Waste of space -literally- at Ashton Gate

Park and Ride closed to Football and Rugby Traffic

The Ashton Park and Ride, which is subsidised by tax-payers funds, is unavailable for use of football and rugby supporters during 30 out of the 45 matches held at Ashton Gate this season.

For the 13 matches held on Sundays for example, this means that a total of 1500 car parking spaces sit empty while cars cruise around Ashton, Bedminster and Southville looking for spaces to park.

This is set to get much worse when the stadium redevelopment is completed and the capacity rises from the current 13,000 to a planned 27,000. It will also not be helped by the planned parking scheme in Southville, which will not be covering any match days.

Green Party candidate in the local elections in Southville Steve Clarke says: “This is madness; people in my Southville feel under siege during rugby and football matches at the Gate and acres of car park space lies empty about 300 yards from the stadium.

What should happen is that the Park and Ride opening hours should be extended to Sundays and later in the evening when games are on, and fans should be charged an amount just to park in the spaces and walk to the ground.

I also completely support the campaign to re-open the railway station in Ashton both for the stadium traffic and for local people”