rovers2
Bruce Bannister
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 326 
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Post by rovers2 on Aug 26, 2014 14:23:29 GMT
No I'm not talking about UWE. Let's hope it can all be salvaged and I applaud NH if he can do so. Putting aside the conduct in misleading the fans, any of us could be sat with the Sainsburys contract being royally shafted by a FTSE company.
I'm talking about events back around 2006/2007 when Colin Williams vision of a development similar to Leyton Orient, using accommodation blocks to fund Centenary/ South stand development then turning our attention to the rest of the ground, was transformed into a mega sized development for the site with the pitch being moved. By the time that was coming to fruition the drive for student accommodation bubble had burst (sound familiar with large supermarket development?).
That was the big mistake, even if we had transformed just the Centenary and South sides of the stadium, we would have a ground fit for purpose to carry us over any delays in UWE or other developments.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2014 14:28:12 GMT
Where was the money coming from to do this development,did you have developers lined up to pay for the accommodation?
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rovers2
Bruce Bannister
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 326
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Post by rovers2 on Aug 26, 2014 14:37:48 GMT
Where was the money coming from to do this development,did you have developers lined up to pay for the accommodation? Yes student accommodation contracts could have been signed, 1-2 years before the bubble burst. (Either student or general accommodation) there were several interested parties at the time. That was how Orient funded their development , they were about 1 year ahead of our plans. In fact several board members went to Orient to see the development in progress. |
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GasHeadGaz
Vita Astafjevs
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 518
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Post by GasHeadGaz on Aug 26, 2014 14:40:05 GMT
Gloss CCC have done exactly this. Their ground looks very tidy now thanks to the student accommodation built in.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2014 14:43:34 GMT
Gloss CCC have done exactly this. Their ground looks very tidy now thanks to the student accommodation built in. Not student accomodation! They're very expensive flats! |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2014 14:44:01 GMT
Where was the money coming from to do this development,did you have developers lined up to pay for the accommodation? a price hike in Pies/pasties |
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GasHeadGaz
Vita Astafjevs
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 518
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Post by GasHeadGaz on Aug 26, 2014 14:44:57 GMT
Gloss CCC have done exactly this. Their ground looks very tidy now thanks to the student accommodation built in. Not student accomodation! They're very expensive flats! Even better then. They did look very nice on the TV yesterday. |
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Rich
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 78
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Post by Rich on Aug 26, 2014 16:00:32 GMT
Not student accomodation! They're very expensive flats! Even better then. They did look very nice on the TV yesterday. They're very small and very, very expensive, especially for one with a decent view of the playing area. |
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rovers2
Bruce Bannister
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 326
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Post by rovers2 on Aug 26, 2014 16:10:42 GMT
Even better then. They did look very nice on the TV yesterday. They're very small and very, very expensive, especially for one with a decent view of the playing area. Think how much you'd pay to watch our playing area! |
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Post by fatherjackhackett on Aug 26, 2014 16:17:25 GMT
Where was the money coming from to do this development,did you have developers lined up to pay for the accommodation? Yes student accommodation contracts could have been signed, 1-2 years before the bubble burst. (Either student or general accommodation) there were several interested parties at the time. That was how Orient funded their development , they were about 1 year ahead of our plans. In fact several board members went to Orient to see the development in progress. In the last year Bristol Ice Rink was levelled to make way for student accomodation by UNITE, so the demand in the city must still be there. |
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womble
Arthur Cartlidge
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 300
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Post by womble on Aug 26, 2014 18:09:51 GMT
Yes student accommodation contracts could have been signed, 1-2 years before the bubble burst. (Either student or general accommodation) there were several interested parties at the time. That was how Orient funded their development , they were about 1 year ahead of our plans. In fact several board members went to Orient to see the development in progress. In the last year Bristol Ice Rink was levelled to make way for student accomodation by UNITE, so the demand in the city must still be there. There is massive demand for student accommodation in Bristol. At the moment the old magistrates courts are being redeveloped for student accommodation. Colston House and Froomsgate House in the centre are being converted and another scheme on the Bridewell police station site has permission. These are only some of the bigger ones, there are plenty of smaller schemes.
