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Lucky we are a cash rich club then, but then again it has never been about us, more RM's grand plan for himself.

I know you hate all things Ron but we could have ended up in Basildon or bust. He could just build a Col U 10,000 seat crap stadium and still sell RH for a tidy profit. Besides looking at what it could bring to the town and us as fans I would rather be part of 'Ron World' than part of the Gold/Sullivan grand plan.

With extras like a hotel and flats to rent as part of the stadium, whoever owns the club in the future will have other streams of revenue to use.
 
I know you hate all things Ron but we could have ended up in Basildon or bust. He could just build a Col U 10,000 seat crap stadium and still sell RH for a tidy profit. Besides looking at what it could bring to the town and us as fans I would rather be part of 'Ron World' than part of the Gold/Sullivan grand plan.

With extras like a hotel and flats to rent as part of the stadium, whoever owns the club in the future will have other streams of revenue to use.

Is the Chairman your new best friend now that PB's been sacked? :winking:
 
I know you hate all things Ron but we could have ended up in Basildon or bust. He could just build a Col U 10,000 seat crap stadium and still sell RH for a tidy profit. Besides looking at what it could bring to the town and us as fans I would rather be part of 'Ron World' than part of the Gold/Sullivan grand plan.

With extras like a hotel and flats to rent as part of the stadium, whoever owns the club in the future will have other streams of revenue to use.

Funny enough I am not, we have had our words over the years, but we talk now.. If he can get this sorted I will be the first to say well done. If we had some inferstructure included that would help. I know it is a different matter but this town is ceased up now...we are a cul de sac with knowhere to go when a huge amount of people are in town...

Ron's remit is for him, have no doubt on that, we are an aside to that as a club. He may love SUFC but it is a means to an end.
 
Funny enough I am not, we have had our words over the years, but we talk now.. If he can get this sorted I will be the first to say well done. If we had some inferstructure included that would help. I know it is a different matter but this town is ceased up now...we are a cul de sac with knowhere to go when a huge amount of people are in town...

Ron's remit is for him, have no doubt on that, we are an aside to that as a club. He may love SUFC but it is a means to an end.

If Ron makes some money then good luck to him. He has taken the risk and the debt. Whoever owned SUFC would be looking to do something similar but we as a club could easily end up worse off. Hoping the tooth fairy will spend millions re-developing RH is never going to happen.

If the council refuse the application then who is going to pay back Rons £17m. Then we may well see plan B...Col U stadium only ?....Basildon or Bust.
 
If Ron makes some money then good luck to him. He has taken the risk and the debt. Whoever owned SUFC would be looking to do something similar but we as a club could easily end up worse off. Hoping the tooth fairy will spend millions re-developing RH is never going to happen.

If the council refuse the application then who is going to pay back Rons £17m. The we may well see plan B...Col U stadium only ?....Basildon or Bust.

Paper and figures...reality zero. You cannot run a company which is that much insolvent unless you have something to back it up. Maybe like a future plan. Whispers in the wind until.

As an aside , I know a guy who owes so many friends he borrowed from on some project, they are in no mans land as he promises to pay them one day...they cannot be a kind of friend whilst wanting to throttle him. They have money in , what is there choice but to sit it out.
 
The point is wherever it is coming from he is putting very significant sums of cash into the club with zero prospect of it ever getting even in good part repaid unless the developments come off.

There seems to be a fantasy around its all 'paper' money that's somehow not real- which is a complete nonsense. The money the club burns through is very real and however RM maybe raising it he is still putting it in. The fact that he is not a billionaire who can afford to lose it does not make it less commendable.

In short if you truly, honestly believe RM is putting no money into the club then I do think you probably have a motivation to want to believe it.

If I had to guess I would say the money has the following origins:
- Sainsbury's (they gave us a few million to keep us going and suspect when they reneged on the deal they didn't get it back- or won't until the project is completed)
- Developers are good at raising money against land (there will be some of this- although RH and Fossetts have not got planning its possible that they are leveraged in some way)
- British Land will have put some money in and have an interest
- There is probably an investor (or maybe investors) who are also stumping up some funds (I think the RH and Fossetts projects are about £400m in value so for some investors putting up some of the £17m funding against that is not going to phase them).

