Thetownend.com

why?

ok they've not been helpful but would you chuck a 25m plot of land at a business which has been a financial black hole for years?

nor is it there responsibility to provide the club with alternatives, it's their responsibilty to run the local area, not the football club

the buck stops with the board on this one i'm afraid

It may be their responsibility soon.  The South West Regional Assembly has included the development of the stadium as a key goal in regeneration of Swindon and the Region.

It's not their job to help STFC the business but it is their job to provide excellent leisure and recreational facilities for the wider community.  STFC can being grant funding to the table because they are a football club.  The Council has included improving sports in Swindon as one of it's 50 pledges.

therefore I say it's an ideal opportunity for the Council to show some vision and create a Community Stadium which includes more than just the football club.

Many other Councils have seen this to be a key driver in urban regeneration or in bringing in new investment.

You are right that the club should not expect to be handed the land, but their is nothig to stop the council using the land sale themselves to be the owner of this project.  The Club have already said they don't want ground ownership, so the Council end up with a flagship leisure and educational facility with a football league club as the key tenant.

The council is notorious for not getting things done. I think this is the final nail in the coffin. Yes I can understand the council's decision and I don't think the Brady thing helped an awful lot. But it's the incompetence of both parties (the board and the council) that has got us where we are today.

I still think even if it was the best plan ever and all the money was there SBC would still stall over the plans  :-))(

I think SBC have greatly underestimated the value of such facilities. They would probably prefer it if Ikea built a store on the county ground site rather than make top class sports (and other) facilities for the community.

maybe they are not doing anything wrong by not giving us land for free (essentially) but they have been guilty of fucking us around in the past. Telling us build at shaw tip. Ok, so we spend shed loads of money researching and planning fto build there only for them to say, oh actually no you cant.

a big  :fu: to SBC!!!

Agree with that Sipie.

What despises me is that they want help or support the club. It has helped other town councils, creating extra facilities and revenue. I don't think its the boards fault. At least they're trying to find new ideas and locations, and exploring other avenues. If it were their fault would they even consider out of town relocation? I think not.

Reading, Wigan, Swansea, Hull.....

That is all

"Councils aim to improve the quality of life for their residents through a range of cultural and sporting activities. Considerable sums of money are now being invested into large-scale cultural projects with the aim of improving a wide range of issues from health, education, and transport through to crime and community cohesion. Councils need to identify indicators and measures by which they can evaluate the impacts of the funding they make available to their culture services and specific cultural projects"

According to the Audit Commission - Councils have a target to improve the range of sporting activities for residents - this includes STFC

id like to see how many of them "50 pledges" will be fullfilled by SBC in 2010. i think somewhere between 0-10

Im starting a hunger protest.