Ironically the Mem redevelopment we had permission for, which fell through when the student accommodation provider withdrew, would probably be a nailed on certainty right now.
We seem to have got poor timing/bad luck to the level of an art form.
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Post by thecyclist on Aug 26, 2014 20:53:22 GMT
No I'm not talking about UWE. Let's hope it can all be salvaged and I applaud NH if he can do so. Putting aside the conduct in misleading the fans, any of us could be sat with the Sainsburys contract being royally shafted by a FTSE company. I'm talking about events back around 2006/2007 when Colin Williams vision of a development similar to Leyton Orient, using accommodation blocks to fund Centenary/ South stand development then turning our attention to the rest of the ground, was transformed into a mega sized development for the site with the pitch being moved. By the time that was coming to fruition the drive for student accommodation bubble had burst (sound familiar with large supermarket development?). That was the big mistake, even if we had transformed just the Centenary and South sides of the stadium, we would have a ground fit for purpose to carry us over any delays in UWE or other developments. I'm not so sure, a way of funding redevelopment had to be found. The failed North Stand project faltered because whilst planning permission was granted there was no money to pay for it. Was this not the catalyst for Colin's big idea? With the split in the boardroom and the relatively quick departure of Geoff Dunford it looks as though the running of the club became very centralised. After Ron Craig's brief reign Higgs took control and it appears the UWE idea was born even though we were being told that the New Mem was progressing. The point is when Colin's idea was born there were plenty of people there able to deliver a project of that nature whilst some would have been able to concentrate on the footballing side. A more flexible approach might have been possible rather than sticking to a rigid dogma that seems to read "build and we will be saved", it is now apparent that there is no plan B and that is very sad. We are beginning to also see why any offers of investment might have been rejected because there clearly was one massive skeleton rattling around in the cupboard. The huge problem now is that is becoming apparent that too few people have been doing far too much. When you read the Sainsburys writ you begin to realise why there wasn't more concentration on what was happening on the pitch. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 26, 2014 21:00:03 GMT
So if we'd turned the clock back a year or two are posters seriously suggesting they'd have gone for a re-developed Mem over a brand new UWE stadium?
As the other poster suggested NH seems to have terrible bad luck/poor timing.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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Post by thecyclist on Aug 26, 2014 21:09:51 GMT
So if we'd turned the clock back a year or two are posters seriously suggesting they'd have gone for a re-developed Mem over a brand new UWE stadium? As the other poster suggested NH seems to have terrible bad luck/poor timing. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk No I'm not saying that, but I think that there might have been an element of the 'new' board of 2006/07 looking for a project of their own to deliver rather than the Williams Plan. South Gloucestershire Council had a new stadium in their then local plan (partly driven by the efforts of Rovers supporters) so it wasn't a great leap of faith to see them receptive to the UWE idea. It doesn't look as though it matters now does it? |
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Post by axbridgetec on Aug 26, 2014 21:28:00 GMT
So if we'd turned the clock back a year or two are posters seriously suggesting they'd have gone for a re-developed Mem over a brand new UWE stadium? As the other poster suggested NH seems to have terrible bad luck/poor timing. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk No I'm not saying that, but I think that there might have been an element of the 'new' board of 2006/07 looking for a project of their own to deliver rather than the Williams Plan. South Gloucestershire Council had a new stadium in their then local plan (partly driven by the efforts of Rovers supporters) so it wasn't a great leap of faith to see them receptive to the UWE idea. It doesn't look as though it matters now does it? Absolutely right. In my opinion the board has 3 critical failings which have led the team to where it resides in the league, the stadium to this sorry mess and the club into the absolute doldrums. Its not bad luck or poor timing, its repetitive incompetence. Clever leaders learn to recognise their weaknesses and build a team around them who can fill the gaps - s**t leaders bury their heads in the sand and become massively isolated. 1) No sense of the reality of where they are. Going back to our first relegation they should have realised that the club had problems in the footballing supply chain (the very revenue which had kept the club going) instead they annexed the scouting and reserve team systems and started talking up mega-stadiums. 2) Inability to reflect fulsomely on their own failures. 3) A victim mentality - it is always someone else's fault. |