What this means is that whilst all the £17m might not be Ron's enough of it is to hurt big time if it doesn't come off- and just because he won't be the only one losing money it doest detract from the fact that without his money we would probably be in the conference after a couple of points deductions.
 
Lots of amended planning documents were uploaded to the SBC planning portal last Friday, which is a good sign. Presumably those updates are following discussions with the town planners with a view to having their recommendation to approve.

Yep, 39 Amended plans out of around 232 documents, mainly of the accommodation blocks and car parking.

Planning Application 17/00733/FULM

http://publicedrms.southend.gov.uk/...arch&viewdocs=true&SDescription=17/00733/FULM
 
Thanks.
Is someone able to give a snapshot of the amendments?
Are they just minor details to get planning approved, or do they have any impact on matches/training/finances, etc.?

The recent amended plans all relate to the layout of the separate accommodation blocks, the flats that are part of the stadium, and their car parking areas.

Nothing new for the actual stadium, retail, cinema, stadium car parks, or training ground.
 
In short, the owners of the Royals/Victoria and the proposed Seaway development on Lucy Road have all clumped together and produced a plethora of RLA's (Retail Leisure Assessments) basically saying why they believe FF will be detrimental to the town centre etc. Can't be arsed to read through it all, but basically they are concerned about footfall/financial impacts of a retail/leisure development at FF.

The rest of it just slight changes to drawings.

Looking at all this though, it's a mountain of paperwork and I just can't see any decision on it soon. Without doubt it will be the biggest development this town has ever seen, IF it goes through.
 
In short, the owners of the Royals/Victoria and the proposed Seaway development on Lucy Road have all clumped together and produced a plethora of RLA's (Retail Leisure Assessments) basically saying why they believe FF will be detrimental to the town centre etc. Can't be arsed to read through it all, but basically they are concerned about footfall/financial impacts of a retail/leisure development at FF.

The rest of it just slight changes to drawings.

Looking at all this though, it's a mountain of paperwork and I just can't see any decision on it soon. Without doubt it will be the biggest development this town has ever seen, IF it goes through.

There has been a study by the right professional people (allegedly).That says FF would only affect the High Street by 6%. In fact as most of the shops will be taken by retailers who would not open in the High Street, Fat Face is one of them. Then it could actually increase numbers in the high street as shoppers may well visit both if they are in town.
 
May I suggest that the increase in violent crime...a small drug village behind the old kfc shop and lots of homeless/beggars are detrimental to the high street...oh and ridiculous rents
 
May I suggest that the increase in violent crime...a small drug village behind the old kfc shop and lots of homeless/beggars are detrimental to the high street...oh and ridiculous rents

All those things and more; silly access from Vic Ave or Westcliff with sillier and expensive parking that means most shoppers keep to time limits for swift in and out.
Getting high on cannabis smoke or being run over by Le Tour de Sarfend are also detrimental.
Generally place has a rough, scruffy and unpleasant atmosphere to it with feral children running amok around equally disadvantaged semi adult elders...............I hesitate to call them parents, guardians or adults.
 
All those things and more; silly access from Vic Ave or Westcliff with sillier and expensive parking that means most shoppers keep to time limits for swift in and out.
Getting high on cannabis smoke or being run over by Le Tour de Sarfend are also detrimental.
Generally place has a rough, scruffy and unpleasant atmosphere to it with feral children running amok around equally disadvantaged semi adult elders...............I hesitate to call them parents, guardians or adults.

Don't be so harsh. The police incident tape and those crime scene tents all add to the 'urban' feel the Town planners are clear aiming for.....There can be no other explanation.

Now that the EU homeless have won money in court because we sent them back home. I'm sure the Cliffs campsite will be fully booked this summer. To save the place stinking of s*** why don't the council provide them with porto potties and allow the traders to sell strong lager or cider as well as candy floss. After all our town needs to move with the times.
 
Will we have a yay or ney before the start of next season?

This is by far the biggest decision faced but the football club in a very long time.

Should the whole Fossetts thing collapse then I'm not sure how long the club can survive at roots hall in its present state.
 
In short, the owners of the Royals/Victoria and the proposed Seaway development on Lucy Road have all clumped together and produced a plethora of RLA's (Retail Leisure Assessments) basically saying why they believe FF will be detrimental to the town centre etc. Can't be arsed to read through it all, but basically they are concerned about footfall/financial impacts of a retail/leisure development at FF.

