11 April 2023 , 18:03
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Drivers who had left their cars by Bristol's Ashton Gate Stadium were shocked to find obscene messages written on their cars about parking badly.
Cars parked on Raynes Road and others nearby were targeted on Easter Monday by the anonymous sticker vigilante - telling the drivers that they had 'parked like a c***', reported BristolLive.
The stickers - which are sold on the internet - look like regular official parking ticket from a distance, but instead of containing a penalty notice fine from the local council, they are simply just abusive.
With a bright yellow background and black-checked outline, the fake parking tickets read: "You've parked like a c*** - do not do it again. Warning. The person who 'parked' this vehicle doesn't give a s*** about other people, the selfish b*****d."
The stickers are the latest salvo in a simmering row around matchday parking in Ashton over the past few years, since crowds returned to Bristol City and Bristol Bears matches following the Covid pandemic.
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The cars were parked near Bristol's Ashton Gate Stadium (Bristol Live)The stickers were left on cars in the hour before the Bristol City v Middlesbrough match on Easter Monday.
The issue has still not been solved by either Ashton Gate or Bristol City Council, with a stalemate over who should pay for any kind of matchday parking scheme, which would see residents given temporary permits in certain streets for the hours either side of a home rugby or football match at the stadium.
When the stadium was redeveloped in the mid-2010s, there was a condition that Bristol Sport would set up and pay for a matchday parking scheme if Bristol City were promoted to the Premier League or if three games out of any consecutive five saw crowds of more than 25,000.
That almost happened with Bristol City's run to the League Cup semi-final in the winter of 2017-18 but neither trigger has looked likely to happen since, and the Covid pandemic banishing crowds for a full season saw a pause to the calls.
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The issue is further complicated by the fact that many residents living on Raynes Road, and other streets in Ashton that are near the ground, move their own vehicles out of their drives and park on the street, and charge fans to park on their drives instead.
It's also further complicated by the continuing issues with the Long Ashton Park and Ride site - a publicly-owned 500-space car park less than a mile from Ashton Gate - which was closed on Easter Monday because it was a Bank Holiday.
At the start of this season, a new anonymous Twitter account called 'Residents Parking For Ashton Gate' was set up, and has been highlighting the worst instances of bad parking in the streets around the ground.
Last month, local councillor Mark Bradshaw shared photos of vehicles left on Gores Marsh Park on the day of Bristol City's home match against Blackpool on March 11, calling on the council and the police to 'do some matchday enforcement'.
The messages from a distance appear similar to parking tickets (Bristol Live)But the 'Residents Parking' Twitter account states it is not just calling for a matchday parking scheme, and says they are highlighting the issue with regular events at the stadium too.
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The parking issue is something that Ashton Gate says it is addressing. The new 'Sporting Quarter' project will see a 536-space multi-storey car park built on the site of the current Wickes DIY store, alongside a new 5,000-capacity indoor sports and convention centre, a 232-room hotel, 125 flats, gym, museum and offices.
Bristol City Council awarded planning permission for the Sporting Quarter, but left issues like the knock-on effect on residents parking to be the subject of a series of planning conditions to be thrashed out in negotiations between the stadium bosses and the council's planning officers.
When planning officers produced their report recommending the Sporting Quarter be given planning permission in October 2022, they said: "Members are advised that negotiations are currently taking place between parties in relation to a variation to this existing S106 obligation for Ashton Gate Stadium.
"It is proposed that this will require an additional clause to also include SCC attendance figures if an event at the SCC is concurrent with an event at the stadium and the combined total attendances trigger Ashton Gate Limited's current S106 obligation.
"A similar planning obligation in this respect is also required in relation to the proposed development. Discussions are currently taking place regarding the exact details and wording of both obligations but at the time of writing this report this has not been agreed and finalised," they added.
"In principle, these obligations are considered to provide adequate protection against any unacceptable additional impact on local parking issues that may result from the additional vehicle movements associated with the proposed SCC development and negate the immediate need for a Residents Parking Scheme. Members are advised that legal opinion given to Officers in relation to this matter indicates that this is in principle a viable solution but that it cannot be confirmed at this stage," they added.
As yet, there is no update from the city council's planning department on whether agreement on that has been made.
The Mirror contacted Bristol City Council for comment.