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Bristol Rovers planning application F.A.Q.

Recently there was a political hit piece written by Tom Renhard trying to blame the Green party as the cause of why the new Bristol Rovers stand isn't ready yet.

That article is almost complete gibberish, and bears little resemblance to reality.

Here is an attempt to explain the actual situation with the planning application for the new stand.

Why hasn't the planning application been approved?

The process of getting planning approval takes a considerable time.

Bristol Rovers only submitted all of the plans on June 29th. Currently there is an about 6 month backlog of planning applications to process. There was never any chance of this application being considered in time for the new season.

My understanding is that the application still isn't complete e.g. "An energy and sustainability statement has not been submitted.".

There are also legal requirements to consult with the local community, to minimise the amount of disruption caused by huge machines and large amounts of material being moved next to people's homes.

Are the Greens opposed to the new stand?

No.

Green Councillor Emma Edwards has been working with Bristol Rovers to guide them on how to submit all of the paperwork that is needed, and to fix the issues in their application.

She does share concerns of local residents that the legal process needs to be followed:

Like may residents have comment, there is no objection to a larger and improved stand, but there are many serious concerns about how the club has operated so far. Removing trees without an EIA, a poorly managed and unsafe building site. Ignored calls to stop work while the proper impact assessments are carried out, not engaging with residents properly, not having the correct persons on sight, contractors working unsafely without PPE, concrete and detritus washing down residential streets. Working at antisocial hours. And not having the correct impact assessments and consultations in place before putting in the planning application or indeed starting work.

The planning application process is a process. It's not just "fill in the forms and get a yes/no answer".

Why do planning applications take so long in Bristol?

Part of the problem is just a lack of staff, due local councils being underfunded, so the planning officers have a lot to deal with.

Another part of the problem is that the planning department is having some shenanigans e.g.

There is a petition for a loss of confidence in Bristol's planning system, as the lack of timely planning decisions is hurting the city.

Here is a reasonable article on how "Bristol City Council's planning backlog is badly 'impacting city's economy'".

Will the application being 'called in' delay it?

Probably not, and even if it did, it probably wouldn't be a major delay.

There is are considerable amounts of paperwork, consultation and apparently basic health and safety considerations, that Bristol Rovers appear to have just not done yet, that they need to do for the planning application to be approved.

All of that work is still being done in the background, the only difference is in how the final approval would be given, by officers (a.k.a. council employees) or by the elected councillors when 'called in'.

Nothing has been built yet, why are people complaining?

Even 'just' site clearance needs to follow proper regulations.

Having heavy machinery operating in your street, with mud and debris being allowed to wash away, rather than being contained is a horrible experience of the people living there.

When will the planning application be approved?

If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere between December 2023 and June 2024.

Just filling out the rest of the required details, undertaking the legally required consultations and actually working out a project plan, seems likely to take a couple of months.

Then there will be a bit more time for officers to do all the work they need to do to make sure the application is legal, and as mentioned, they are overworked due to a lack of staff.

Is there anything that can be done to speed up the process?

Well, maybe being nicer to the lovely Councillor who is helping Rovers understand what they actually need to do to get planning permission might be an idea?

Why did the Bristol Labour party blame the Greens for delay?

No idea. You'd have to ask them. At least Labour Councillor Renhard now knows what ward the stadium is in.

Maybe they are trying to make the new owner be angry at the Greens.

This sentence from that article is also interesting:

"This week the club also issued an update to confirm the development of a new South Stand at its home ground The Memorial Stadium would not be completed in time for the start of the new season, “due to issues outside of the club’s control”."

I'm not sure that hoping that submitting an incomplete planning application, and not having done all the consultation required is actually outside of Bristol Rovers' control.

Was there a change in plans that caused a delay?

Not that I can see. The original 'DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT' submitted is still there, and there haven't been any updates.

However the original 'hoped for' timeline is in that document:

The works are scheduled to commence in May 2023 (initial ground preparation / site clearance), with a target handover for the new grandstand in time for the start of the 2023/24 EFL season (beginning of August 2023).

It looks very much like planning permission was just not thought about.

What rule change does Councillor Eddy want to see?

Councillor Eddy wants the chair of the 'Development Control A Committee' to have the power to 'filter' whether Councillors are allowed to 'call in' planning applications to have them discussed at that committee.

As he's the chair, he is backing giving himself a large amount of power and removing power from local councillors.

And apparently not giving him that power causes him to call people names.

Seeing as Councillor Eddy is a terrible person he can jog on.

Notes

The planning application number is 23/01441/F and can be found at pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/

Apparently it's not possible to link directly to planning applications.

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