SOL expansion

[YES WE GYAN]

Which plans?

It's labelled right at the bottom of these (zoom in on the red text):

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[darius]

No. There wasn't an"issue" if they stuck to the original plans with the "zone". The council changed the plans, reneged on promises and went for 150 more houses.

There are plans mate but it’s all dependent on PL money. If we get relegated then everything basically stops.

I might be in a minority but I have a lot of sympathy towards the council. Finally, after years of stagnation, things are moving and now the club have created an issue which could have easily been sorted behind the scenes.

Sadly it has created an open goal for those thick Reform twats :-(

 

[Hank Scorpio]

No. There wasn't an"issue" if they stuck to the original plans with the "zone". The council changed the plans, reneged on promises and went for 150 more houses.

The dispute is basically over two buildings. At present the council have them as residential use.

I am almost certain a compromise though will be found (and would have always been found).

 

[oddbod]

There are plans mate but it’s all dependent on PL money. If we get relegated then everything basically stops.

I might be in a minority but I have a lot of sympathy towards the council. Finally, after years of stagnation, things are moving and now the club have created an issue which could have easily been sorted behind the scenes.

Sadly it has created an open goal for those thick Reform twats :-.

The council are at fault mate they have changed the plans and introduced around 150 or more homes to the plan some very close to the sol south stand probably at the behest of the developers and to curry favour with the government who are trying to squeeze in more homes to fulfill a national commitment for this parliament.Basically no change no problem! and its deffo not the clubs fault !

 

[small mythos]

Imo mate, Murray probably broke rank a bit when he shouldn’t have. The club have a very good relationship with the council and the matter would have been addressed before planning was granted.

At the end of the day, we are talking about two buildings on a huge regeneration site. Plans for these sort of big developments always change and a compromise would have been found.

I also still believe that the club are pretty keen to see that at least one of the two contentious buildings outside the south stand is set aside for commercial/retail use as they would be keen to lease it.

The sad thing is, if Reform does take the City next May, much of the planned good work will come to an immediate stop. They will be an utter disaster and could easily knock the city back ten years.

Although Bob may have thought he was acting in the clubs best interests, he inadvertently has put an element on our fanbase against a council that is trying to regenerate a City.

I’ve had a read through of the objection, Bob got involved in 2020 when the master plan for the sheepfolds was being sorted. He got involved because the club was in the process of being sold and Donald & Methven weren’t going to get involved in plans that would come about long after they’d moved on.
The master plan stressed that a buffer zone of leisure/ commercial was needed to protect both the club’s future plans and the new residents.
Somewhere along the line the council’s own master plan has been sidelined and an extra 150 flats / houses added to the plan taking out then buffer zones.
According to the objection numerous attempts have been made by the club to get clarification and been fobbed off or ignored.

 

[MadMackem10]

The dispute is basically over two buildings. At present the council have them as residential use.

I am almost certain a compromise though will be found (and would have always been found).

My understanding is this buffer zone meant those two buildings were commercial use only and the council have changed that without consulting the club or am I wrong? If the club do have eyes on leasing one of these buildings you can see why they'd not want the housing.

Like you say compromise will likely be reached. Wouldn't surprise me if council leave it as commercial and the club signs a long term lease on one of the buildings.

 

[Julio Mackemo]

I get the desire to increase commercial revenue through an extension, but the extra seats do still concern me a lot about how soulless it could end up being inside the ground if we don’t kick on or end up yo-yo’ing between the leagues (or worse), as the crowds will likely revert to 40k. To me the extra capacity just isn’t needed at this moment in time. Cup games don’t bear thinking about. I admit to not knowing much about this entire process though so it could all just be ‘in theory for a future point’ at this stage.

Agree to an extent. I think we'd fill 54K every week if we had a decent side but that is probably our max. Thats not to diminish SAFC, not a lot of clubs in the world get that.
We need more commercial space and more seats is an after effect of that.

 

[ErichZann]

In the PL I think we'd sell out 5/6 games a season if we were a mid table team

 

[Mr B]

Just build it. Make the seats bigger, make the concourse bigger and increase the corporate facilities. Make the whole match experience more appealing for everyone.

