Between 2007 and 2013 Steve Lansdown and Bristol City Football Club wanted to build a football stadium on these green belt fields in Ashton Vale. Local campaigners fought hard and in the end the proposed development did not happen. See the table below for more information about the history of protecting this site a decade and more ago.
| Between 1957 and 1985 | Green Belt is established around Bristol. This particular area is known as “Cell 69”. The wider cell is still important to North Somerset as recently as April 2021 |
| 12/2007 | Steve Lansdown buys the land. It is already protected as green belt |
| 06/2009 | Planning permission (09/02242/P) made for a 30,000 seater football stadium and up to 253 dwellings split between Southlands (now the Town and Village Green [TVG]) and Alderman Moores Allotments (now Ashton Rise). Note: the proposed development was across a larger site than the current development |
| 10/2009 | The original SAVE campaigners apply for Town and Village Green (TVG) status for the entire green belt area |
| 11/2009 | In the first planning officer’s report (4th November 2009), the council reported that it was “minded to approve” the stadium and Alderman Moores housing only. It thought exceptional circumstances for building on the green belt were met by the stadium only. At this early stage, housing on the green belt was turned down by the council, even though (like today) it was included to help finance the stadium (see planning portal) |
| 02/2010 | Following revised plans, in the next planning officer’s report (10/02/2010) all mention of additional houses on the green belt is gone (see planning portal) |
| 08/2010 | After a public inquiry, Barrister Ross Crail recommends the whole green belt site becomes a TVG (report 26th August 2010) |
| 04/2011 | Full planning permission for the stadium and non-green-belt houses on Alderman Moores is granted (05/04/2011) as long as development starts within 5 years. This expired in 2016. Again, this final report notes that it was only the stadium development that outweighed the harm to the green belt (the exceptional circumstances), not houses (see planning portal) |
| 06/2011 | Bristol City Council (Cllr Peter Abraham and the public rights of way committee) decides to only register half of the site as TVG. Only the wetlands. (16th June 2011, officially registered on 26 July 2011) |
| 02/2012 | High Court judge delays ruling on the new stadium |
| 04/2012 | Campaigners for the full TVG granted a judicial review |
| 05/2012 | Judicial review narrowly averted just before it starts. Bristol City Council drops its opposition to the full TVG review, pulling out of the process, to avoid further delays and fees |
| 08/2012 | Bristol City Council refer the matter back to Barrister Ross Crail |
| 02/2013 | Bristol City Football change plans and decide instead to improve their existing stadium site |
| 11/2013 | Planned improvements to the existing Bristol City Football stadium approved |