite comfortable places, aren't they?Interestednoreply@blogger.com