Ground Development 2010 Plans
In March 2010 Gloucestershire County Cricket Club were given the go ahead by Bristol City Council for their ground development.
The club had submitted two planning applications in October 2009 for development of the ground, following extensive discussions with planning officers and two public consultation exercises, to which 2,500 local residents were invited. The Development Control (North) committee made the final ruling in March.
On receiving the news about the planning permission GCCC Chief Executive, Tom Richardson said,
"We are delighted that Bristol City Council has resolved to grant planning permission for developing our ground in Nevil Road. It is essential for the club to develop the ground in order to continue hosting regular international cricket here in Bristol. This development will bring many benefits, not only to our members and sports fans but also to the city of Bristol and the local region. There has been a lot of hard work put into this application, particularly with transport and access issues and we are now looking forward to proceeding with our plans."
In September 2010, GCCC Chairman, Rex Body provided an update on the Ground Development progress.
“The majority of Counties have now recognised the essential need to increase their income from non-cricket sources and for us this means a significant increase in conferences, events and income from our gymnasium.
“As well as providing better facilities for members, the development will significantly improve our corporate hospitality accommodation. The increased income from developing the Ground is vital if we are going to further invest in the squad, develop the identification and nurturing of new talent and provide the improved facilities they require.
“We can also meet the new standards for International Grounds demanded by ECB and provide Bristol and the whole of the West of England with the continued one-day International matches that it rightly deserves and that we need as part our income.
“Although we have improved the players’ facilities and the ground drainage, we do need to start the major Ground Development if we are to move forward significantly. We do not want to take on too much debt so we have scaled back our initial proposal, and therefore costs, and will concentrate on providing extra seating (reaching 8,000 permanent seats), the changes to the pavilion and media centre, the enabling development and the improvements to the sports hall. We are looking at signing up a partner as soon as possible to take on this development with the intention of starting the building in Autumn 2011.”
THE FACTS
GCCC has been playing cricket at the Nevil Rd ground since 1888 and international games have been hosted there since 1999. Cricket is still the only major international sport to be played in Bristol but GCCC needs 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 key elements of the applications, which include changes made in response to consultation feedback, are:
- Increase in seating capacity of 4,000 to 20,000
- Provision of world class media centre
- Improved conferencing and hospitality facilities
- Upgrades to the BS7 fitness club, including a swimming pool
- Enabling development in the form of 350 student accommodation units (reduced from initial proposal of 500 in response to local feedback)
