A City supporter writes …

Posted on September 7, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Of course, all City fans are behind Steve Lansdown’s new stadium, the World Cup bid and the plan to put a Tesco Extra on Ashton Gate aren’t they?

It’s only Gas Heads, political agitators and people who hate football who are against it right?

Lansdown and Sexstone are seriously damaging my lifelong affection for my local club. They are part of that self-serving self-important clique that have told my family over several generations that they should be grateful for the small crumbs that “trickle down” to them from above. It isn’t just football, it is the whole rotten system.

I wonder how many City fans have even asked Lansdown whether he intends to retain the freehold for the land that he and his son own, the land on which the new stadium will be built. Frankly, I wonder if any of them really care?

When Bristol City nearly went out of existence in 1981/82, the cause was that those running the club when it was in the top division, over-optimistically assumed that the club would stay there for 10 years and more.

As a result, to encourage top players to stay with BCFC they signed them up on long-term contracts (up to 10 years) at top division wages. But the players didn’t perform and City were relegated twice in consecutive seasons (and were about to be relegated for the third consecutive season to set a Football League record) and so ended up playing in front of third-division crowds with third-division receipts while players were being paid first division wages – a bit like bankers being paid bonuses for destroying the economy.

In the end, with about an hour left before the deadline for declaring the club bankrupt, eight of the players tore up their contracts and the club was saved from its own over-ambition.

Nearly 30 years later … The club is losing in the region of £2m every year but wants to invest £90 million it hasn’t got, into a stadium that it won’t be able to fill, built on land that it doesn’t own, partly financed by selling what Colin Sexstone describes as the club’s only asset. Bonkers!

Posted in Ashton Vale, Bristol, Developments, Planning, Politics, Southville, World Cup 2018 | Tagged , , | There is 1 comment

Tesco Ashton Gate: the land is ours!

Posted on September 6, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Looks like the cover’s blown on the Lib Dems’ claim that the Bristol City stadium and Ashton Gate Tesco developments are purely planning matters to be dealt with by their hand-picked team of untrained rookie councillors on the council’s Development Control (South and East) Committee.

Instead it’s suddenly looking like there’ll have to be a cabinet level political decision taken over the development by our Lib Dem friends – recently elected on a platform of cutting congestion, fighting Labour’s “green belt land grab” and preserving green spaces.

Because during all this talk about Steve Lansdown’s plan to open up the city’s green belt by building his new football stadium, financed from overpriced housing, a cheap hotel, a crappy drive-through restaurant and topped off with a giant traffic-hungry high street destroying superstore at Ashton Gate, it was generally assumed that Bristol City FC and their Merchant Venturer partners actually owned the land they had such big ideas for.

This impression was, of course, reinforced by City’s Chief Exec, Colin Sexstone’s assurance to councillors and local interest groups at a special pre-application briefing on 19 August where he openly told the invited guests that the £90 million stadium would not be publicly funded.

But wait! Now it turns out that nearly a fifth of the land at Ashton Gate that Lansdown and Bristol City FC would like to see turned into a brand new Tesco doesn’t belong to them.

In fact, it belongs to us. Or rather Bristol City Council who are supposed to be looking after it on our behalf. It’s marked in red on the map above and it’s not just any old piece of land either. It’s the very piece of land which will provide the proposed Tesco with access to Winterstoke Road.

In other words, it’s the piece of land that makes the development viable for retail. Without this land, the developers would somehow have to demonstrate that the several million car trips generated by the new superstore could be accommodated on Ashton Road. Not even the gullible rookie councillors on our development committees are quite that stupid.

This also means that a major decision will have to made to either give this land away to poor, hard-up Mr Lansdown struggling along on £245m fortune or sell it to him …

Unfortunately for the Lib Dems neither decision that can be taken by rookie fall-guys on a planning committee. And the land, coming in at cost on the open market – we’re told by Sexstone and Lansdown – of between £1m – £3.5m, depending on whether it’s used for retail or residential, cannot be sold or given away by a delegated officer decision at that cost.

So it looks like the Lib Dems little green men Rogers, Hopkins, Wright and Harrison are going to have to take the bullet on this one.

Over to you lads … (No doubt you’ve been fully briefed on all this already. Ho, ho, ho.)

Posted in Ashton Vale, Bristol, Bristol South, Developments, Environment, Housing, Lib Dems, Local government, Merchant Venturers, Planning, Politics, Shirehampton, Southville, World Cup 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , | There are 8 comments

Right up our street?