The rest of it just slight changes to drawings.

Looking at all this though, it's a mountain of paperwork and I just can't see any decision on it soon. Without doubt it will be the biggest development this town has ever seen, IF it goes through.

There has been a study by the right professional people (allegedly).That says FF would only affect the High Street by 6%. In fact as most of the shops will be taken by retailers who would not open in the High Street, Fat Face is one of them. Then it could actually increase numbers in the high street as shoppers may well visit both if they are in town.

Let's hope the Council pay attention to the neutral study rather than the one commissioned and paid for by 3 business owners with vested interests in the failure of the retail arm at Fossett's.

Aside from that, anybody who thinks there is much of a "High Street" or "town centre" left to kill is leaving on another planet. The town centre is dead and there is no reviving it, no matter how much the owners of the Royals, Victoria and Seaway want to suggest otherwise. Fossett's will be a big economic boon for this town.
 
The only thing that will revive the area around Southend High Street is following the example of countless other towns and make it solely a good quality entertainment / restaurant / craft shop type area. Kick out the pound shops etc and give the place a PROPER makeover (i.e. not cheap, lowest common denominator, what we had left in the skip). Think Leigh Broadway - it was dying on its feet a couple of decades ago but just look at it now. ‘Shopping’, in the traditional sense, has long since moved out of town or online.
 
The only thing that will revive the area around Southend High Street is following the example of countless other towns and make it solely a good quality entertainment / restaurant / craft shop type area. Kick out the pound shops etc and give the place a PROPER makeover (i.e. not cheap, lowest common denominator, what we had left in the skip). Think Leigh Broadway - it was dying on its feet a couple of decades ago but just look at it now. ‘Shopping’, in the traditional sense, has long since moved out of town or online.

In the last month a friend of mine who has an established business about 150m from the High Street has been told his rates are going up from £1,700 per year, to.......£10,500. An increase of £8,800 in one go. He is of course appealing the decision but people at the council seem surprised by his reaction.

He was considering advertising/sponsoring on the Zone instead of RH. Unfortunately he is now in a battle to save his business so the zone becomes a victim of the in unquantifiable knock on effect of council stupidity.
 
Will we have a yay or ney before the start of next season?

This is by far the biggest decision faced but the football club in a very long time.

Should the whole Fossetts thing collapse then I'm not sure how long the club can survive at roots hall in its present state.

Doubt very much if we'll get a decision before 5th August. The club said that the application is being put to the council's Development Control Commitee 'in the summer'. As we've seen, ongoing discussions with the council give me a small degree of optimism, but once again, who knows, as updates from the club are, to say the least, scarce.

The impending new seafront development must be a slight thorn in Ron's side where a new IMAX cinema is planned. I not sure three cinemas in the town is sustainable especially in these days of online streaming. Seafront parking, or lack of it, still continues to be a very contentious issue with that development.

With regard to the retail aspect of our application where much discussion will take place, I hope that the council realises that the high street needs to evolve. My own purchasing habits have changed immensely over the last ten years. I buy many more things online now than I ever used to, a) because of price and b) convenience. I buy food at a large out of town supermarket and DIY items nearby. At Christmas I will go to either Lakeside or Bluewater for a drier, warmer and more conducive shopping experience. It beats trudging up and down a cold and wet uninspiring High Street and having to pay exhorbitant parking charges for the privilege. I live within 3 miles of the High Street and I visit it a dozen times or so a year, usually for a family meal in a restaurant. The High Street no longer has much of an attraction for me.

The Fossetts application has got to be seen in its entirety. The creation of jobs, much needed residential accommodation, hotel rooms, conference facilities, the sporting benefits to the local community of the Dome, a national sporting profile and increased visitor numbers to the town have to be positively welcomed.

There's no plan B so it has to succeed for the future of our club.
 
In the last month a friend of mine who has an established business about 150m from the High Street has been told his rates are going up from £1,700 per year, to.......£10,500. An increase of £8,800 in one go. He is of course appealing the decision but people at the council seem surprised by his reaction.

He was considering advertising/sponsoring on the Zone instead of RH. Unfortunately he is now in a battle to save his business so the zone becomes a victim of the in unquantifiable knock on effect of council stupidity.

Although Southend Council make crazy decisions on many issues they don't set business rates, they just collect them on behalf of the government.
 
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