Charlotte Leslie and Diana Scrafton react to the verdict

Steve Le Fevre: Well, the Bristol North-West Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie has been a strong backer of Rovers’ bid to move to its proposed new stadium at Frenchay and joins us on the line. And Diane [sic] Scrafton is a resident and former member of TRASH Horfield the campaign group opposed to a new Sainsbury’s site on the current ground.

Charlotte, it’s gone through due process, hasn’t it, and this is the end result - what do you make of it?

Charlotte Leslie:
It’s obviously a devastated, devastating blow for Rovers, but I’m also concerned about the message that it sends out yet again from Bristol - as a city where things don’t happen.
Because it will have an impact on other people who want to invest in the city for things that everyone does want and I think what this was about now was about a new stadium for Rovers, not so much about a Sainsbury’s on that site. Because it was possible that because the supermarket landscape had changed, that Sainsbury’s would have bought the site and the supermarket wouldn’t have gone ahead, but the stadium would have done. So it could be an own goal for quite a lot of people.

SLeF: So where did it go wrong, or did somebody get it wrong in the process somewhere along the way?

CL: I’m not a lawyer and I don’t have access to legally what happened. I think if you go back through what’s been a very drawn-out and emotional saga for a lot of people, if Bristol City Council had done its work slightly better at the beginning, there wouldn’t have been any avenue on technicalities for a judicial review and Sainsbury’s would have reassessed its position in a new supermarket landscape later down the line, after the sale had gone ahead and after Rovers was able to build its new stadium, but again I’m not a lawyer - I can’t comment on the technicalities.

Laura Rawlings: Do you think the club could have done anything differently?

CL: I have to say I think the club has been absolutely superb - from the top to the bottom - and the fans in particular - who have gone through so many trials and tribulations over the last years, but also throughout the history of their club - have been exceptionally brilliant. I’ve admired their energy, their resilience - and I know they will live to fight another day because that’s what Rovers does.

SLeF: But they’re struggling aren’t they? We’re hearing they had to raise the money for this court case, now it could be as Richard Hoskins was saying maybe 10 - even 20 - years before anything happens with the stadium. And can they afford to re-build on the Memorial Stadium. It looks bleak, Charlotte?

CL: It did - it does look very very difficult and very bleak and one of the biggest shames for me for someone who really supports community sport and what sport can offer to especially young people is that a lot of this money that’s been spent on legal fees first from the judicial review and now on this case with Sainsbury’s is money that could and would have been going into community sport. And had there been a big iconic stadium, they could have done so much for sport and football for youngsters in this city. And for someone who’s got a history of supporting sport for young people, I find that deeply upsetting.

LR: You mentioned the Judicial Review there, something that you’ve said was an important part in terms of delaying the process and perhaps where we are now.

CL: It was. If the Judicial Review had not gone ahead the sale would have gone ahead much more quickly. That wouldn’t, I suspect - and I’m not a lawyer on this - I suspect that wouldn’t have changed Sainsbury’s decision about the viability of a large supermarket there.
So this is where I think there might have been some own goals, as you may have sold that piece of land and it would have been Sainsbury’s working out what to do with it. Now, something is going to have to happen to that piece of land. It’s been a piece of land where whatever’s been suggested, one group has cropped up and said “oh no we don’t want that”, and at the the moment we’ve got a situation where a stadium - a small stadium - that isn’t good for the club that’s in it and isn’t very good for the residents at the time either. So there still remains a question mark over what to do with the Mem. I don’t think we’ve resolved very much either for the club or actually for the residents around that place either.

SLeF: Let’s bring Diana Scrafton in. We’ve talked many times Diana about the reasons why you didn’t want a Sainsbury’s there; let’s not rehearse that particular argument You’ve got a piece of land sitting there now; Rovers sitting with a depreciating stadium. What should happen on the Mem?

Diana Scrafton:
Well, the Mem is a well-loved site, it’s a memorial sports ground and we believe that that’s what it should remain.

SLeF: As it is???

DS: We fought very hard to stop the supermarket and the inappropriate development that was being put forward by Rovers initially. So I think people in the community really would like to see a sensible - an appropriate - development on that site. And - you know - some ideas have come forward, but really - you know - we are the community, we will have to live with whatever is developed there. And we would like the historical context of the place to be respected and for this to continue with some sport there.

SLeF: Sorry, you say that some ideas have come forward. What ideas have come forward? It looks as if everything been looked at and it’s what can be afforded. Surely you don’t want the Memorial Stadium in its current state just to sit the way it is?

DS: No, I think people do recognise that it’s - you know- not in a very good state, that the buildings are quite old and I think that was recognised - you know - in this recent court case. But - this is not really our area to be - you know- talking about at the moment in terms of - you know - what’s to go there. I think there’s a lot of work obviously that’s got to be done before that, but I know that people locally - you know - recognise this as a memorial ground. I mean it has been there for almost 100 years. And it was actually - you know - funded by Bristol citi - citizens

LR: Diana, do you have any sympathy with the fans?

DS: Yes, of course we have a lot of sympathy with the fans. I think this is the big sadness of it all. There’s been so much hope and - you know - want in all these last few years, but the way things are at the moment, you know, they - Rovers - are going to have to move on. You know. Let’s hope that out of this massive waste of so many people’s time and money - you know that the club can re-focus on football. They are back in the League - you know - and they have done that within one year which is no mean feat. I mean I do understand - you know - that its the first time that a team has managed to get back from that position into the League - you know - within ten years…

LR: It is. I just want to bring Charlotte back in. Have you spoken to anyone at the club? Overnight they were going away to speak to their legal team, have you heard from them since then?

CL: Not yet. I think it’s time to let them sort of take stock and work out what they do next. But I’ve said that I’ll be there to support whatever they decide to do next.

LR: And what about supporting a boycott of Sainsbury’s, as some of the fans are proposing?

CL: I have to say on a separate note - I have been stunned at the way Sainsbury’s have behaved and its conduct through this. And - I [laugh] certainly will not be shopping at Sainsbury’s for a very long time.

SLeF: All right. Thanks…

Charlotte Leslie saw an opportunity to grab votes. Very cynical and errrrr where did it get us?

You should change your handle from cyclist to Cynicalist .

You know, when I hear people being... you know, interviewed... and they, you know... struggle to string a sentence together without... you know... repeating the same unnecessary phrase, it suggests they're not very confident in their own flimsy argument. You know..?

I think you, and others on here would do well to drop the "she's doing it for votes" bandwagon, it's a fact that Greens/Labour councillors and MPs are generally negative to ANY development especially to do with sports and leisure, CL, whatever her motives, has backed the Gas articulately, and has been there for the club, and looks far more professional and reasoned than any Radish, bike rider war memorial guy I think, let's stop worrying about motives of people looking assist this club we love, because by you and others keep mentioning it you're no better than them for bringing your political beliefs into it. 

The Labour councillors generally voted in favour of Rovers submissions, and it remains a fact that the number of planning applications by Rovers or City, turned down by Bristol City Council, is zero.

She did not need to she increased her majority by being the best MP this area has EVER had

Poor old Doug, Known locally as the Invisable man

I am a big fan of C.L and voted for her, she is a very proactive MP.