Posted on September 4, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger


The news that Doughty Street Chambers have opened an office in Bristol seems to have gone entirely unremarked so far. Strange, as the head of Doughty Street Chambers has quite a media profile. It is of course the notorious left wing firebrand barrister, Geoffrey Robertson QC.

Although what’s also interesting about Geoffrey at last opening his doors in Bristol is that his first appointment at the new Chambers is Daniel Bennett.

Is this by any chance the same Daniel Bennett who is representing Castle Park campaigners in their fight to save the park from redevelopment by the council?

Thought I’d not noticed any fat ladies singing from the park’s bandstand just yet.

This is going to be a right old laugh then isn’t it? Geoffrey Robertson QC vs city council legal boss Stephen “Ooh stop it yer harrassin’ us” McNamara and that ginger haired twonk of a planning boss who doesn’t understand minuting yet.

Pull up a seat. Looks like there’s plenty still to come …

Posted in Bristol, Developments, Local government, Planning, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | There is 1 comment

The Banksy Balls effect

Posted on September 3, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Despite my, quite frankly, show stopping appearance in – arguably the best book ever – that critically acclaimed seminal work Home Sweet Home by Steve Wright, published by Tangent Books and available here and in all good book shops, I can report that the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibition has had absolutely no effect whatsoever on visitor numbers to this site.

The Bristol Blogger’s team of financial CONsultants Tellem Watt-Hay Warner Hare say, “In technical economic terms, the ‘Banksy effect’ for this blog can be best described as fuck all. Can we have our cheque now?”

BANKSY BALLS: what they said:

Jan Ormondroyd, bureaucrat and coffee aficionado: “My brilliant plan to end the recession by selling cappuccinos to art lovers has been a total success. I now propose the city starts spending on cream teas and sticky buns. If we all remember to have two scones instead of one and order extra jam the recession will be over by Christmas. Have the organic, Fair Trade option and it’ll be over by November.”

Stephen Wray, economic guru: “This just goes to prove that if people take their laptops down the Watershed to Twitter on Facebook about the World Cup in 2018 it could be worth £10 billion to the city’s economy by the end of next week, isn’t that right Mr Lansdown, sir?”

Paul Barnett, Acting Head of Museums: “I saw the back of that Bristol Blogger’s head once.”

Sid and Doris Bonkers from Sea Mills: “We queued for 87 hours in the pouring rain to see the Banksy exhibition. We got beaten up twice by drunks, shot at by Yardies, the baby got struck by lightning and poor old Grandma Bonkers dropped dead from exhaustion after 14 hours, but we had to laugh – after just two days there – when that Dr Jan Rogers, Jon Ormondroyd and load of people with laptops, strange haircuts and copies of Wired magazine wafted straight past us in the queue to get in to a special Champagne reception.”

********** STOP PRESS **********

Council to build lift to heaven

In a radical proposal, the Blogger learns the council is proposing to build a lift from the Trenchard Street car park directly to heaven.

Cabinet Member Dr Jon Rogers said: “Art’s the name of the game these days so I’ve instructed my officers to get on their bikes, out of the box and start asking themselves what would Andy Warhol do?

“So yes it’s true, my officer team are indeed currently working on a feasibility study to build a lift from the Trenchard Street Car Park all the way up to heaven so visitors to the city can meet God.

“With the experience we’ve gained from the Bansky vs Bristol Museum exhibition we believe we can keep the queues at this innovative new visitor attraction down to a waiting time of around 30 days and 30 nights.

“To maximise income generation opportunities, at the bottom of the lift we’ll be installing the first in a new franchise – the ‘Jan Ormondroyd’s Coffee Heaven’ concept – and we’re proposing that the ground floor of the car park become a pervasive socially digital interactive wi-fi laptop media zone with secure bike parking and a strict anti-homophobic bullying policy where visitors will be able to Twitter their experiences of meeting God here in Bristol directly to the wider world.”

Council economics guru, Stephen Wray said: “the economic effect of an organised mass holy experience in the Trenchard Street Car Park could be of biblical proportions and are incalculable even for a financial genius such as myself. But we’ll make about £100m.”

Jan Ormondroyd told us, “This is an opportunity to grab a big slice of the “Papal pound” cake (served with a large coffee hopefully!) and create a visitor attraction that has potential gains in terms of the city’s reputational place marketing self image uplift strategy. There’s no reason why the Trenchard Street Car Park can’t be right up there with other global religious attractions like Lourdes, Mecca, the Vatican and Disneyland.”

Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for climate change Gary Hopkins said: “The climate change impact of this proposal is neglible because we’ll publish a glossy recyclable leaflet that says so.”

Posted in Banksy, Bristol, Culture, Cycling City, Economy, Lib Dems, Local government, Politics, World Cup 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , | There are 6 comments

Progressive?

Posted on August 31, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

The Bristol Labour Party has now waded into the Cancer’s row over Bunter Eddy and the Big Lottery grant to Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (Each).

Their Deputy Leader, Mark Bradshaw, published an open letter on the matter on Friday night. The full text is here.

Very interesting it is too, raising some interesting questions about what the modern Labour Party and their anti-homophobia fellow-travelers think terms like “progressive” and “equalities” actually mean.

Bradshaw writes towards the end of his letter:

I really hope [Bunter] isn’t suggesting that bullying should be tolerated in a progressive city like Bristol or anywhere else.

Then again, this is the man who year after year wants to cut funding for all equalities work in our city, further marginalising the disadvantaged, the disabled, and those who do not fit his 19th century vision for Bristol.

What an odd statement.

Now I appreciate that Bradshaw has never given much of an impression of being a deep thinker, let alone a serious student of the British Labour Movement – he altogether seems happier privatising sections of the public highway with public money for the exclusive use of private bus companies under the guise of ‘Showcase Routes’ than grappling with deeper political questions like “why the hell am I doing this”?

But surely he must know that Labour Party values derive directly from the 19th Century? A lot of us might even call it a “19th Century vision”.

The universal values of equality, suffrage and human rights that are supposed to underpin the Labour Movement were originally developed in late 18th Century. Then popularised – among other places – through the trade union movement as it developed throughout the 19th century, culminating in the birth of the Labour Party’s forerunner ,the Labour Representation Committee in 1900.

So if Bradshaw and friends reject a perfectly serviceable “19th Century vision for Bristol” what are they all about then?

A clue lies in the Cancer’s car crash thread about Bunter and Each.

One of the saner and more rational comments from the antis came from a chap called James who said:

What a lot of money….. Makes me angry to think we can give away that amount when we have our forces boys going without….. Maybe lottery should look at giving to that cause instead…..maybe to look at the more important factors where it is life or death instead of making someone feel better about their sexuality ??

The response to James was of course utterly patronising: “James – I read your post and was bit stumped at where to start,” huffed some sanctimonious little tosser from Horfield called David.

Well he might not know where to start but I do. How about this report from Tim Reid in Kandahar, Afghanistan from The Times in 2002?

Men accused of sodomy faced the punishment of having a wall toppled on to them, usually resulting in death. In February 1998 three men sentenced to death for sodomy in Kandahar were taken to the base of a huge mud and brick wall, which was pushed over by tank. Two of them died, but one managed to survive.

Not much sign of universal progressive values from the Taliban then. So no doubt our self-styled anti-homophobia progressives will have something to say about this? Indeed they do. David says:

I think a diminished military role in this world and avoiding entanglement in conflicts we just can’t win would do them more good, but that’s another story.

So these “progressives” believe that their rights, freedoms and special treatments should only be extended to an exclusive wealthy elite in the West and anyone else in the world can literally go hang because fighting for these values is too much like hard work?

Of course it’s true that the awarding of privileges and rights to elites on the basis of their proximity to power and money is not a “19th Century vision”. It was the reality of the 18th Century …

Says a lot when yer average squaddie and their supporters are more progressive than our highly educated liberal elite doesn’t it?

Posted in Bristol, Bristol Evening Post, Culture, Education, Equalities, Labour Party, Ministry of Defence, Politics | Tagged , , | There are 22 comments

Bristotalian of the week

Posted on August 28, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Step forward Green Bristol Blogger, Chris Hutt …

Despite the red trousered public school twit being out of the country prancing like a tit around Europe on his August Grand Tour, there’s no respite for Cancer readers from George Ferguson’s tedious and self-regarding By George column.

Instead George takes the opportunity to lend his er, usual unique reflections on art, life, culture and any other snooty bollocks he can think of off the top of his head a certain wanky European flavour.

Last week the red trousered low carbon, fuel-efficient bandwagon rolled into the Italian city of Siena where George witnessed the famous Il Palio horse race. Obviously impressed, the city’s greatest living columnist immediately began musing, as usual, at great length:

Could we introduce the equivalent of the annual Siena Palio to Bristol? There are many such equivalent traditions in other cities of Italy and Europe.

