I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed by this meeting, which was run by Mark Donnelly, the Chief Operations Officer for this project, as I had rather naively thought that we would be further down the road than we actually are. As we are all very well aware, Car Giant are currently the biggest obstacle to this development. They own roughly half of the land earmarked for this project and would appear to have no desire to sell their land and have currently pulled out of any talks. Although QPR havenât dismissed the chances of reaching an agreement with them, they are aware that Car Giant are developing their own plans for the area. Network Rail own a significant tract of the remaining land in the area, an exclusive agreement has successfully been negotiated with them; if any details of the duration of this agreement were revealed I missed them. Ongoing discussion with other businesses in the area, such as European Metal Recycling (EMR), are also bearing fruit, although there is waste recycling plant that, due to government legislation, will have to be relocated within the borough. Discussions regarding improvements with the various transport bodies are advanced, these, of course, will be a requirement for whatever redevelopment is made in the area. Regardless of any difficulties, the clubâs shareholders regard this as an incredible opportunity and are determined to push it through, the scope is shown on their new website: http://www.new-queens-park.co.uk/. Apart from two residential areas, there is a large emphasis on leisure activities, typically restaurants, bars, a bowling alley and cinema. The plans are not dependant on hs2 and would not be derailed by relegation, although a prolonged absence from the Premier League would make finding investors far more difficult. The GLA (Greater London Assembly) plan for developing Old Oak only contains a sports stadium as an option, it is not a cornerstone of their vision and so will not be offering any public support to QPR at the present, which brings us to the real reason for the meeting. Donnelly explained that a large ground swell of public opinion backing the project will be a significant, possibly decisive, factor in getting the GLA and any local and national politicians onside, and something that Car Giant will struggle to match, although he did also stress that they are determined to reach an amicable agreement with Car Giant and will continue to scour for an alternative location for them. The public consultation that the club have just launched allowing all parties to view and discuss the idea is one indicator of the publicâs wishes. Around 55,000 leaflets are being distributed to local homes and business, those of us outside the area can complete a short questionnaire on the website mentioned above. They hope for a very positive feedback from this questionnaire and would appreciate as many people as possible completing it. They were very impressed with the number of people (over 8,000) who replied to the initial questionnaire on the new stadium and hope for the same response again. The next phase will be the submission of a planning application which currently is expected in April next year; this is not dependent on any deal with Car Giant being reached. Donnelly also stressed that there are no definite timescales applied to any part of this project, and emphasised that planning can taking a very long time. At this stage there is no plan B. This can be looked at in at least two ways. While there is no dilution of effort in bolstering a secondary option, should this fail we are very much back to square one. I think this is a fair reflection of the discussions, although my notes were pretty patchy in places.
Interesting stuff Roller. I'm not sure where the consistent optimism of the board comes from at this stage (I think they might just be upbeat kinda guys). Thanks for the summary - the few minutes long, concise version is probably at my level and much preferable to the extended meeting. You show, as you do on here, that you have the patience of a saint!
Thanks for the summary, Roller. Looks like our owners will have to make the project look so appealing and desirable for the local area and populace, that the relevant authorities give it their full support, and in this light, Car Giant's position is seen to be holding back progress
Thanks for attending and for the concise and clear summary Roller. Much appreciated. With the noises from Car Giant and the current neutrality of the GLA as to whether or not to include a stadium as a requirement of the redevelopment, I can easily see this whole plan going t*ts up. For that reason I'd greatly encourage anybody who like myself believes that this move is absolutely vital for the future of the club to fill out the one minute questionnaire on the http://www.new-queens-park.co.uk/ website. If they get a decent response it could make a real difference to the GLA's position, and get them onside with including a stadium as a requirement of the redevelopment. In all honestly this is probably our last best chance to relocate to a larger stadium in the area. If it does go t*ts up then I can't see any long term future for us in the premier league, and I can't see our owners being interested in hanging around a small-ish club with a League One stadium and no ambition to grow. Why would they?
Thanks for the update Roller. If it helps the cause of getting the development approved, we should do what we can as fans to help. Car Giant are the biggest obstacle and despite their being avid QPR supporters they seen hell bent on financial greed overriding the good of the club. They already have a huge presence on the site and I am sure that something similar could be located within the complex but if they want to expand their operations, then whilst I understand, it shows the value of commercial estate, even if it is just open land on which to stack cars.
