"Attention All Blues Supporters"

[mrsblue]

My email


Dear Cllr Woodley


I am writing to support the application of the Southend United development. I understand that there will be several challenges should the complex be built, but there are other advantages to Southend too which are not included within the article.


Should Southend council gain devolution from the government, it will need to find its own funding; just imagine the amount of extra revenue that would be generated via the rates alone from this development.


There is also the prospect of international recognition for Southend should the club be successful. I know for fact that people from the Netherlands already visit Southend to watch Southend United (having spoken to some outside the ground), just imagine the benefits to the sea front, shops and council should people visit from Europe to come to watch a successful football club.


Because of the greater visitor numbers that would be generated In the area, the prospect of new businesses opening in Southend, either by, or employing local people would grow. This would increase revenue via rates for the council and enable it to improve the services that it offers to local people (e.g. Care for the elderly) and enhance it's reputation Nationaly, Internationaly as well as locally.


Regards

You should have added that once completed could the borough of Southend become "RonnyMartinland" whilst the club becomes RonniesRocketsPLCFC.

 

[Jai]

I would say it's particularly important that those supporters who live in the Eastern Avenue area get in touch. The majority of the dissent is likely to come from those areas, plus those who drive west from the eastern side of the borough.

I appreciate it's difficult to suspend your disbelief once again in order to be arsed to write something for a stadium that is unlikely ever to happen but while there's even a small chance, it's important. It would be awful if it were turned down just because our apathy was drowned out by a few NIMBYs.

 

[RHB]

I would say it's particularly important that those supporters who live in the Eastern Avenue area get in touch. The majority of the dissent is likely to come from those areas, plus those who drive west from the eastern side of the borough.

I appreciate it's difficult to suspend your disbelief once again in order to be arsed to write something for a stadium that is unlikely ever to happen but while there's even a small chance, it's important. It would be awful if it were turned down just because our apathy was drowned out by a few NIMBYs.

Surely writing one short email of support for the club is not hard at all regardless of peoples views. It costs nothing apart from a few minutes of your time. In fact, its probably quicker to do it than to try to think of posts on this thread.

 

[rigsby]

I would say it's particularly important that those supporters who live in the Eastern Avenue area get in touch. The majority of the dissent is likely to come from those areas, plus those who drive west from the eastern side of the borough.

I appreciate it's difficult to suspend your disbelief once again in order to be arsed to write something for a stadium that is unlikely ever to happen but while there's even a small chance, it's important. It would be awful if it were turned down just because our apathy was drowned out by a few NIMBYs.

There will be lots of dissent and not just from NIMBYs. A project this size will be opposed by people who live nowhere near FF just because they can. Could just be jealousy, a dislike of football or as we have already seen on this thread a dislike of Ron.

 

[Fairport]

According to the website of Oracle it is distributed to 12000 homes in a targeted area, most affluent according to them. These areas are parts of Thorpe Bay, Chalkwell and Leigh on Sea. I don't get it delivered here in Shoeburyness, maybe they think we are all skint down this way! The key thing is though that many of the Nimby types in this town are usually the very people who will receive this magazine. They are against everything, they don't want a sea wall to protect us from flooding, they don't want people parking in their roads etc etc. You can be sure that many of these will be against the new stadium and the rest of the project, they are also the sort of people who are in contact with people like Ron Woodley on a regular basis. Therefore lets hope that us Shrimpers can bombard Woodley with emails supporting the plans.

 

[Jai]

Now the Bradford game is off I might spend the time penning mine rather than nervously pacing the room listening to BBC Essex.

 

[kentblues]

In the end as has been said it costs nothing and takes less than 5 minutes

 

[tallboyblue]

Why not organize a petition. Sign at the ground.

 

[RHB]

Why not organize a petition. Sign at the ground.

Always an option, but then someone would have to do the organising, encourage people to sign and then arrange for the petition's delivery. Not impossible, but it's far quicker just to bash out a quick email individually. Nobody has to do this, only do it if you want the council to know that you support the Blues building a new stadium.

 

[kentblues]

Always an option, but then someone would have to do the organising, encourage people to sign and then arrange for the petition's delivery. Not impossible, but it's far quicker just to bash out a quick email individually. Nobody has to do this, only do it if you want the council to know that you support the Blues building a new stadium.

Yes- I think the request is to respond to the request for views from this one article (the importance being as much the author Councellor Woodley as the publication). I would like to think all on here would take the 5 mins to do that- in the end no point griping about stadiums, lack of investment in the club, need for new strikers etc. and at the same time sit on our hands when asked to do something so simple..

