Major plans to transform the area around Ashton Gate Stadium have reached the next stage of the planning process.
Last year, Bristol Sport revealed it wanted to build a 4,000-seater Sports and Convention Centre, housing, offices and two hotels next to the stadium on the land which is currently used by various businesses including Wicks.
Hundreds of new homes on green fields between Ashton Gate and the Long Ashton Park and Ride are also included in the plans.
Bristol Sport’s owner Steve Lansdown has bought up all the land between Ashton Gate and Winterstoke Road over the past few years, ever since plans for a stadium at Ashton Vale were turned down.
And since the £100m scheme was first revealed in September, developers have been working hard to tick the boxes needed before a formal planning application can be submitted to the council.
One of the requirements is a Screening Option Request, which is to determine whether the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment would be required to accompany any future planning application for the development.
This has now been submitted to Bristol City Council and the developers are now waiting for the decision.
In September, Ashton Gate said it would be submitting an official application in the summer and, if granted planning permission, the sports and convention centre could open by 2022.
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The sports centre would provide a permanent home for the Bristol Flyers basketball team, and the hotels and conference centre part would bring a huge amount of investment to this part of the city.
As well as the conference centre, the sports and entertainment quarter would feature two new hotels - one 200-bed, four star facility, and another 100-bed standard venue.
The company is aiming to develop 30,000 square foot of A-Grade office space and will put forward plans for a 750-850 space multi-storey car park.
It is also looking to build up to 750 homes split across two sites. Up to 250 units are proposed for the Ashton Gate site and up to 500 homes on land at Ashton Vale.
So far the plans have been warmly received by Bristol City and Bristol Bears fans and many local residents, but there have been some concerns raised over extra traffic and parking issues.
