From Bristol 24-7 www.bristol247.com
Bristol Rovers Football Club have this afternoon been given the green light to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the city and redevelop the Memorial Stadium as a supermarket.
A judicial review, lodged by the TRASHorfield group, was dismissed by Mr Justice Hickinbottom who presided over the case last Thursday. 
But while the club and its fans celebrated, the anti-supermarket campaign group said it was “profoundly disappointed” by the decision. It had claimed that a major supermarket on the site of the Memorial Stadium in Horfield would devastate independent retailers on nearly Gloucester Road.
TRASHorfield claimed that Bristol City Council had not correctly followed planning procedures when Sainsbury’s application to develop the site was approved by councillors more than a year ago.
Pictured: Artist's impression of Rovers' new stadium
Rovers chairman Nick Higgs said today that “common sense” had prevailed, adding he hoped work on the new stadium at UWE’s Frenchay campus could begin in the summer. The club hopes to be in its new home for the start of the 2015/16 season.
“I am delighted that common sense has prevailed, and the right decision has been made here today,” he said.
“This delay has cost us a lot of time and money, but we are now able to push forward once again.
“It is great news that a small minority group has not been allowed to derail a project that will have such wide reaching benefits to the local community, but we must not lose sight of the costs associated with the delays which for the football club alone amount to over £1m.”
Diana Scrafton from TRASHorfield said in a statement: “TRASHorfield are profoundly disappointed that the judgment does not accord with our legal opinion that the council acted unlawfully in granting permission for the supermarket. We will carefully review the details of the judgment before making an announcement regarding any further action in due course.
“Importantly, we would like to acknowledge the tremendous support we have received from the local community for this campaign. Our thanks extend to the thousands of you who have campaigned with us, stood by and encouraged us, and shown unwavering solidarity to the campaign. We also thank you all for the very many donations that made it possible to finance and pursue this critical democratic process.”
Councillors approved plans for the redevelopment of the Memorial Stadium in January last year.
The plans include a supermarket with a larger retail floor space than the giant Tesco Extra a short distance away at Eastville, up to five small retail units and homes ranging from three-bedroom town houses to flats.
Rovers’ new 21,700 all-seater stadium at Frenchay will be funded by the sale of the Memorial Stadium and will include an extensive club shop, banqueting and hospitality suite, convenience store, gym, jogging track and teaching space.
Bristol City Council development control (North) committee chair Cllr Chris Windows said: “I’m delighted by today’s ruling at the High Court that the decision to allow the development of the Memorial Ground stadium by Sainsbury was sound in every respect. We were confident that this was the case and the delay occasioned by the review has been extremely frustrating.
“While the TRASH campaigners still have the right to appeal I sincerely hope that the very clear-cut findings of the judge, who found no fault whatsoever with the processes followed by the council, will mean that objectors will now accept the decision and Bristol Rovers can move forward.
“We will be seeking to recover what legal costs we are able to from TRASH. However, this will still leave Bristol taxpayers having to pick up a legal bill amounting to £20,000, something that is deeply regrettable.”
Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson said: “It has been a deeply frustrating time and I have made clear my view that the appeal against the decision by planners has been damaging at a time when our efforts should have been focussed on raising the profile of Bristol and improving our sporting infrastructure.
“The overwhelming feeling nonetheless is of relief that Bristol Rovers can now hopefully forge ahead with developing a new first-class stadium.”