They are clearly a strong catalyst for community cohesion and identity as well as a major magnet for tourist income.

When we planned ‘Harbourside’ I suggested we built in a special Bristol annual event of an equivalent nature – without cruelty to animals.

Maybe it could have made a virtue of great skateboarding or rollerblading skills – or better still made use of the water?

All ideas are welcome for an annual Bristol event that would harness community rivalry and bring people from far and wide to visit our very special European city.

Cue Mr Hutt who appears in the comments with this little suggestion:

How about an annual contest between developers to see who can get the most toadying support from the City Council for proposals to incorporate public parkland into their developments?
Green Bristol Blog, Blogspot.co.uk
Ho, ho, ho ….
Posted in Blogging, Bristol, Bristol and Bath Railway Path, Bristol Evening Post, Bristolian of the week, Culture, Developments, Harbourside, Local government, Merchant Venturers, Planning, Politics | Tagged , , , | There are 7 comments

Wind 'em up … And off they go

Posted on August 27, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Been really enjoying the predictable uproar over the last couple of days caused by the Cancer’s ‘”Outrageous” lottery grant to Bristol gay teens’ group’ story.

In a fairly simple – but highly effective move – the paper wheeled out rent-a-quote Tory moron Bunter Eddy to attack a £400k lottery grant awarded to some obscure publicly funded local “charity” group, ‘Educational Action Challenging Homophobia’ (EACH).

A good boy who regularly attends Clifton All Saints, Bunter’s always available, able and willing to give good copy:

“I think this is a mistaken and misguided, outrageous waste of money.

“Sadly, it seems to be further confirmation that the Big Lottery has long since ceased to impartially distribute lottery cash to worthwhile and respected causes, instead it seems obliged to dole out punters’ money to a raft of politically correct lobbies which clearly sit within the Labour Government’s priority.”

Cue predictable uproar as crazed fundamentalists on both sides of the ‘row’ piled on to the Cancer’s website to have their say.

In the blue corner were frothing right wing males (they’re always male aren’t they?) spouting about Adam and Eve and gay people being ‘unnatural’ while in the red corner we had shrill liberal fundies labeling any criticism whatsoever of this latest example of utterly irrelevant New Labour-style social policy as ‘Homophobic’.

At the last count the article had attracted over 170 comments on the Cancer’s site including fascinating digressions into the secret gay life of penguins; an attempted angry denunciation from ineffectual Lib Dem gay accountant Stephen Williams MP; Labour’s Alderman Paul Smith labeling Bunter a “baffoon” and, best of all, ‘Charlie, Bristol’ who decided the whole debate has made him “depressed about the future of humanity.”

You’re not alone there Charlie.

Latest news is that the shrill liberals have now set up a little space all to themselves on the internet entirely dedicated to their moral outrage and, er … Cheap gags about abortion! They are also going to complain to the Press Complaints Commission about the Cancer apparently.

Although exactly what they think they’re complaining about is a little unclear. Does a lot of people publicly disagreeing with you on a newspaper’s website contravene the PCC code now?

Could someone just award them a grant to investigate rampant homophobia in the local press instead? Maybe then they’ll all shut the fuck up and get on with writing us a strategy we can all take the piss out of on the internet when it’s published.

Posted in Bristol, Bristol Evening Post, Bristol West, Conservatives, Education, Labour Party, Local government, MPs, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | There are 18 comments

Fw: Bristolians Against Fluoridation: press/media launch

Posted on August 24, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Vowlsie forwards a picture of himself and his entry for the longest press release in recorded history. Here it is in its entirety:

Press release: Bristolians Against Fluoridation (BAF)

Announcing the launch of Bristolians Against Fluoridation (BAF).

Following preliminary meetings in July and August and after gathering nearly five hundred local supporters on the social networking site Facebook, BAF is now organised and campaigning. [It will next meet at The Stag and Hounds, Old Market, 7.30pm, 25 August and again on 8 Sept].

BAF Press Officer Glenn Vowles said, “Bristolians Against Fluoridation was formed to oppose the imposed mass medication of Bristol and the surrounding areas in BANES, N Somerset, and S Glos. that would result from NHS South West instructing the water company to fluoridate our tap water. Our view is that fluoridation: is not ethical; does not work; is not safe; and is not wanted.”

“The Government are keen on fluoridation but we must not allow it to be imposed upon us here. The decision to fluoridate water in Hampshire was recently taken despite 72% of the public being opposed.”

