I'm not holding my breath. I keep checking my bank account to see if the payment for selling my soul has gone in yet, which is what I have done according to some fans of other clubs. Not a penny received yet!!
It's part of a conservation area that provides one of the best preserved examples of Georgian town planning, with Leazes Terrace itself an excellent example of Georgian architecture
I don't want to get all Olympian on a football forum but if one thing is more important than NUFC, it's the city of Newcastle itself. In my opinion (and in the opinion of many others), the architecture, design and drama of our cityscape sets it apart from others such as Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds (omitting Liverpool and Bristol). Among the finest parts of the city is Leazes Village Conservation Area, which includes Leazes Park but excludes St James's Park. The palatial Leazes Terrace is the crowning jewel of this neighbourhood and its Grade One listing reflects that. It'd be a monumental error to mess with the finest aspects of the city and, anyway, a battle that could not be won. If it's deemed that the club needs to vacate its home of 130 years in order to fulfil its potential, then find a site that benefits the city (economically but also aesthetically) as well as the football club. Something that can be woven into the fabric of Newcastle, enhances the city, and leads to urban renewal. In my opinion, building on The Town Moor, or a city park or disassembling/demolishing/replacing listed buildings would be unnecessary and extremely damaging. Which brings us back to the two principle city centre options for football club expansion: a smaller expansion of the existing site or an 80,000 state-of-the-art stadium on the Arena/Calder Leadworks land. It seems a binary choice for me for those that desire a central location AND an aggrandised city.
Agree with you 100% on the bit in bold. I think one of my main concerns with the Arena site is that the alternative proposal of building homes and breathing life into such a neglected area of the city would be a much better use of the land for the well-being of the city. It isn't just about what that area looks like but the 7 day a week life that it would bring to that part of the city. A sports complex on that site would be great but, just like the arena itself, the buildings and land would be unused for the majority of the time. The green land in the city centre should be sacred. I wish they were better used and wish some investment could be put into landscaping it to encourage more public use of the green space, with more trees and more to encourage wildlife habitats. However, just because it is underused or neglected is not a reason to rip it up and build on it. I much prefer the idea of a central location in the city, but would prefer it to re-use some run down area already built on. Not sure where though.
This looks like the narrowest to me. It’s 215 metres Sadly like most cities land big enough for a big stadium is just not available. Can’t see anywhere big enough outside the arena site
You may well be right. I simply don't know how far beyond the tree line the SSSI stretches. I know you can't build right up to the edge of it, but I don't know how close they could get.
As I said earlier,no need to move,redevelope St James park,there is a car park at the back of the Leazes End that is not needed,fill in the corners of the Gallowgate End,the training pitches and the Acdemy can be developed at Little Benton you don't need them together,one of the big selling point of the Club is it's position and history in the town centre,all the suggestions apart from the Arena site are unworkable due to listed buildings and council permission
If we want our stadium to be regarded as world class then one of the things we would need is much better car parking provision than currently exists.
What is the situation with Leazes park? (Sorry I don’t live in the area so my knowledge isn’t the best) would it be possible to acquire a section of Leazes park? If we were to get the bit in the red section, we could possibly do what Tottenham did and build the new stadium as much as possible on the outside of SJP first. the idea in my mind would be to rotate the stadium anti clockwise slightly and move further up which would give more width
That area is part of the same conservation area that Leazes Terrace is in. There is very little room for expansion. To redevlop the current site they would need to look at a design that made better use of the land they already have rather than extending it.
Broadly, we seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. Newcastle has extensive green spaces (thanks largely to the vast but bleak town moor), but are under-utilised and neglected. Visiting Leazes Park usually involves an encounter with a group of tracksuited teenagers up to some nefarious activity or other , while the park-keepers lodge has been derelict and abandoned for as long as I can remember. Perhaps this takeover will lead to a boom in economic activity, vastly greater inward investment and civic pride? We can all hope... I've seen the plans for the Calder's Yard site and not convinced that a series of apartment blocks with little to no amenities would bring life to the area. However, there's so much poor quality/low value land there - primarily to the west but also north along Railway Street - that there's plenty of room for residential development as well as a new stadium and ancillary developments. There is so much scope to completely transform the area west of Redheugh Bridge up to Newcastle Business Park and beyond. With blue sky joined-up thinking, you could end up with massive landscaping, apartments and terrace housing, an 80,000 stadium, a metro extension, new hospitality and sporting facilities.
I like the sound of that! I do think the amenities would follow any investment and building - though that can't be taken for granted. There is so much scope to develop the railway arches and existing brick butresses to incorporate them into any development that it would be a great benefit to both the economy and environment of the city. The whole of that part of the west end is wasted sapce - including the built on areas such as Rye Hill, Maple Terrace, etc with soulless concrete blocks and tiny houses that don't provide a great living environment or high density living. Previous generations of developers have let this city down badly with poor planning and chasing a quick buck.
No we don't, we've got very good public transport links,we don't want thousands of cars in the city,the vast majority of our supporters live within a reasonable distance of the ground and like a pint or 3 before the match
I wouldn't want to see an increase in cars coming to games either. However, a certain number of vehicles are needed and will come, as well as a section of the fanbase who will always drive and visiting coaches with away fans. We need better provision for those to separate them more from pedestrians rather than what we see now on Barrack Road and surrounding streets.
