Talks over Bristol City's stadium are 'positive'

Bristol City FC is moving closer to a breakthrough in negotiations to lift one of the final hurdles in the way of its plans to build a new stadium.

Talks with North Somerset Council to resolve issues over the main entrance to the planned £92 million stadium at Ashton Vale have been described as "very positive".

The football club was shocked when North Somerset councillors recommended planning refusal for a new access to the ground near the Long Ashton park-and-ride site.

But since then, the club has been in talks with council officials to try to resolve the issues, with the authority's leader saying he is pleased its concerns were being taken seriously.

And now the club has asked for a meeting next Wednesday when councillors were due to meet and decide whether to give their consent to be deferred while it straightens out their remaining concerns.

Club chairman Steve Lansdown told the Evening Post: "We have always wanted to work with all the parties concerned to address any problems they might have.

"It was a bit of a shock when planning permission was recommended for refusal a few weeks ago but for our part, we recognise there are issues that North Somerset has and we want to deal with them.

"We have asked for a deferment so we can get to grips with them and hopefully get a positive response."

These issues include on-site parking and residents' parking zones.

One of the worries for North Somerset councillors was the prospect of fans clogging up Long Ashton with their parked cars and causing traffic headaches for villagers.

Mr Lansdown said he did not believe the delay would alter their target date for opening the new stadium in 2012.

North Somerset council leader Nigel Ashton said: "The area committee raised a number of concerns and I am pleased that the football club is taking those issues seriously – these were around parking and the general impact that the scheme could have on local residents.

"I'm also pleased that our officers have maintained a dialogue with the club to look at these issues."

The move to defer next week's North Somerset Council meeting comes on the eve of Bristol councillors meeting to decide whether to give their backing to the 30,000-seater stadium.

They were "minded to approve" on the principle of a new stadium on green-belt land when they first met in November.

Now they are being asked to consider the outline plan at a meeting of the South and East planning committee, which will be held at the Council House tomorrow night, starting at 6pm.

Mr Lansdown said: "There are no guarantees and we can take nothing for granted but we are very hopeful for a positive outcome."

He said it was vital that the club could give a positive view on the planned stadium by the time FIFA officials visit Bristol in the summer to consider staging World Cup games in the city if England hosts the tournament in 2018.

Under the revised plans, there will be no new housing on an area near the new stadium known as the Southlands site.

It had been earmarked for 62 houses and 54 apartments but councillors objected to this part of the scheme when they met before Christmas.

The area will remain for grazing although it will be used as a short-term temporary measure to store soil which is dug out to create a wetlands pool south of the stadium site.

The loss of funding from the housing means there is now a £5.5m budget gap according to planning officers who had previously felt it was a break-even scheme.

As a result, the council has reduced the amount of planning obligation that the club will have to pay by £1.9 million.

But the club will still have to pay about £7m to fund road improvements to deal with the increased amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic and a residents' parking scheme.

The officers are asking for 150 parking spaces at the new stadium to be dropped in favour of drop-off points for buses that fans could use to travel to games.

The original pedestrian link at the end of Ashton Vale Road through the Cala trading estate has been dropped.

Instead, it is envisaged that a new route will link Winterstoke Road directly into the stadium, via Barons Close and using a new footbridge over the Portishead railway line.