“Bristolians will know little or nothing about this but the decision process to fluoridate water throughout the Avon area has already begun with both NHS Bristol and NHS BANES, half the number of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the Avon area, asking NHS South West to conduct a feasibility study. A ‘consultation process’ will follow acceptance of the feasibility report. Once that process has been gone through NHS South West can use their new powers to instruct Bristol Water to fluoridate our drinking water.”

“In the first instance we will be lobbying NHS North Somerset and NHS South Glos. to reject fluoridation as these two parts of the NHS in the Avon area have yet to request a feasibility study. If successful this would hopefully make it difficult for the NHS South West as the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) to claim to be acting on behalf of us all.. If unsuccessful we will campaign for a fair, open and balanced public consultation process ending with a public vote on the issue, the result of which should be binding on the NHS.”

Copies of the emails received from the NHS are posted on the BAF website (1, below). Statement from Bristol Water on the issue (2). The key regional and local decision makers’ details are available from (3). BAFs central arguments against fluoridation are listed below (further details, more references and background are available from ref (4) and (5)).

Fluoridation is unethical and is not wanted: Bristolians who don’t want to consume fluoride, or have no need to, have a choice now. If all our drinking water was fluoridated people would be consuming something designed to create bodily changes i.e. a medication, without their consent. It is the norm in our society to consent to medical treatment. In the recent Hampshire public consultation 72% opposed fluoridation – people want to retain their freedom to choose!

Fluoridation does not work: There is no high quality research showing that putting fluoride in drinking water safely and effectively does what it is supposed to do – reduce tooth decay. Available research is often categorised as at best only moderate quality because bias and lack of control are evident and analysis is lacking. No double blind tests have ever been conducted that proves it effective; nor has it ever been proved safe.

Fluoridation is not needed: Most of Europe has seen falling rates of tooth decay for several decades – without a policy of widespread water fluoridation. Fluoride is available by choice in toothpaste. There is no substitute for regular dental check-ups where all sorts of medical issues can be covered.

Fluoridation defies good, safe scientific practice: The dose of fluoridated water received by each person depends on the amount of water consumed and their body weight. Since we all drink different amounts the dose is highly variable – and will be received over a long period of time. Further, the people receiving the dose are highly variable too and unlike being prescribed a treatment by a GP, won’t be seen beforehand and won’t have their medical history checked. Around 4% of the population are known to suffer adverse reaction to fluoride. Infants under 5 years old, the elderly, kidney patients, athletes, are all at risk because of their higher consumption or increased vulnerability.

Fluoridation is unsafe: The maximum concentration of fluoride currently allowed in our water is 1.5 mg/l. Any water fluoridation system would have to stay below this legal limit. The substance that is most likely to be used to fluoridate Bristol’s water is most unpleasant to say the least – fluorosilicic acid, a contaminated waste product from phosphate fertiliser manufacturing is a registered Class 2 Poison under the Poisons Act 1972. No license has ever been obtained for such a substance either as a food or a medicine.

Overfeeding of fluoridation substances into drinking water has caused serious health problems, as at Hooper Bay in Alaska in the 1990s, where equipment and human failure resulted in 1 death and 295 cases of fluoride poisoning(6). Overfeed precautions and plans for de-fluoridation if limits are exceeded are of course not needed if you respect people’s freedom to choose their ‘medication’ and don’t fluoridate in the first place!

Further information/links

1. Bristolians Against Fluoridation (BAF)
[ http://bristoliansagainstfluoridation.blogspot.com/]

Contacts: Glenn Vowles (BAF, Press) [ http://vowlesthegreen.blogspot.com]
[ mailto:grv4@tutor.open.ac.uk]

Robin Whitlock (BAF Steering Group Coordinator) [
[http://beakymunch.blogspot.com/ ]
[ mailto: robinwhitlock@hotmail.co.uk ]tel: 07790 156486 (mob) (0117) 9715918

2. Bristol Water’s statement on the issue
[ http://www.bristolwater.co.uk/news/mainNews.asp?newsID=71]

3.Key local and regional decision makers:

[ http://www.southwest.nhs.uk/membersoftheboard.html]
Strategic Health Authority via [ mailto:go@southwest.nhs.uk]

[ http://www.bristolpct.nhs.uk/thetrust/board/profiles.asp]
[Dr Hugh Annett, Director of Public Health for NHS Bristol and Bristol
City Council via [ mailto:info@bristolpct.nhs.uk ]

Drinking Water Inspectorate
[ http://www.dwi.gov.uk/ ]

4. National Pure Water Association
[ http://www.npwa.org.uk/ ]

5. Safe Water Campaign (Avon, Glos and Wilts)
[http://safewatercampaign.blogspot.com/]

6. Acute Fluoride Poisoning from a Public Water System
[ http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/330/2/95]

Posted in Activism, Bath, Bristol, Environment, Green Party, Health, North Somerset, Politics, West Country | Tagged , | There are 37 comments

Give us a C! Give us an O! Give us an N! Give us a dodgy ginger minger planning boss!

