Ground Redevelopment Or Never? And Left Behind!

[Talk Talk]

Why can't the council just sign over the land the CG stands on to the club

Because it is illegal and the councillor concerned who did it would be personally liable for the value of the council asset involved.

[kerry red]

Well give the club a mega long lease then - 200 years - and allow someone to finance it and make some mullah at the same time.

No different to buying a house with a long lease

[Talk Talk]

make some mullah at the same time

You have a plan to breed Muslim babies?

[Reg Smeeton]

You have a plan to breed Muslim babies?

One of my ideas is to build a mosque into one of corners of the CG...maybe then a mullah would put in some moolah.

[kerry red]

Ah, thanks Reg.

Now I get it. Should have gone with wonga or spondoolicks

[Tails]

I think we should try and build at Shaw Tip again

[pauld]

Why can't the council just sign over the land the CG stands on to the club - obviously with a clause stating it had to remain a football ground - and let an individual or whatever finance the refurb or build a new stadium with the wider community in mind

Hi Mr Diamandis, where have you been for the past few years?

[pauld]

Well give the club a mega long lease then - 200 years

They've repeatedly offered to do just that or sell the land outright if someone can come up with a viable (and legal) scheme. It's that latter bit that's so far been lacking.

[Talk Talk]

I think we should try and build at Shaw Tip again

Fantastic idea! I would love to go through that experience again  

[Talk Talk]

It's that latter bit that's so far been lacking.

Absolutely. The council would love to bump up their asset bank balance if someone made a reasonable market value offer for the land (imagines the sound of an arm being ripped off).

[horlock07]

Couldn't decide where to put this, but thought the story was of some interest as issues of Powers intentions appear to be surfacing once again.

I suspect that this is the model that anyone wanting to redevelop the ground would be seeking to follow....

http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/sport/football/morecambe-fc/morecambe-fc-chairman-puts-club-up-for-sale-1-7781323

This shows that it can be done, however in Morecambe case however they sold their old ground to Sainsburys and used the cash to purchase and move to a clear site just down the road which has given the development opportunities surrounding the ground which would in turn cross finance the club going forward.

I just don't think that there is the space at the CG to do something similar (ignoring for a minute that the club don't own the ground), and land values are so high around Swindon buying a new site is going to be prohibitively expensive (even in the absence of any capital available from sale of the CG to fund a land purchase). So I really don't understand why anyone trying to make an easy buck from ground redevelopment (or anything else to be honest) would bother buying Swindon who are as it stands a very asset poor proposition?

[Batch]

I'd imagine he'll make money with other developments made along with training facilities. I've no problem with that, would anyone, as long as the a) the training facility is a club asset/cheap to rent compared to FMV b) he's not using club money for other developments (I am not suggesting he is, and he says he's using his own money).

The CG can be redevelopment as a ground or even expanded if the cricket club/athletics track were moved. But asset stripping by doing so - no I can't see it either.

[Ardiles]

Couldn't decide where to put this, but thought the story was of some interest as issues of Powers intentions appear to be surfacing once again.

I suspect that this is the model that anyone wanting to redevelop the ground would be seeking to follow....

http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/sport/football/morecambe-fc/morecambe-fc-chairman-puts-club-up-for-sale-1-7781323

This shows that it can be done, however in Morecambe case however they sold their old ground to Sainsburys and used the cash to purchase and move to a clear site just down the road which has given the development opportunities surrounding the ground which would in turn cross finance the club going forward.

I just don't think that there is the space at the CG to do something similar (ignoring for a minute that the club don't own the ground), and land values are so high around Swindon buying a new site is going to be prohibitively expensive (even in the absence of any capital available from sale of the CG to fund a land purchase). So I really don't understand why anyone trying to make an easy buck from ground redevelopment (or anything else to be honest) would bother buying Swindon who are as it stands a very asset poor proposition?

The point in bold interests me (and I think you said before you work in planning, so you'll probably have an answer!)  Why is it that land values in central Swindon are 'very high'?  The town centre is decrepit & dilapidated, having suffered from decades of under-investment.  And the neighbouring Broadgreen area that the ground sits in has seen better days as well.  You don't see developers making much of a visible effort in the area, so what is supporting land prices there?  Is there much of a discount in central Swindon compared with, for example, central Reading (where so much more investment has been made recently)?

I suppose that I'm half hoping that the dire state of Swindon town centre could, ultimately, be the making of Swindon Town - by providing a prospect of an affordable redevelopment at some point in the future.

[Reg Smeeton]

The point in bold interests me (and I think you said before you work in planning, so you'll probably have an answer!)  Why is it that land values in central Swindon are 'very high'?  The town centre is decrepit & dilapidated, having suffered from decades of under-investment.  And the neighbouring Broadgreen area that the ground sits in has seen better days as well.  You don't see developers making much of a visible effort in the area, so what is supporting land prices there?  Is there much of a discount in central Swindon compared with, for example, central Reading (where so much more investment has been made recently)?

I suppose that I'm half hoping that the dire state of Swindon town centre could, ultimately, be the making of Swindon Town - by providing a prospect of an affordable redevelopment at some point in the future.

I've recently wondered where the term "Broadgreen" comes from....because as far as I'm aware it has no historic or geographical meaning.  Guess some SBC planners came up with it, to make it sound better.

I happened to be down Manchester Road late last night, and before anyone asks not for that....I don't pay....however it is economically quite vibrant....plenty of late night shops, eating places and other potential entertainments on offer. A bit like a more upmarket version of the Calais Jungle....

[Ardiles]

'Broadgreen' was coined only a few years ago.  No idea by whom.  It was named after the Community Centre in Gladstone Street.  How the Community Centre was named is anyone's guess, but mine would be that Broad Street is the next street and there's a small patch of grass next to the centre which, at a stretch, could be described as a green.

The name is a bit contrived, but makes sense in a town in which just about everywhere else has an area name.  Previously, it was a bit of a dead zone near the town centre without its own name, so people had to resort to calling it the 'Manchester Road area' or similar.