I'm afraid the Car Giant CEO is two faced here. Claims to be boyhood QPR fan yet being obstructive. He not being asked for a donation. He will be paid well. How much is enough?!
Got a feeling this is going to drag on for years and end up like Warren Farm take two with court and appeals and more court! Meanwhile we are stuck with a stadium that although has a great atmosphere, is completely unfit for purpose, we need to come up with a plan B now so that if this becomes a no go we can move on quicker. I'd be surprised if Old Oak goes ahead that we would be playing there by the 2019-20 season! I'm just hoping that they allow standing back into the grounds, it might at least increase the capacity.
I don't agree with this at all. I don't think he is claiming to be one - he is one - a ST holder and supporter since 1977. I think if you read his comments it comes across as a lot more than posturing (which is what I initially felt it was). It seems like he feels a bit wounded at the lack of any reasonable dialogue and a market value offer from QPR. He is MD of Cargiant who had sales of over 300m and profits of over 17m last year. He has to do what is right by that company in his position. I actually thought he was trying to be restrained in what he said. I think QPR need to do a lot more to work on that relationship as they probably have deep pockets themselves to fund their own application.
I agree with this. He is a QPR supporter and Car Giant has supported QPR in darker days. However he would be negligent in his duties if he did not act responsibly for the company's stakeholders, including the employees. We just have to hope that there is a sensible compromise somewhere that will leave both parties satisfied. At this moment a new stadium seems like a million miles away.
I agree in part but its hard to believe that our owners would be as cavalier about negotiations if the stadium plan is as important to them as they say. At the end of the day in London a straightforward housing project will always likely to be more valuable in cash terms than a stadium so if the authorities can't act to help negotiate a realistic price for the land then there is little chance of this becoming a reality.
A shame, because I believe Mark Donnelly is in charge of that too. We can't upgrade our youth academy from Category 2 to Category 1 without it (so they said). This stadium sounds like pie in the sky to me. I'd still encourage everyone to complete there survey here though, just to give it the best possible chance: http://www.new-queens-park.co.uk/
Much as I love Loftus Road, it's obviously not suitable any more, so the team has to move somewhere else. Staying close to home would be wonderful, so let's keep our fingers crossed. We can't blame the MD of Car Giant for wanting to maximise the value of their land if they are going to have to find somewhere else to trade from. Just because he is a ST holder on a personal level, he is legally obliged to do the best he can for Car Giant shareholders. C'mon, we all know the first stage in selling something of value to someone else in a limited supply market is to pretend you don't want to so you can see how much the buyer really wants to buy and how much they might pay. One word of caution when you're showing your support for land development schemes that include a stadium for football where Rangers might play... Saying the development is being backed/initiated by the majority shareholders of QPR doesn't mean that QPR will be the owners of the site, the project or even just the stadium. Forming a new company to build the stadium and then renting it to QPR would not be an unlikely outcome - even though the owners of both companies would be the same people (for now). It's even possible that some shareholders see the long term value in associating themselves with QPR as a lever to make it easier to achieve their longer term goal of developing the new site. This is much bigger than just a new ground for little old Rangers.... N
i think we have to be realistic. Car Giant own the land and they want the proper market value to **** off elsewhere. That's just plain sensible business. He's not going to mug off his company, livelihood, shareholders, staff etc because QPR want a decent stadium. Nobody would do that, boyhood QPR fan or not. I want them to go elsewhere but we're going to have to pay the requisite spondulicks for that to happen. Thats fair enough in my book. Having said that I can't believe they cant find a site round there to house a few hundred second hand motors. Fingers crossed anyway.
spot on in my book Croydon. Rangers want to make sure they dont burn any bridges here - although i cant believe people with negotiating skills like Fernandes et al aren't acutely aware of that already.
Thanks for the update Roller. I do think this overall development will go ahead. If needs be I can see compulsory purchase orders going through as the wider project is backed by all the local councils and the mayor. However, the question that has already been raised is whether a stadium is part of it. We hope that it is are there are not really any other options that allow us to stay in the local area.
The problem with compulsory purchase orders is that those against - especially those with money and legal clout - can tie everything up in the courts for years.
