It’s good news for The Blogger tonight at least. The entirely predictable final cancellation of the ongoing arena fiasco gives us a night off. We’ll just leave the commentary to Bristolians who can do it far more eloquently and intelligently than we ever could:
Bristol City Council and the RDA are an absolute bunch of incompetent idiots. Someone should really organise a protest against them about this. The two things the people of Bristol want most are a decent transport system and an arena as per the one which isn’t now going to be built.
Shaun, Bristol
Good old Bristol Village, running true to form.
Sally, Nailsea
For Gods sake, how much longer are we Bristolians going to allow the powers that be to hold OUR City in the last century. I am positive that mass, peaceful demonstrations would take place to improve life in Bristol in terms of Transport, infrastructure, etc etc if only we were organised and informed. PLEASE PLEASE Bristol Evening Post take up our cause.
Jean, Filton
No surprise is it? There is no doubt more money to be made from housing. The council have again shown what a dinosaur they are, totally incompetent in dealing with every issue that would be of benefit to Bristolians. The list is endless, no decent football/sports stadium,theatre or music venue, poor road network, poor bus service, poor schools, poor hospitals etc etc. Do the honourable thing council and resign on block.
Mark, Brislington
There is nothing left to be said about Bristol City Council, they are completely useless. Anything that Bristol and its citizens want (such as this stadium, better train and road links) is almost always doomed. But on the other hand anything they don’t want is completely guaranteed. Why do the people of Bristol put up with Ms Holland and her bunch of imcompetents, surely this newspaper and all Bristolians could start a campaign to rid the city of these people once and for all and make sure they never work in local government again, then maybe this city could start catching up the 40 years it is behind almost every other city in this country.
Alan, Bristol
Yet again the people of Bristol have been betrayed.The council should hang their heads in shame.
Steve, Bristol
Knight explains why it went wrong by saying “more detailed work on the specific designs and the building and infrastructure costs had to be carried out before we could make a further commitment. This work has revealed that the costs are higher than was originally anticipated…” Doesn’t common sense say you do this sort of detailed work BEFORE you spend the money on the site?
Faye, Horfield
More millions poured down the drain by our incompetent council, first the tram and now the arena, what will millions of pounds be wasted on next I wonder?
swampy, charfield
The Evening Post should make a stand against our incompetent council for the people of Bristol. The issue of not building a venue is just the icing on the cake. BCC is responsible for a whole catalogue of cock ups. It’s about time we got the lot out!
Graham, Bristol
Isn’t it time the city had councillors with vision and leadership?
Paul Tanner, Stoke Gifford
I think if we are all honest none of us really ever thought a wonderful opportunity like this would be taken by the powers that be, who continually hold this city back with their lack of imagination and foresight.
Steve, Portishead
Sad? How about fuming, angry and other words that are unprintable! This is one project that needs to be put under investigation and all involved for maladministration.
Kathryn Courtney-O’Neill, Bristol
It’s not a surprise to most of us our sports stadia are rubbish, our schools are rubbish, our public transport is rubbish, even the rubbish collection is, well, rubbish. You could say the name of Bristol is more or less rubbish
steve, bristol
Yet again the citizens of Bristol have been let down by their elected representatives. We must be the only major city in Britain whose ‘leaders’ seem intent on providing the facilities and infrastructure that belongs in the 1950s.
Gary M, Horfield
What a joke.
comedy dave, bristol
This is an absolute farce.. Yet again, our over paid, incompetant council has sold us down the river.Perhaps, they have been on the same training courses as our neighbours in BANES.Absolute RUBBISH, like the services we all pay so dearly for.
Bob Goff, Bristol
Heads must roll for this at the highest level.
thelittlebigman, bristol
THIS IS A DISGRACE- I can only hope the readers of the Post kick up enough of a stink to make this issue raised in parliament. WE DESERVE BETTER.
Craig, Bristol
The people of Bristol have been let down yet again . The question that should be asked is instead of scrapping the arena why dont we scrap the SWRDA.This bunch of incompetent under achievers have consistantly led Bristolians Duke of York style to the top of the hill only to march them back down again. Bristolians should ask what use are they to Bristol? and are they a good use of public money?
D.McGeer, Redcliffe
Just listened to the Terry Wagstaff interview. No wonder this city is up the creek with people like that running it.
Matt
Another example of our shockingly poor council: it’s SuperTram all over again. Bristol lacks a vision and a purpose – the council seems to charge ever more and deliver ever less: poor schools, bad public transport and terrible leisure facilities. Can we please have some leaders who have both vision AND management skills!
Steve, St George
£13 million wasted, who is going to pay the tax payers back? and who’s neck in on the line for their dismal display. It verges on fraud and theft.
Peter Smith
I am extremely disappointed with all concerned that all that public money from SWRDA has effectively been handed over to private developers to build more unimaginative flats and offices which will not give our city and noticeable benefit.
Scott Jacobs-Lange
The Arena just joins the list of things in Bristol that have been delayed for years or cancelled. This includes the appalling public transport system.We learn today that the new City Council Chief Executive cannot start her job until Easter. This rather sums up the council for me, delay and more delay. Time for an elected Mayor who will get things done!
Geoff Leonard
Can this city really go on like this any longer?
Plenty more comments available at the BBC and the Cancer and on the blogs: Nicolas Webb, Kerry McCarthy, James Barlow
Hardly a surprise in Bristol, the graveyard of ambition. I never thought that the Arena project would happen in a month of Sundays. It’s Bristol ferchrissakes.
Frankly, our city is rapidly becoming, no has become, a byword for utter failure and shite civic governance.
Where does this leave local democracy? What the hell’s the point of voting if all we get are Hollands’s failed clowns, Hopkins’ incompetents or Bunter Eddy? None of them could deliver a pizza, let alone the infrastructure that a city of half a million needs.
For fuck’s sake, we need a political grouping that will govern this city, competently, for the benefit of it’s citizens and not purely for the benefit of First’s shareholders, Labour’s developer cronies and the sodding Mercunt Venturers. But who?
This city would benefit greatly if the Council House, Government Office of the South West and the bloody useless SWRDA burned down overnight.
couldn’t agree with you more bluebaldee!
the same old sorry names crop up whether in office or in the background.
this council has been incompetent for the last 20 years, lacking in direction & unable to make a decision that actually benefits true bristolians.
it’s like an exclusive club, seemingly making decisions for their own benefit, the sooner they are exposed & deposed, the better.
I’m strongly of the opinion that political party dominated local councils are bad news for the areas they serve. We need more variety…independents, proper socialists, greens and others. All those elected should focus on working efficiently and effectively in the city’s interests.
Lets also not forget the key role played in this fiasco by the South West Regional Development Agency, which is not elected and not properly accountable to people. Either dont give such a body money and power, scrap the thing, or elect its members directly.