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Post by mancgas has left the building on Aug 27, 2014 13:03:53 GMT
No I'm not talking about UWE. Let's hope it can all be salvaged and I applaud NH if he can do so. Putting aside the conduct in misleading the fans, any of us could be sat with the Sainsburys contract being royally shafted by a FTSE company. I'm talking about events back around 2006/2007 when Colin Williams vision of a development similar to Leyton Orient, using accommodation blocks to fund Centenary/ South stand development then turning our attention to the rest of the ground, was transformed into a mega sized development for the site with the pitch being moved. By the time that was coming to fruition the drive for student accommodation bubble had burst (sound familiar with large supermarket development?). That was the big mistake, even if we had transformed just the Centenary and South sides of the stadium, we would have a ground fit for purpose to carry us over any delays in UWE or other developments. really - I cant believe it when people put facts in way of a perfectly good argument. |
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LJG
Peter Beadle
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 969
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Post by LJG on Aug 27, 2014 13:19:54 GMT
No I'm not saying that, but I think that there might have been an element of the 'new' board of 2006/07 looking for a project of their own to deliver rather than the Williams Plan. South Gloucestershire Council had a new stadium in their then local plan (partly driven by the efforts of Rovers supporters) so it wasn't a great leap of faith to see them receptive to the UWE idea. It doesn't look as though it matters now does it? Absolutely right. In my opinion the board has 3 critical failings which have led the team to where it resides in the league, the stadium to this sorry mess and the club into the absolute doldrums. Its not bad luck or poor timing, its repetitive incompetence. Clever leaders learn to recognise their weaknesses and build a team around them who can fill the gaps - s*** leaders bury their heads in the sand and become massively isolated. 1) No sense of the reality of where they are. Going back to our first relegation they should have realised that the club had problems in the footballing supply chain (the very revenue which had kept the club going) instead they annexed the scouting and reserve team systems and started talking up mega-stadiums. 2) Inability to reflect fulsomely on their own failures. 3) A victim mentality - it is always someone else's fault. This, in my opinion, is the beating heart of our downfall. |
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Post by hunsworthhound on Aug 28, 2014 16:46:22 GMT
Really feel sorry for you guys once again a football club is shafted by developers and people with big ideas. 14 years ago we had a chairman who had big ideas a new 3000 seater stand new terraces at both ends.
Unfortunately our development was dependent on our local rugby league club selling their ground to ASDA and tipping up the money they received towards the ground redevelopment. They sold their ground alright but instead of contributing to the ground spent all the money on a vain attempt to stay in that joke of a competion called Superleague. The result was we ended up for ten years with a steel frame down side of the ground with no income from anything apart from gates, debts to service for the money we had borrowed to fund our share of the ground development.
End result club struggled on for about six years then went bankrupt.
The club you play on Saturday rose frm the ashes. We now have a stadium to be proud as the coucil finshed the buildind work. Unfortunately the rugby club who shafted us still there refusing to pay rent as they think we get a better deal from the council.
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harrybuckle
Always look on the bright side
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 5,430
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Post by harrybuckle on Aug 28, 2014 17:42:00 GMT
Bloody students ,,,what are they good for ..high rents ...we don't want them at the Mem ...too much trouble ..we want a good shopping centre experience that's what Bristol folk love ..trolleys, credit cards, free parking ..whats not to like ...sale the site to other retailers if JHS pull the plug
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