An announcement on the ground move...

[darrellbutler]

...is imminent.

[LeedsWCFC]

Information at www.worcestercityfc.co.uk/

[dave]

I may be missing something here, but what is the difference between the enabling development rejected by the City Council in 2004 and the enabling development which will form part of the planning application in 2008?

I would imagine the Club will want to take steps to explain the difference to the public and why they feel confident that this time the plans will be approved, when previously the enabling development was rejected.

[gobby cow]

This is fantastic news and it is perfectly placed. It will not affect anyone. I am so excited I cant wait for it to open.

The best news is we wont have to trapse over to Evesham for our home matches.

Well done to the Board.

Has a name been chosen?

[gobby cow]

Dave

I thought the previous site was planned behind the houses on the other side of the dual carriage way.

[dave]

"Will not affect anyone", tell that to the Spetchley Resident's association who succesfully opposed the last application for a stadium with enabling development!

I just hope that the agreement with St Modwen to deliver the stadium is not conditional on the approval of plans for other developments alongside the stadium, as this was the stumbing block in 2004.

I am sure this will be clarified by the Club though.

p.s. I was under the impression that this was the same location as last time but I may be wrong

[gobby cow]

I have a very dim view of planning. I have a german concentration camp at the end of my road, regardless of us campaigning against it. I dont know if Worcestershires planning committee works the same as the one in Hereford.

In Herefordshire the locals dont count!

[gobby cow]

You just have to look at that monstrous building on the other side to see that there wont be a problem!

[gobby cow]

I just hope the lads can buck their ideas up as it would be the icing on the cake to start at the new stadium in the conference

[Mark]

I may be jumping the gun a bit to say this now as more info may come out shortly, but were we not meant to be given an indication of the timescale for the development at this press conference.

I know it is early days and the planning application may be subject to debate and alterations but it would be nice to have at least an estimate like 'if things go through as expected, we hope to kick off the XXXX/XXXX season in the new stadium.'

[dave]

Worcester News reporting that we hope to move in 2009/10.

www.thisisworcester.co.uk

[LeedsWCFC]

mark said:

we hope to kick off the XXXX/XXXX season in the new stadium.'

Trevor Owen on BBC H & W just said it is hoped it would be ready for the 2009/10 season.

[dave]

Sorry try www.thisiswcfc.co.uk for more info as it arrives from the press conference.

If St Modwen have promised to build us a stadium regardless of whether they gain permission to develop the rest of the site, then this is a fantastic day for the club. If the stadium being built relies on St Modwen getting permission to develop alongside it, then there is still a long way to go.

[B*ue dragonstander]

gobbycow said:

Well done to the Board.

Has a name been chosen?

I have selected a new name. St David's Lane in honour of the Chairman who has made this happen

Flippin' well done Dave and the rest of the long suffering and faintly heroic Board of Directors.

[B*ue dragonstander]

A turnkey stadium, a seamless transition from one ground to another, and we own our own ground. Fan-flippin'-tastic!!
+

[dave]

I think the club should use the opportunity to get the people of Worcester excited about the project and run a competition to name the stadium.

If the individual stands are to be named, then I am sure we could all think of some worthy individuals to name them after!

[niels]

This is very good news, although I'm sure Dave Shed will bore us to tears (ala Brooksider) about the technicalities in the next two years.
As far as I can tell the enabling developments will be light industrial units, or the like, which are within the local plan as far as I can recall.
As excited as I am about this news and implications on the long term future of the club it will be a mighty sad day when we leave the Lane. I love the place and cannot see how this new ground can in any way replace it in my heart.

[StopfordianWCFC]

Look rather good to me, the arrangements seem to be very astute - leaving the 'enabling development' battle to be fought be St Modwen is probably a good idea - they have the experience and the know how.

Yes there is a current 'Local Plan', but remember, times are a changing and the planning system is very much in flux at the moment. The City of Worcester has been earmarked for up to 10,000 more homes - I suspect bits of land such as Nunnery Way will soon be re-assessed as new facilities will be required for the ever expanding City. Could be the battle will be more a skirmish.

Lets hope we keep making forward strides.

dave said:

I think the club should use the opportunity to get the people of Worcester excited about the project and run a competition to name the stadium.

If the individual stands are to be named, then I am sure we could all think of some worthy individuals to name them after!

[carsten]

I see no problem with St Modwen Lane, give them a bit of credit for making this happen.

Dave to answer your question about the kind of enabling development, well if Huddersfield Swansea Coventry Milton Keynes Grimsby and Salford Reds can do it with enabling development which does not adhere to planning policy, then why can't we?

And planning permission? no problemo, after all as colinlayland has told us all, the council will only refuse planning permission with very good reason. And St Modwen have the clout to fund big lawyers for big appeals

I look forward to watching the boys from the Nobby Clark Stand.

[gobby cow]

It should be named after someone to do with the club. Be it past or present.

[carsten]

niels said:

As far as I can tell the enabling developments will be light industrial units, or the like, which are within the local plan as far as I can recall.

Actually Niels they are not within the Local Plan but who cares? St Modwen will build what they bloody well like (hopefully a Burger King a pub and a few retail stores, maybe even a gym and sports bar) and the council will do what they should have done all those years ago. Fantastic news for the club and for the City of Worcester.

[carsten]

gobbycow said:

It should be named after someone to do with the club. Be it past or present.

