Bath Chronicle – 22 August 2005
Rugby sustainable in Bath city centre – a letter from Daniel Wiley
I think that the proposed solution to draw inspiration from John Wood’s ideas for bath, while developing excellent facilities for all sports in bath, would answer many problems.
Mr. drew would gain another excellent view of our beautiful city, the grass-covered area of the Rec looks as if it would actually increase and Mr. drew could potentially gain space to enjoy his game of hockey even on match days. Plus all the local sporting facilities would be given a much needed boost.
These proposals are nothing to do with me and I agree it would be nice to know who these people are, but I have been assured that this question will be answered shortly and I understand that some confidences do need to be respected, so I am quite prepared to wait.
However, there are other solutions if this one is truly unpalatable that can be discussed. Indeed, I would be more than happy to discuss options with anyone with constructive ideas.
Now to consider Mr. Drew’s other points. Of course his voice is equally valid as mine, but I believe in this case, in the extreme minority. Surely it can’t support his argument that people outside the city centre – as I would call Southdown, incidentally – support my argument?
He seems to suggest something about traffic being a problem but I’m sure that it can be shown that most people either arrive by train, bus, park and ride or on foot. Those who do arrive by car are clearly fewer than those attracted by any summer weekend or the working population of Bath. Is he suggesting there is additional parking facilities provided just for rugby matches or that there are more unused spaces on a July Saturday?
Pushing the rugby away from the city centre would only encourage more people to travel through Bath by car.
Furthermore, it is my view that Premiership rugby will not even get close to matching Premiership football in terms of crowd sizes and is therefore unlikely to expand beyond its current size.
Therefore, the club is quite sustainable in the centre of the city with the population and infrastructure of Bath.
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