Whinging about what might happen following a relegation is just holding the club back. Even if relegated, the facilities would be there for the return, same as with every club. Considering what KLD initially paid for the club, he could easily expand the whole ground relatively cheaply and still make a tidy profit if he decided to sell up whilst in the PL. Not saying he would though, as I honestly believe he has ambitious plans for the club.

 

[AndrewP]

In the PL I think we'd sell out 5/6 games a season if we were a mid table team

Presuming the plan is to be at least that then it's probably worth considering on that basis.

Just build it. Make the seats bigger, make the concourse bigger and increase the corporate facilities. Make the whole match experience more appealing for everyone.

If it's likely to generate enough income to pay for itself within a 10-15 year period then it should be seriously considered.

 

[Nedved]

The dispute is basically over two buildings. At present the council have them as residential use.

I am almost certain a compromise though will be found (and would have always been found).

For the price on a few weeks wages for Xhaka could we not just buy that plot and make this issue go away overnight?

(Sorry if I've missed why this is/isn't possible earlier in this thread)

 

[ron]

Imo mate, Murray probably broke rank a bit when he shouldn’t have. The club have a very good relationship with the council and the matter would have been addressed before planning was granted.

At the end of the day, we are talking about two buildings on a huge regeneration site. Plans for these sort of big developments always change and a compromise would have been found.

I also still believe that the club are pretty keen to see that at least one of the two contentious buildings outside the south stand is set aside for commercial/retail use as they would be keen to lease it.

The sad thing is, if Reform does take the City next May, much of the planned good work will come to an immediate stop. They will be an utter disaster and could easily knock the city back ten years.

Although Bob may have thought he was acting in the clubs best interests, he inadvertently has put an element on our fanbase against a council that is trying to regenerate a City.

Why would reform stop regeneration, strange thoughts. More likely if greens or lib dems got in would thing stop.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Why would reform stop regeneration, strange thoughts. More likely if greens or lib dems got in would thing stop.

Reform would be a monumental disaster for the City. They’d stop any regeneration as part of the doge review nonsense and ultimately piss off officers within the council.

It’s genuinely sad that folk will be voting for these grifting twats.

If they are elected, I suspect the club will very quickly distance themselves from the clowns

 

[darius]

The dispute is basically over two buildings. At present the council have them as residential use.

I am almost certain a compromise though will be found (and would have always been found).

Why did they not inform the club privately of the change of use of the land instead of going straight for planning permission? They tried to push it through hoping for nobody to notice?

 

[Mr B]

Just out of interest, does anyone have a rough idea how much it would cost to extend the south stand?

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Why did they not inform the club privately of the change of use of the land instead of going straight for planning permission? They tried to push it through hoping for nobody to notice?

I just can’t believe there hasn’t been dialogue between the club and council mate.

Fwiw, I don’t think either party has handled it well mind.

 

[Weststand]

Why did they not inform the club privately of the change of use of the land instead of going straight for planning permission? They tried to push it through hoping for nobody to notice?

there is a full timeline of correspondence between the council and Bob Murray / the club over the last 18 months on the objection..The council never once said that the development facing the south stand were going to be residential, always as per 2020 masterplan commercial / retail. The council are entirely at fault here by the looks of it

 

[DiscopantsSoL]

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Plans definitely show loads more concourse space and upper levels.

Because its the same depth as the West Stand. Think of Montgomery Suite and Quinns, thats how big it will be.

 

[darius]

I just can’t believe there hasn’t been dialogue between the club and council mate.

Fwiw, I don’t think either party has handled it well mind.

Well it seems that Bob and the club reacted suddenly to the application, so there obviously wasn't an agreement. The chief Executive even saying it wouldn't impact development, when it is obvious to anyone that it does.

 

[Wrenthorpe Mackem]

I’m not whinging. We have established the maximum size ground we can fill.

Let’s fill it

Nothing wrong with keeping option to extend open. However, right now we are fine. Club, I suspect, will want to test consistent demand for a few seasons. They may chip away at some of the concessions.

Well, it was absolutely nowhere near sold out the last time we went down to the championship after 10 years in the Prem - average attendance was less than 28k.

You do remember we finished 24th out of, erm, 24 teams?