Gloucestershire sweat on expansion plans

Gloucestershire face an anxious wait to find out whether expansion plans for the County Ground in Bristol can go ahead. Council planning officers have recommended approval of the plans, but a final ruling will only be made at a meeting of the Development Control committee on Wednesday March 10.

"Clearly we are pleased with the planning officer's recommendation but the ultimate decision lies with the elected members of the planning committee on Wednesday and we await that meeting with interest," said Rex Body, Gloucestershire's chairman.

The key elements of the proposed development include an increase in seating capacity from 4,000 to 20,000, the provision of a world class media centre, improved conferencing and hospitality facilities, an upgrade to the ground's fitness club and the development of 350 student accommodation units.

"It is difficult to stress the importance of the proposed developments to our long term future in Bristol, not only for the county team and the club as a whole but also for our surrounding community," added Body.

"We are proactively seeking to expand our community links, including developing the current disability cricket programme, building on our existing links with local schools and strengthening the recreational club game including the creation of a Gladiators women's team. However, these ambitions will be severely curtailed without the improvements to the ground.

"We have consulted widely on our proposals and revised our plans in line with the feedback. We have also worked particularly hard to design transport and access measures which we believe will actually improve the traffic situation for our immediate neighbours and the wider locality. I hope the councillors will take all this into account when they come to vote on Wednesday."

There is ongoing development of grounds and facilities across the County game as counties strive to secure international fixtures and their financial futures by meeting the standards set by the ECB for hosting international matches. International games have been hosted at Bristol since 1999, and cricket is still the only major international sport to be hosted in the city.