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Post by BelieveItWhenIAmSatInIt on Aug 10, 2017 9:38:43 GMT
The car park alongside the Mem is a decent size, but it's nowhere near big enough so why not use the space th increase the footprint of the new stadium? Someone posted elsewhere that AG is slightly larger in area than the Mem. I would have thought that with the car park included the Mem site would be a good bit bigger. If the Sh1t got a 26k stadium on their land, I see no reason why we can't at least match that. Dwain Sports would have to re-locate us for a couple of years and move an awful lot of soil, but the beauty of that is is a good part of the stadium could be below ground level, and with integrity of design it would be a much neater construction than that abortion south of the river. Parking around there is a pain, but Railtrack are looking at opening Ashley Down station and surely the bus company and coach operators wouldn't be averse to making some money on match days laying on services to the ground. No, even with our car park their land is bigger than ours. Ashton gate is approx 37,500 sm2 and the Mem is 32,000.... Really not much in it though and plenty of space to be able to do something similar I am sure!
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Post by oldgas on Aug 10, 2017 9:39:09 GMT
We have approx 32,000 SM2 of space at the Mem, it is plenty is used correctly. For a start I would be looking at moving the pitch so the 'blackthorn stand' would now rest in the carpark and the south stand would now rest where the west stand currently lies. With regards to parking, I am not sure there is any obligation on the club to provide parking on match days is there? It is of course a good thing to do, but is it required of us? I can't help but be reminded of Coventry away last season with all this talk of parking.... Huge out of town stadium with plenty of space around it and yet still no free parking anywhere near the bloody place! We had to pay a tenner to park 2 miles up the road and be bused in... Far from ideal! Also, does anyone know what the match day parking situation down at our friends in south Bristol? They too have recently completed an inner city stadium redevelopment that as far as I can tell uses all of the land they have available to them, so what do they do for parking? For me there is absolutely no reason why a forward thinking architect could not design a very impressive 25,000 seater stadium on our existing land that would also cater for executive areas and other revenue streams that all modern day stadiums should have (gym, club shop, large bar / restaurant etc). If we are looking for an example of an excellent inner city stadium redevelopment then we would be stupid to ignore the one down the road.. I know it stings the eyes to look south of the river! But fact is they have built a very impressive stadium on land of a very similar size to ours. Of course all of the above will mean two things will absolutely have to happen... 1) Wael and the board will need to prove their loyalties to this club in terms of finances as to rebuild the mem will not be cheap. 2) We will need to move out. This will simply be unavoidable for a complete stadium rebuild as we of course require. Cheltenham was agreed and all set to go last time we were looking at redeveloping them mem, so why not again? Would only be for a season or two so in the grand scheme of things really not that big an inconvenience. Agree with all of this. I would suggest a share with (spit) Swindon would be a better idea. A larger ground and, I think, easier to get to.
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Aug 10, 2017 9:40:57 GMT
Regenerate - Bring new and more vigorous life to (an area, industry, institution, etc.); revive, especially in economic terms. ‘the money will be used to regenerate the heart of the town’ Redevelop - 1.1 Construct new buildings in (an urban area), typically after demolishing the existing buildings. ‘plans to redevelop London's docklands’ Agree that using the term regenerate leaves lots of wiggle room when we see a roof being put up over the east terrace! Interesting, he does say regenerate, but then he mentions a project team that has built 12 stadiums, implying a rebuild.
Ah, who knows.
I think he said regenerate coz he want to emphasize the idea that it would have a positive effect on the area and community, so that all the NIMBY homeowners nearby won't be scared into reaction. Other stadium developments have helped regenerate the local area, so he wanted to use that angle. Of course, Horfield is about as generated as you can get, so he might be barking up the wrong tree on that one.
