New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[theakston2k]

See the plans are up, all that disruption for 10 boxes. The drawings only show 5 rows being taken out so why are 9 rows being  taken out in the comms from club? Absolute waste of time and money, I’ll still be voting no.

[Nemo]

See the plans are up, all that disruption for 10 boxes. The drawings only show 5 rows being taken out so why are 9 rows being  taken out in the comms from club? Absolute waste of time and money, I’ll still be voting no.

I imagine for the construction that they need to take out a bit either side to give them space to work, they might well be able to put them back after.

I think I'm a likely no, but I will read the documents in good faith. Will be interesting to see if they've actually got any interest in paying for the boxes lined up.

[theakston2k]

I imagine for the construction that they need to take out a bit either side to give them space to work, they might well be able to put them back after.

I think I'm a likely no, but I will read the documents in good faith. Will be interesting to see if they've actually got any interest in paying for the boxes lined up.

Probably the case but surely with some clever planning you could do the structural frame of the boxes and reinstate the seats during the summer break and minimise disruption to normal fans. Of course that will have never crossed their minds as they don’t care.

[Boydy]

I presume that façade will be iron pyrite.

[hammondt1]

With all the hospitality proposed i would assume the three central blocks above the boxes will more than likely be for hospitality packages rather than regular fans. That will displace even more ST’s.

[Bennett]

Going well 'innit.....  

I can understand it, I've been up to my eyeballs in pushing Tust stuff out there...so not sure there's a published route to ask questions before the sessions with the architect and the club

[reeves4england]

With all the hospitality proposed i would assume the three central blocks above the boxes will more than likely be for hospitality packages rather than regular fans. That will displace even more ST’s.

I think the seats being repurposed for hospitality are included in the 1100 figure as the corporate boxes aren't displacing all the rows they're wanting to vacate.

For what it's worth, I think these proposals look better than I expected, and the extension out backwards to create general admission bar and two floors of hospitality beyond the boxes is a great move. The planned link to a hotel in the TE corner also shows a degree of joined up thinking taking place.

The flip side is (1) I'm not one of those being displaced, (2) there's no evidence of how joined up the thinking is re: further future developments, and (3) there's still no business case or funding proposal to prove the validity and value of this project. That said, I imagine the business case is fairly strong based on what other clubs have - e.g. Preston's Invincibiles Lounge gets used for all sorts of business events, meetings, Christmas parties etc.

If we want an attractive stadium asap then developing behind the goals tops the list, but if our priority is to maximise revenue with a manageable initial outlay then I can absolutely see why they've gone down this route. Perhaps they could have thrown one or two hospitality passes in for each ST holder being displaced as an added sweetener.

[Riddick]

The plans look encourgaing honestly, its far more than just adding some boxes in, which i don't think has been well communicated to this point.

An easy to access Bar on the ground floor seems a sensible idea that could encourage people there earlier and to spend more.

The extension out the back of the DR to add hospitality space, not just for match day, but more importantly for non match day corporate/functions would seem positive. New purpose built facilities are far more likely to generate cash for the club than the old delapidated Arkells suites currently.

Outside the emotional response of some peoples season tickets being moved and the long term concerns over Clem, the plans themselves look positive to me. A good first step in increasing the clubs revenues and having one stand for which over time the others can follow in style and appearance.

I do wonder what the plans are for the Arkells hospitality space given they look to be moving everything, including the boardroom over to DR. Makes sense long term with the Arkells needing the most work, but it would seem the TE and stratton bank would come first.

[Batch]

The club can't carry on doing nothing on generating non matchday revenue.

The plans I'll look at properly later.

The details that I haven't seen are the important ones. These from a high level are funding, ROI and execution of the plans based.

[Riddick]

If we want an attractive stadium asap then developing behind the goals tops the list, but if our priority is to maximise revenue with a manageable initial outlay then I can absolutely see why they've gone down this route.

Its exactly this, and sadly a lot of our fans live in a dream world believeing someone is just going to throw money at the club. This is the most sensible initial commercial development honestly. With the foot note of ongoing concerns around Clem anyway.

[theakston2k]

The reality just won’t look anything like these, realistically we need to be able to vote on whatever actually goes to planing as under this lot there’s a significant chance of design alterations and thing getting scaled back. There’s a real risk of voting yes to these pretty pictures then ending up with something completely different.

Also with the rest of the ground in a state of disrepair you can’t consider this in isolation, where does it fit into a master plan, is there even one. At the moment this would amount to nothing more than polishing a turd.

It can’t make economic sense to have hospitality in 2 stands, so you assume that means it will be removed from the Arkell’s, what is happening to that stand then?

Oh and good luck to them trying to cut down some of the trees down the back of then DRS, can’t see that going down well!

[4D]

So, if this doesn't get voted through then what are the club likely to do next regarding development?

[Riddick]

So, if this doesn't get voted through then what are the club likely to do next regarding development?

Its a good question. From Clem's perspective i don't think there is an alternative. If these get rejected by the fans then he's not going to suddenly decided to spend more and do a grander TE investment. Perhaps he wants them to be rejected, cut investment (or continued funding of playing debt) and blame the fans?

It has a real chance of getting quite nasty.

[4D]

Thing is we already have hospitality in the North Stand, would this change to the DRS really generate more income? The talk of the TE development is obviously much larger scale but is likely to generate more income than a few boxes in the DRS. My worry is the DRS will be developed and plans for the TE and Bank will change.

[Riddick]

Thing is we already have hospitality in the North Stand, would this change to the DRS really generate more income? The talk of the TE development is obviously much larger scale but is likely to generate more income than a few boxes in the DRS. My worry is the DRS will be developed and plans for the TE and Bank will change.

Match day, i'm not sure it does generate much more, though the bar could help. I think it would have a siginificant effect on non match day revenue though. A new, modern hospitality area (with easy parking) would likely generate way more than the current crappy rooms in the Arkells.

Not sure how a TE development generates more? What would it contain for that to be the case?