Decision to be made on redevelopment of Gloucestershire's County Ground in Bristol next week (From Gazette Series)

Decision to be made on redevelopment of Gloucestershire's County Ground in Bristol next week

9:34am Thursday 4th March 2010 in

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Bristol City Council planning officers have recommended approval of the two planning applications submitted by Gloucestershire to keep international cricket in Bristol.

Councillors will make a final ruling on the club’s applications - which seek consent for a redevelopment of the club’s existing facilities at the County Ground, Bishopston - at a meeting of the Development Control (North) committee next Wednesday, March 10 at 4pm.

Cricket is still the only major international sport to be played in Bristol but Gloucestershire need to make significant improvements to the facilities in order to secure its own financial future and meet the standards set by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for international matches.

The redevelopment proposals were submitted to Bristol City Council in October 2009 following extensive discussions with planning officers and two public consultation exercises, to which 2,500 local residents were invited.

The proposal includes an increase in seating capacity of 4,000 to 20,000, provision of world class media centre, improved conferencing and hospitality facilities, and upgrades to the BS7 fitness club, including a swimming pool and enabling development in the form of 350 student accommodation units.

Gloucestershire chairman, Rex Body said: “Clearly we are pleased with the planning officer’s recommendation but the ultimate decision lies with the elected members of the planning committee on Wednesday and we await that meeting with interest.

“It is difficult to stress the importance of the proposed developments to our long term future in Bristol, not only for the county team and the club as a whole but also for our surrounding community.

“We are pro-actively seeking to expand our community links, including developing the current disability cricket programme, building on our existing links with local schools and strengthening the recreational club game including the creation of a Gladiators women’s team.

“However, these ambitions will be severely curtailed without the improvements to the ground.

“We have consulted widely on our proposals and revised our plans in line with the feedback.

“We have also worked particularly hard to design in transport and access measures which we believe will actually improve the traffic situation for our immediate neighbours and the wider locality.

“I hope the councillors will take all this into account when they come to vote on Wednesday.”