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Post by oldgas on Aug 10, 2017 9:41:00 GMT
The car park alongside the Mem is a decent size, but it's nowhere near big enough so why not use the space th increase the footprint of the new stadium? Someone posted elsewhere that AG is slightly larger in area than the Mem. I would have thought that with the car park included the Mem site would be a good bit bigger. If the Sh1t got a 26k stadium on their land, I see no reason why we can't at least match that. Dwain Sports would have to re-locate us for a couple of years and move an awful lot of soil, but the beauty of that is is a good part of the stadium could be below ground level, and with integrity of design it would be a much neater construction than that abortion south of the river. Parking around there is a pain, but Railtrack are looking at opening Ashley Down station and surely the bus company and coach operators wouldn't be averse to making some money on match days laying on services to the ground. Old school scooters for everyone please! 1950s Vespa please. That is a 1960's Lambretta, but I like your thinking!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 9:41:11 GMT
The idea of sinking the pitch is a good one IMO. If we also implement a steeper continental-style seating elevation would create a cracking atmosphere too. we would have to move out though while this was happening... Cheltenham here we come lol Isn't there a water table under the Mem hence the drainage problems we have had? Don't feel this a particularly bad idea. UWE was being built atop of the old Harry Stoke Colliery and the pitch was planned to be set 7m (23 feet) below ground level - all about environmental issues etc. Not an insurmountable problem IMO but obviously much more costly.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 9:50:45 GMT
Would it be too much to ask if this goes ahead that the Board appoint a new, young(ish), dynamic, visionary, interactive, communicative Chairnan with a business brain, who the fans can relate to - who (hopefully) won't be restrained by Confidentiality Agreements et al.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 9:51:47 GMT
We could utilise the waste ground at muller road Ford and the bus station next door for parking and perhaps rent land off the A38 by the runway for future parking , either that or build the new stadium in the middle of the runway 😉
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 9:54:37 GMT
Could a loftus road type stadium be suitable. Went there a few years ago for a top flight game and found the build upwards rather than back made for quite a close to pitch experience. Regarding transport. I did mention on another thread about potential of train station by the old B&Q on muller road. Just been browsing online and residents have been calling for reopening of Ashley Hill station as recently as May 16. I'm useless with links so if you search 'Residents want more local railway stations in Bishopston & Horfield' for a read. Club offer to help & that'll help butter up the NIMBYs www.bishopstonvoice.co.uk/residents-want-more-local-railway-stations-in-bishopston-and-horfield.htmlBe interesting to see how they manage to present 'we want our station but we don't want football fans using it.' Unlike in the past Rovers and the fans REALLY need to get out of this negative attitude to people who have concerns about a stadium. Everybody needs to look at how many positive things a new stadium will bring ,to get locals onboard and see how it will benefit them. Wael did hint at this in his interview. The Ashley hill station would be a great starting point. The fact it will get good matchday use will make the platform more financially viable and so more likely to happen. Train users will then counter some of the increased capacities expected traffic and parking increases.
A partnership between BRFC and fans and the cricket club and the college and local residents and those who want to make environmental improvements should be a goal to start as soon as possible. This project is do-able and will make positive connections.
EDIT:UPDATE.
On actually doing some minor research it appears the Ashley hill station is not able to be used as the upgrade of the tracks to FOUR lines from Two means the space has been used up at that site. HOWEVER. BCC were looking at having a station somewhere between Ashley hill station and Abbey wood. The ideal site would be the land off dovercourt road which has at times been used by the council I believe..large area..easily spotted on google earth. This site would actually be closer walking distance to the Mem. Especially if a signed walkway was put in place.
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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 10, 2017 10:05:58 GMT
We could utilise the waste ground at muller road Ford and the bus station next door for parking and perhaps rent land off the A38 by the runway for future parking , either that or build the new stadium in the middle of the runway 😉 For the life of me I can't understand if the UWE are holding us to ransom why we can't now buy a big enough plot of land on the old airport to build a stadium, as would would have thought it would be easier to get pp there than the Mem plus it's got good road transport links. Cost will probably be the issue but we're not going to redevelop the Mem cheaply if done properly.
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Post by faggotygas on Aug 10, 2017 10:26:07 GMT
Interesting, he does say regenerate, but then he mentions a project team that has built 12 stadiums, implying a rebuild.
Ah, who knows.
I think he said regenerate coz he want to emphasize the idea that it would have a positive effect on the area and community, so that all the NIMBY homeowners nearby won't be scared into reaction. Other stadium developments have helped regenerate the local area, so he wanted to use that angle. Of course, Horfield is about as generated as you can get, so he might be barking up the wrong tree on that one. Hopefully you are right.
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Post by seanclevedongas on Aug 10, 2017 10:27:14 GMT
We could utilise the waste ground at muller road Ford and the bus station next door for parking and perhaps rent land off the A38 by the runway for future parking , either that or build the new stadium in the middle of the runway 😉 For the life of me I can't understand if the UWE are holding us to ransom why we can't now buy a big enough plot of land on the old airport to build a stadium, as would would have thought it would be easier to get pp there than the Mem plus it's got good road transport links. Cost will probably be the issue but we're not going to redevelop the Mem cheaply if done properly. Would love the stadium to be built there as I now live in Charlton Hayes and could walk to games. nice seat in the 'Concorde' stand
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Post by gashead987 on Aug 10, 2017 10:28:52 GMT
It's good to see a bit of positivity returning, and the longer I think about it, the better the option of a redeveloped Mem sounds!
