Apparently a whole new planning permission will be needed. Unless whoever buys the Mem will stick to the exact details to the original accepted planning permission (doubtful). My guess is by the time we have a new buyer for the value that is acceptable, then go through all the consultation with the locals and actually get planning permission granted by the council which have more greens now in power (you know, the greens who likes Bristol to be a village and not actually build anything), and if it gets granted, it may not be granted 1st time of asking. And then go through all the appeals, judicial reviews ect from the the locals, because we know this will happen from these locals, and then after 2/3 years of that, then we have to actually build UWE Stad. Im saying 4 years because thats what has happened this time around and no work has actually started at UWE yet. So my guess is 4 years again and that is best case scenario. Just an opinion of course. We may not even get a buyer meeting our valuation!
Tired of all this. As my mother used to say....Rovers had eyes bigger than their belly. We didn't need a state of the art spanking new stadium (others disagree with me on this!) I blame the board and Watola. As someone said, this was not a murder case where circumstances had to be considered. It was about a contract...the one Twatola said was watertight! We were not long ago comfortably placed in L1. We've been a laughing stock as we fell into the Conference. Our board is frankly clueless and not very bright. The fans and players did all they could for this club last season. We've been let down by the board. Other factors contributed, but the board failed to act and react in an intelligent way.
Personally I disagree with your initial point, there was nothing wrong with aspiring to a new stadium but your other points are spot on, its time for Gasheads to start to see the ineptitude of the people who have taken you to this point.. "watertight" my arse!
In retrospect we certainly don't need a 21,700 stadium - although I can understand the reasons the board went for the best they could. The bottom line is that Watola's 'watertight contract' was Titanicesque, as you mention. In addition, the board's track record in stadiums is dire - they failed to develop the Mem with student flats when the recession hit and they had no plan b, as they don't now. The trouble is that they are the only game in town, there's no-one else willing to put money into Rovers so we're stuck with them. The danger is that they continue to throw good money after bad chasing Sainsbury's in vain. They should cut their losses and either sell the club to someone, or sell the Mem and build a modest, expandable 14k stadium on Filton Airfield, or somewhere. God knows.
Phoenix from the ashes. No not the bl**dy cricket!! Forget chasing Sainsbury. There are some good suggestions here on the way forward. The planning principle for a large store is in place. The planning principle for additional housing is in place. Just wipe our blooded nose and get on with progressing a better plan ASAP. Comm'on George get on with what you need to do, and do it quickly!
The penultimate sentence above I am afraid to say just shows how incompetent our board really is. Wher is the plan B that should have been cemented in place just in case we lost ? What a way to run business, cut your losses whilst we still have a bit of Wonga dough from Wembley slushing about. As an aaside yet another brilliant marketing opportunity missed yesterday by the Board and Club (aka Wembley shirts) , when the sad announcement was made yesterday why did The Board not sanction this as an opportunity to really get behind the Club and offer a real Special Offer on Season Tickets to attract some of those newly interested in the Club, existing ST holders would be compensated via a discout for the next 2 Season at the end of this season (that ties them into renewing at a very atrtrative price). Just a thought, the Club really have to smarten up the Buisness opportunities that exist at our Club.
I guess its gone down well with the reds. Not all of course as clearly shown on here but I guess some will be happy about it. I seen yesterday via twitter what some were saying from otib. I was surprised to read so many people disappointed for us. Obviously there was a lot of micky taking and if we are rivals then rightly so. Yes some see the bigger picture and will be just disappointed. Some see it as just a rivalry and will be very happy. Some see it both ways. Deep down disappointed but having a laugh the same time. I remember when it was the other way around regarding Ashton Vale, I found it all very amusing. But I wasnt laughing at City as a whole. I was just using it as banter towards those who I regularly bantered with on here like Wiz and many others. To me it was extra material against those who I regularly bantered with and not aimed at those who I didnt banter with. So I expected that those I bantered with previously would be giving it back a bit to me. AlanDicks has a little, who reminded of the past. But im surprised that others havent come over to laugh at me like I did. Maybe they dont want to kick me when im down. Looking back, I did have a good chuckle about Ashton Vale though. I could see I was getting many bites and that was what the banter both sides were dong at the time, trying to get bites. Thought I did quite well at the time. Saying I was going to walk my dog in BS3 (even though I didnt have a dog ) I remember joking about Ashton Vale stadium being outside of Bristol. I also even remember providing a link to a petition against the stadium. I remember getting many bites for that. But in all honesty, I never thought City would lose the fight for Ashton Vale. Deep down, I knew City needed a new stadium like we do. A City our size should have 2 clubs both at Championship level minimum. Rovers are run by clowns so we will never reach the dizzy heights of that level and City with their millions with thanks to Lansdown are now at that level and really should be able to stay there and even push on like Swansea and Cardiff had done. I was actually disappointed for City and in fact for Bristol about Ashton Vale but just didnt show it here as I was just happy with the extra material for our bantering with each other. A lot has happened since those days. I have changed and grown up a bit. Thanks to those who have passed on kind comments, instead of retaliating at me like I probably deserve after the banter I have said I the past You're all too kind
The Board need to cut their losses, distance themselves from Sainsburys and move on. The judge made a telling statement in her summing up. Essentially Sainsbury's experience in these matters makes them a formidable opponent. I'm sure there are a few semantics that give hope of success at an appeal. But rest assured that Sainsburys will be several steps ahead. It would be great if Rovers could win an appeal. But it might be better if they draw a line under this on and look towards a more reliable partner and go for housing or some other use which is more likely to be approved.
Housing wont bring in £30million which Sainsburys were led us to believe that they were. Housing will give us say £10million at a guess. Kiss goodbye to UWE if we sell the Mem for £10million. Another supermarket wont come in for it due to the issues from the locals who expressed their displeasure with Sainsburys. Plus with Aldi or Lidl building a store around the corner on Muller Rd just wont make business sense for another supermarket to come in for the Mem. What instead then? (that will bring in as much money as possible to still allow UWE to be a possability, who are still supporting us).
Well, let's hope it's a better outcome next time. They must believe they have a shout, so I just hope they're being well advised.
If we keep prolonging the outcome then their business will have improved and we can raise the price to offset the costs of the court cases and build our new stadium when we are in a higher league
Here is a positive spin on this, although im not positive at all about this, by the time we have appealed and a decision made, shopping habits could have changed again where Sainsburys actually want bigger stores again
