Bristol City FC wants to build the stadium but it's Bristol City Council that is pushing for a World Cup host city place assuming England wins the nomination next year. The event won't be until 2018 or 2022 anyway.
Obviously without a new stadium there is no chance of a World Cup hosting and we shall know within a few days whether Bristol has been chosen.
The lack of joined-up thinking results in the city council pushing the airport as a plus point for World Cup host status but then says it doesn't want the airport expanded.
North Somerset only became involved because a 50-metre long access road to the proposed stadium lies in its territory.
I live within the city boundary and I wrote to Barbara Janke, Bristol City Council Leader (the very one who is flying to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from an airport she wants emasculated), condemning her council's stand over airport expansion.
She did reply and part of her letter read:
The council has been in consultation with the airport owners for some time in regard to a variety of issues relating to expansion...................these issues have either not been addressed in full or not addressed at all.
There is a balance to be drawn between the economic success of the city and the well being of people living within this area, particularly with regard to transport and the long term lack of investment in a sustainable public transport infrastructure in this area.
The people who might be adversely affected by increased road traffic to the airport live near the airport or in neighbouring villages. They don't live in Bristol and are nothing to do with Barbara Janke.
Furthermore, the city council has told the football authorities that the city's transport infrastructure would be able to cope with tens of thousands of overseas visitors for World Cup matches in 2018 yet here is the leader saying the infrastructure is not good enough for the airport to increase its passenger numbers by no more than 60% within the same time scale.
Greater Bristol's main problem re most things is that separate parts of the physical city are run by four local authorities each anxious to ensure the biggest (Bristol City Council) does not enjoy advantages at their expense, and this particularly applies to the North Somerset councillors.
That's why there is always petty, childish bickering between them. Ironically, one of the few things at least three of the local authorities (Bristol, North Somerset and B&NES) agree on is that they oppose airport expansion.
North Somerset are the decision makers on the airport expansion and if recent history is a guide (airport walkway GPD application and the football ground access road) the councillors are likely to vote on emotion rather than on strict planning law interpretation, even when this goes against the advice of their own professional planning officers. Fortunately, they were made to recognise their original walkway decision was perverse and had no option but to reverse it.