There will of course be planning hurdles to overcome, but permission was granted previously, and parking will be an issue, but as others have observed, other clubs cope so I'm sure that we can. Yes its nice to turn up and park outside the ground, but to me, part of the matchday experience is the battle with parking your car, not turning up last minute and parking on the doorstep at a "plastic" ground with little or no atmosphere.
We will remain in the midst of our traditional fan-base, not at an "out of town" site, where its great to see supporters approaching the ground from all streets and angles.
I live in Oxford, and know only too well how all the Oxford fans now feel about the Kassam Stadium. All seemed great when it was being built, a bright shiny stadium, but even aside from the fact its only got 3 sides, it is now perceived locally as a soulless arena, beset with its own parking issues (even though they have parking), and Oxford don't own it! A major issue for them is that not all matchday revenue streams stay with the club, nor any conferencing type money generated, and they do have pretty decent facilities. This commercial side is probably the main issue that their fans want away, because if it were their stadium they could redevelop it as they see fit.
If Wael couldn't agree the commercial side of things with UWE, I think he was absolutely right to walk away from the UWE deal, as we would never be in control of our own destiny, we would simply have use of a nice shiny stadium (albeit we have some financial interest in it).
I would much rather watch games in a 3/4 full stadium of a smaller capacity, than in a half full large stadium, and if we were to reach the promised land of prem football, and our fan base significantly increase over time, then re-locate at that time. If Bournemouth can cope in the prem for a few years with a 12k capacity, and in the championship before then, I'm sure we could with 18/20k.
Let's get fully behind this plan, and dare I say thank WAQ for walking away from the UWE!
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Post by stevek192 on Aug 10, 2017 10:43:42 GMT
It seems a shame that a new site has been completely thrown out of the equation and to me seems almost a "quick reaction to a situation" or a "shut em up policy" following the discontent of the UWE situation. I still cannot believe that the club have "pulled the plug on UWE" before there has been ANY external pressure put on the UWE by Press,television and the Council to make it happen. I find the hiding under the Confidentiality shield to be very suspicious if the UWE is dead in the water. What can either party lose by disclosing in full what their offers were? I personally feel that Wael or rather Dwayne Sports and the UWE have got away very lightly with the questioning of the decision. For such a big concern which already has planning permission the way we have gone about this seems astonishing,to say the least or are Dwayne Sports just giving themselves time?
After events over the last 40 odd years I will never trust anybody again or believe anybody again until I am sat in a new stadium or regenerated stadium (whatever that means). That is nothing against Wael but at this present time Stadium wise we are no better off than under Higgs, Dunfords, Bradshaw-Flook,Con Stevens and probably worst off than when the Mem was bought by us under Dunfords as we now could have more debt set against it.
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Post by brfclee on Aug 10, 2017 10:58:21 GMT
For me the issue with parking is a valid one. If there was a park & ride, or other easily accessible mode of transport from areas a bit further out without having to take 2 or 3 busses it could tempt more people in on matchday. I'm not the only fan I know that finds the traffic situation off-putting. agree with you only problem first group would probably run it who let's be honest could not organise water up in brewery!!! I cannot actually believe I am going to say this but I will... Before First Bus won the contract for the park and rides around Bristol back in September last year, I thought that the company running the service (CTPlus) were doing a good job and used it daily, with only a minimal problems now and again and often outside of the bus companies control. However since First Bus have taken over, I think the service has improved, the buses run on time are every 10 minutes during peak period, leave the park and ride on time etc. I cannot really think of anything to complain about...Prices are slightly more expensive (but not excessive), however tickets are easier to buy and load times are generally a lot quicker. I only wish the same could be said for the normal first bus service into town I use from time to time.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 11:10:36 GMT
For the life of me I can't understand if the UWE are holding us to ransom why we can't now buy a big enough plot of land on the old airport to build a stadium, as would would have thought it would be easier to get pp there than the Mem plus it's got good road transport links. Cost will probably be the issue but we're not going to redevelop the Mem cheaply if done properly. Would love the stadium to be built there as I now live in Charlton Hayes and could walk to games. nice seat in the 'Concorde' stand The site already has outline planning permission for hundreds of residential homes and business units - can't see that being changed anytime soon to accomodate a football stadium. A total non starter IMO. Look up Filton Aerodrome Development Plan - Alder King.
