James Gray

[andyd]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

I wouldn't take it personally against the club, they are trying to close the whole town down

Maybe we could start some kind of petition to make Hyndburn Council see sense and let us have the ground at a reasonable asking price I do,nt think anybody expects it for nothing. Could be really beneficial for both parties in years to come.

[JIMSLAD]

All the land on Livingstone Rd is earmarked for housing development so could make more money from builders

[sherry]

Many years ago I was told that the original plan was to extend Livingstone Road through to Whinney Hill and build on the HBC land on the right beyond the gate that is there (I was told that on the left it was LCC land.) However it was pointed out that the previous use of the land made that impossible so the road just stops.

Possibly none of this is of any use as nothing was said about either the 'Crown' ground or that of the 'Accy Amateurs.'

[Exile on Spencer St]

Hyndburn's intentions could be revealed if someone or some group made an application to designate The Crown ground a "community asset". This is often done to protect open space, and even pubs, from redevelopment. If the ASSC are interested, I could send them the details of the process, if not already aware.
It would be an interesting 'political' statement if the Council's planning authority refused to designate the ground as such.

[andyd]

Originally Posted by Exile on Spencer St

Hyndburn's intentions could be revealed if someone or some group made an application to designate The Crown ground a "community asset". This is often done to protect open space, and even pubs, from redevelopment. If the ASSC are interested, I could send them the details of the process, if not already aware.
It would be an interesting 'political' statement if the Council's planning authority refused to designate the ground as such.

Well said.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by sherry

Many years ago I was told that the original plan was to extend Livingstone Road through to Whinney Hill and build on the HBC land on the right beyond the gate that is there (I was told that on the left it was LCC land.) However it was pointed out that the previous use of the land made that impossible so the road just stops.

Possibly none of this is of any use as nothing was said about either the 'Crown' ground or that of the 'Accy Amateurs.'

The Amatuers ground still has another 10 years to run on the lease

[Chrisr]

Nice to see some discussion on the issue of James Gray. I asked John and Jimmy straight out, Is the problem with James and John a personal one, He emphatically denied any personal grudge or anything else. I was a little dissappointed at the turn out for both the supporters club meeting and the Q&a with jimmy and John. I was impressed with the way they answered the questions without attempting to dodge a question. I even dared to question his tactical play and other playing systems. He answered straight as to why he played certain systems against certain clubs, All things including injuries and suspensions made the difference. All things considered it was a good night.

[LongLostSon]

don't know if you've got local elections along with the general - good time to ask candidates for statement of intent re Stanley if so.

Chris R : - thanks for brief John/Jimmy comments - were they asked about late-on substitutions when we're chasing the game ?

[smobile]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

The Amatuers ground still has another 10 years to run on the lease

Have always thought it would be a perfect training ground / facility for Stanley.

[maccawozzagod]

The site as a whole would house a Football League ground plus 2 full size training pitches for use by the club/Amateurs/club representative sides such as The Ultras or a Ladies side. Car parking plus landscaping would complete the site. From a traffic point of view the road would need completing to Whinney Hill to give two relief flows.

Site provision could be made for facilities that the town lacks (such as a large music venue)

HBC should be pushing something like this to provide the town's primary asset with the means to compete locally and nationally, and the town itself would also be able to compete at county level with other towns of a similar size

completing Livingstone Road would also link the residential and industrial estates which could bring about multiple other benefits

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Chrisr

I was a little dissappointed at the turn out for both the supporters club meeting and the Q&a with jimmy and John.

I'm beginning to wonder about your expectations

I thought the turnout was decent

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by maccawozzagod

The site as a whole would house a Football League ground plus 2 full size training pitches for use by the club/Amateurs/club representative sides such as The Ultras or a Ladies side. Car parking plus landscaping would complete the site. From a traffic point of view the road would need completing to Whinney Hill to give two relief flows.

Site provision could be made for facilities that the town lacks (such as a large music venue)

HBC should be pushing something like this to provide the town's primary asset with the means to compete locally and nationally, and the town itself would also be able to compete at county level with other towns of a similar size

completing Livingstone Road would also link the residential and industrial estates which could bring about multiple other benefits

In the 2000 Local Plan it looks to be designated as Green Belt. I can't see anything that updates this mentioning the site.

Also how could the club afford to build a new ground?

[maccawozzagod]

in a nutshell Chewie, the club couldn't. No club anywhere should expect the council to help them out (Doncaster's did - £32m), but it is something that I feel the council could work with the club towards if it fulfils various criteria.

ie

• if such a vision came to pass then surely the club would be able to offer more paid jobs?
  
• the Community side of the club is woefully under advertised and (from what I can see) does a wonderful job - much of this is what is says on the tin and is for the benefit of the community
  
• as a venue for things other than football such as the Carnival, Mela, Music Concerts
  
• the 'training pitches' would be maintained by the club but could be for use by the boys leagues thus taking some of the strain off the Parks Department.
  
• as a full time, professionally operated business, then the club could potentially offer far more educational openings than it already does?

It's all pie in the sky, but the Council could reap a far higher nominal rent than the nominal rent it is bound to at the moment. Just to put any kind of a figure to it I believe the current rent to be less than £1000 per year and we have some sort of covenant in place that we can live there at the agreed price for x number of decades. If the council were to fund some sort of venue that we operate we could potentially pay a rent of say £100,000 per annum. The council would recoup its investment in a short set of years, and would have generated a good lump of goodwill, and would have improved the facilities stock of its constituents, and would have helped its chief export to sell itself better. The club, whilst being saddled with a significantly higher expense than it currently has, would be provided with the means to generate its own income from better facilities than it currently has, whilst also getting the opportunity to win back many of the fans lost to a dripping stand roof or putting their foot through a pi$$ sodden portakabin floor.

In reality it would never happen and the best we could hope for from the council would be that they sell the ground out from under us and offer us some sort of recompense to ****** off to the outskirts of the borough where they can't see us.

[accybeme]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

The Amatuers ground still has another 10 years to run on the lease

maybe there is 10 years left on the amatuers ground lease
but as far as I know there is only 1 year lease left on the crown ground

[Mr T]

This thread is supposed to be about James Gray!!

There are saw really good points on here about the ground but the figures mentioned are totally incorrect.

For the sake of "modertion" correctness I'll close this for now.

Please feel free to discuss this very important topic