Posted on August 21, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

Put it all together and what’ve we got?

CONsultation …

Oh look it’s Friday, must be time for another CONsultation about the stupid ‘Cycle Houses’ on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path nobody wants.

The new Lib Dem administration – having been successfully blackmailed once by the developers, Square Peg, and their cheerleader-in-chief, city council Head of Planning David Bishop – has already rubber-stamped Bishop’s unconsitutional sale of one plot of our protected park land on the path to these developers for housing. And now, despite an expensive public CONsultation conducted by fancy CONsultants that overwhelmingly rejected the sale plan, they’re about to be again

Because we learn the council is CONsulting all over again about the second plot of land. They say:

This latest consultation presents the original option alongside a new option of cycle homes sharing access to the path. In response to concerns raised in previous consultations, we would also like your views on ways the safety of the path could be maintained or enhanced if these cycle homes go ahead

In other words – despite us already having told told the council not to sell or lease their own protected park land that they’re not allowed to sell – they are still proposing ten new access points to the path be created to effectively create mini-gardens down the path.

And as usual the proposal comes with yet more blackmail from the scumbag developers:

“The developer Square Peg believe that only a scheme with direct individual access onto the path from the cycle homes would be supported by their funders owing to its innovative and unique nature.”

For fuck’s sake, if the developer’s funders and their snooty architect don’t like what’s on offer from Bristolians, why don’t the council just tell ’em to fuck off? Grow some bollocks you arseholes.

Starting with the exec member responsible, Jon Rogers, who was inanely Twittering this afternoon:

I am only consulting on things that potentially lie in my power to alter. No point asking people if option non-deliverable

So we’re now in a situation where not selling or leasing land that’s not for sale and is protected by the council’s Parks and Open Spaces Strategy is a non-deliverable?

How did we get here?

Posted in Bristol, Bristol and Bath Railway Path, Bristol East, CONsultants, Developments, Easton, Environment, Housing, Lib Dems, Local government, Merchant Venturers, Planning, Politics, Twitter | Tagged , , , | There are 23 comments

Colin Sexstone's web of intrigue

Posted on August 19, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger

It looks like Bristol City’s dopey Chief Exec Colin Sexstone has had orders from big boss Stevie Lansdown to get on the offensive over their plans to build a Tesco at Ashton Gate.

So Sexstone’s called in the corporate CONsultation experts from London with a sales pitch. Lower case and apostrophe free wagstaffsdesign gush on their website:

Much of our work involves helping clients visualise major projects for the planning process so it should come as no surprise that we’ve built up considerable expertise in public consultation. Blah, blah, blah … We will ensure you get the public on side.

The result is the Support City – Support Progress website, which, it must be said, is quite a slick looking effort from old codger Sexstone.

Southville’s Green councillor Charlie Bolton has even commented ruefully on his blog:

Well, I suppose I could have hoped for the pro-Tesco lobby to remain incompetent, but looks like it won’t last

However, the main purpose of Sexstone’s little web project seems to be to get Bristol City fans to sign what he’s calling the ‘say yes to Tesco’ petition on the council’s website, the wording of which says:

At present the provision of supermarkets on the edge of south Bristol is insufficient to satisfy present demand and with population increases expected future demand.

Fair enough. But why then are around 50% of the signatories on the petition from North Bristol and South Gloucestershire? Are they all having to motor down to South Bristol to shop and then finding our supermarkets too busy?

Surely then they’re making an urgent case for a new supermarket to serve North Bristol, which they could all use and relieve the pressure on our overburdened South Bristol supermarkets they’re finding so busy?

If they actually bother to print it out, will Sexstone’s daft petition be worth the paper it’s printed on?

Better get back to the drawing board and reword that petition Colin …

Posted in Ashton Vale, Bristol, Bristol North west, CONsultants, Developments, Planning, Politics, South Gloucestershire, World Cup 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , | There are 6 comments