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Post by Iliveinbidefordgas on Aug 10, 2017 11:15:38 GMT
agree with you only problem first group would probably run it who let's be honest could not organise water up in brewery!!! I cannot actually believe I am going to say this but I will... Before First Bus won the contract for the park and rides around Bristol back in September last year, I thought that the company running the service (CTPlus) were doing a good job and used it daily, with only a minimal problems now and again and often outside of the bus companies control. However since First Bus have taken over, I think the service has improved, the buses run on time are every 10 minutes during peak period, leave the park and ride on time etc. I cannot really think of anything to complain about...Prices are slightly more expensive (but not excessive), however tickets are easier to buy and load times are generally a lot quicker. I only wish the same could be said for the normal first bus service into town I use from time to time. only really having little dig! I work for stagecoach in n devon who pushed first out lol!!!
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Post by trojandog on Aug 10, 2017 11:16:42 GMT
The only stadium where I've managed to park on-site is Oxford, and it took me an nour to get out after the match. At 90% of clubs, on-site parking is for players, officials, directors, sponsors etc.
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Post by toddy1953 on Aug 10, 2017 11:27:25 GMT
Unlike in the past Rovers and the fans REALLY need to get out of this negative attitude to people who have concerns about a stadium. Everybody needs to look at how many positive things a new stadium will bring ,to get locals onboard and see how it will benefit them. Wael did hint at this in his interview. The Ashley hill station would be a great starting point. The fact it will get good matchday use will make the platform more financially viable and so more likely to happen. Train users will then counter some of the increased capacities expected traffic and parking increases.
A partnership between BRFC and fans and the cricket club and the college and local residents and those who want to make environmental improvements should be a goal to start as soon as possible. This project is do-able and will make positive connections.
EDIT:UPDATE.
On actually doing some minor research it appears the Ashley hill station is not able to be used as the upgrade of the tracks to FOUR lines from Two means the space has been used up at that site. HOWEVER. BCC were looking at having a station somewhere between Ashley hill station and Abbey wood. The ideal site would be the land off dovercourt road which has at times been used by the council I believe..large area..easily spotted on google earth. This site would actually be closer walking distance to the Mem. Especially if a signed walkway was put in place.
Nice thought but gave you seen the costs to reopen portishead? Don't think anything will happen with new rail links in the area for 10 years plus
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Post by Henbury Gas on Aug 10, 2017 11:32:29 GMT
We could utilise the waste ground at muller road Ford and the bus station next door for parking and perhaps rent land off the A38 by the runway for future parking , either that or build the new stadium in the middle of the runway 😉 For the life of me I can't understand if the UWE are holding us to ransom why we can't now buy a big enough plot of land on the old airport to build a stadium, as would would have thought it would be easier to get pp there than the Mem plus it's got good road transport links. Cost will probably be the issue but we're not going to redevelop the Mem cheaply if done properly. Most of that land has been sold to housing developers
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Post by Henbury Gas on Aug 10, 2017 11:34:04 GMT
Unlike in the past Rovers and the fans REALLY need to get out of this negative attitude to people who have concerns about a stadium. Everybody needs to look at how many positive things a new stadium will bring ,to get locals onboard and see how it will benefit them. Wael did hint at this in his interview. The Ashley hill station would be a great starting point. The fact it will get good matchday use will make the platform more financially viable and so more likely to happen. Train users will then counter some of the increased capacities expected traffic and parking increases.
A partnership between BRFC and fans and the cricket club and the college and local residents and those who want to make environmental improvements should be a goal to start as soon as possible. This project is do-able and will make positive connections.
EDIT:UPDATE.
On actually doing some minor research it appears the Ashley hill station is not able to be used as the upgrade of the tracks to FOUR lines from Two means the space has been used up at that site. HOWEVER. BCC were looking at having a station somewhere between Ashley hill station and Abbey wood. The ideal site would be the land off dovercourt road which has at times been used by the council I believe..large area..easily spotted on google earth. This site would actually be closer walking distance to the Mem. Especially if a signed walkway was put in place.
Nice thought but gave you seen the costs to reopen portishead? Don't think anything will happen with new rail links in the area for 10 years plus Work on Henbury Station rebuild is due to start late 2018/2019, When the Filton Junction upgrade is completed
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