It'll probably carry a sponsors name. How about The Boddy Shop Stadium?

[dave]

I would agree that if the enabling development arguments are not going to affect the building of the stadium, the board have struck a fantastic deal and deserve our applause.

More information on the financing arrangements would be helpful though:-

For instance I would not mind knowing (a) what the Club will have to pay St Modwen for the stadium once built? (b) How much we hope to get from the sale of St Georges Lane and (c)whether (b) - (a) will be enough to clear our debts which could be nearing £1m by 2009.

(P.S sorry for asking about boring technicalities Niels?)

[B*ue dragonstander]

dave said:

I think the club should use the opportunity to get the people of Worcester excited about the project and run a competition to name the stadium.

If the individual stands are to be named, then I am sure we could all think of some worthy individuals to name them after!

Thanks but modesty forbids accepting such an honour

[Croc]

blue0dragonstander said:

A turnkey stadium, a seamless transition from one ground to another, and we own our own ground. Fan-flippin'-tastic!!
+

This is exactly the same setup we're getting at Bohemians with the move from Dalymount to a new 10,000 all-seater in Harristown.

Glad they're going down that route tbh - much more secure.

May I also suggest the stadium's approach road be called "Nobby Clark Way"

[wh]

here are a few points from today's press conference.

The enabling development is totally different to the previous one which failed. The probable businesses earmarked for the site are a Car Showroom, Hotel & leisure facilities. not retail outlets such as B&Q.

The sale of SGL will wipe out ALL club debt.

The approx cost of the new stadium is 8 Million pounds.

The stadium will have 2000 seats.

The plan (as it said on the wcfc website) is for the stadium to be finished 2009. The hope is that we kick off the 09/10 season in the new ground but failing that we will be playing there before the end of 2009.

There will be no need to move to a temporary ground whilst the new one is built as it is part of the sale agreement that we stay at SGL until the other is ready to move into.

The club will own the ground and make payment once completed.

St Modwen perfect partner for this type of project, one of their football projects is Stoke City's, impressive Britannia Stadium.

[cg]

Went to the press conference and this is what I deduced (sorry, if it has been repeated elsewhere).

The new stadium is planned to open in 2009/10 and WCFC insist they can stay at The Lane until then.

Planning application will be submitted early in 2008.

WCRFC will own the ground - The remainder of the new site will be used for leisure and office use.

No announcmenet on whether the new ground will have community use facilities.

All quite vague at the moment.

For those pondering over a stadium name - I think you should realise that the other football stadium St Modwen were involved with was at Stoke CIty where the naming rights were sold to
Britannia for more than £10m. Unpopular though it was for those who wanted the more appropriate name - such as the Sir Stanley Matthews Stadium - it makes commerical sense - and I think that is likely to happen at The New Lane (!).

Some convincing of the local residents will need to be done - and not just along Spetchley Road. A guy from whittington.village co.uk - a new website he said he is planning to launch soon - tried to ask some awkward questions (why no ground share with WRFC and how will Worcester meets its house planning requirements by selling off large strips of land?) but it is unclear how representative he is of Whittington and he seemed to be fighting yesterdays battles. He even suggested that WCFC should redevelop SGL into a 10,000 all seater stadium, which shows how out of touch he is.

However there will be a lot of winning over to be done - and lets not forget people have a democratic right to object and raise concerns - it is up the club and the fans make the case for relocation.

Hard to deduce too much from today's conference other than we appear to be on our way...

Finally, well done to Mike Foster MP who made the most sense by insisting that the status of Worcester will raised by the city having a Football League club and this move will help pave the way.

Presumably the Tory candidate was too busy counting his Michael Ashcroft cash to bother to attend...after all football is only the national game.

[Bstander]

Just a couple of observations from after the meeting whilst chatting to the St Modwen representative:

He said the ground would not be complete when we move in, and it would be completed in stages as and when funds became available (Northwich springs to mind).

He anticipates an extremely vocal protest from the Whittington pressure group(similar to the anti-landfill lobby south of the city)

There was a lawyer at the meeting living in Whittington who asked some very searching questions.

However, it was felt by the St Modwen representative, that any objection raised by these residents would more than be offset by letters of support from relieved residents around the SGL area

[colinlayland]

carsten said:

I see no problem with St Modwen Lane, give them a bit of credit for making this happen.

Dave to answer your question about the kind of enabling development, well if Huddersfield Swansea Coventry Milton Keynes Grimsby and Salford Reds can do it with enabling development which does not adhere to planning policy, then why can't we?

And planning permission? no problemo, after all as colinlayland has told us all, the council will only refuse planning permission with very good reason. And St Modwen have the clout to fund big lawyers for big appeals

I look forward to watching the boys from the Nobby Clark Stand.

NAME DROPPER

[LeedsWCFC]

tony said:

However, it was felt by the St Modwen representative, that any objection raised by these residents would more than be offset by letters of support from relieved residents around the SGL area

I hope there are no such letters from our current neighbours. If the club is trying to overcome objections from those near to the new ground then anything saying, in effect, "Good riddance" would be useful ammunition for the objectors.
If it were to be determined that the proximity of the ground would have any nuisance value then it could make relocation more difficult. Just because there are fewer people living near to where the new ground will be does not mean that their fears should be dismissed.
What we really want is for residents around Saint George's Lane to say how much they will miss us.