 

[Jai]

Looks like Turnstone are trying to beat Ron in the race to get this decided. Not good given that we've already spent 16 years trying to build a stadium at Fossetts Farm...

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/141..._in_Southend/?action=success#comment_15064784

 

[Jai]

Always an option, but then someone would have to do the organising, encourage people to sign and then arrange for the petition's delivery. Not impossible, but it's far quicker just to bash out a quick email individually. Nobody has to do this, only do it if you want the council to know that you support the Blues building a new stadium.

In council planning terms, petitions do not carry anything like the same weight as individual letters.

Mine ended up being longer than planned, but here it is below if anyone wants to have a look.

Dear Councillor Woodley,

I read your recent article in the Oracle with interest, thank you for the opportunity to put across my views on the Fossetts Farm proposals.

Having grown up in south east Essex I now live outside the area but regularly travel into Southend, partly because of my support for Southend United FC. However, the view many will express that the "fans deserve a new stadium" is irrelevant to this discussion, the project must be considered on its merits no matter how urgent the club's need to move from Roots Hall.

The Southend of today is a huge upgrade on the one I grew up in during the 1990s. The seafront is unrecognisable and considerably safer at night, the new Forum building is extremely impressive, but the one thing that always strikes me when I come to the town is how vibrant the High Street is. There always seems to be a lot of people shopping in Southend, perhaps this is because the population has grown so much, and continues to do so.

Partly for this reason, I do not feel the retail element of the Fossetts Farm proposal will damage the High Street. These units will provide a different form of shopping than can be found in a town centre, bulk goods and the like, similar to that seen in Chelmsford's Chelmer Village retail park, which has not harmed Chelmsford's city centre. I do not feel the airport retail park adequately serves this purpose in a growing town like Southend. The restaurants on the Fossetts Farm site will also be of the chain variety, such as TFI Fridays/Chimichanga, and again the town centre/seafront area is better suited to smaller, independent outlets.

Let's not forget that Southend town centre has a massive geographical advantage to other High Streets - its proximity to the seafront, which attracts thousands of people to the town. If travelling by train, you must pass through at least part of the High Street to get there. You also have the University of Essex building and the new Forum driving people to the immediate High Street area. My belief is a retail/restaurant area in the north of what is now a town of 200,000 people (and has 750,000 living within 15 minutes' drive) will not damage the High Street.

The cinema at Fossetts Farm will be popular. Out of town cinemas such as this are preferred to those in town centre locations due to ease of access, free parking and proximity to places to eat. Also, unfortunately, many people do not enjoy the High Street environment of an evening, due to fear of crime (I do not believe this fear is justified in Southend, but it still stops people using the Odeon). At the moment, you are seeing a large number of people in south Essex driving to Festival Leisure Park for these very reasons. Fossetts Farm would keep trade in the borough and attract visitors from surrounding districts like Rochford and Castle Point into the town. As a former Hockley resident, I would have welcomed something like this a few years ago when I was younger!

With regard to the housing element, the Government has made clear the need to provide new housing in the East of England. With the airport expansion and a new Saxon Business Park coming to the area soon, attracting thousands of high-skilled jobs, these people will need somewhere to live. Southend has a high population density in its central areas. Therefore it makes sense to build new residential units on brownfield sites on the edges of the town. Fossetts Farm is one of the only locations remaining in the borough which is suitable. I am sure the councils of south Essex do not want vast swathes of green belt turned into housing. The plan seems to have incorporated the large blocks cleverly into the overall stadium design, which means they would be unobtrusive.

I attended the exhibition at Roots Hall in October and was impressed by the overall scheme. It has been designed well, with matchday parking strategically located to provide three clear entrance and exit routes - Fossetts Way for those heading to the east of the town, north on Sutton Road for those heading towards Hockley/Rochford, and south on Sutton Road towards central Southend. Shoppers/cinema visitors and football fans have been kept apart well by the design and the tree-lined walkway to the stadium itself looks a fabulous feature. My personal opinion is that this latest scheme is better than the ones presented in 1999 and in 2006 for the above reasons although I must admit I preferred the previous stadium design.

As for transport, the site is slightly further from Prittlewell station than Roots Hall is, but not enough to make a difference for those that travel by train. It would be far easier for the not insignificant numbers of fans who travel from Rochford or Hockley, who could travel along Sutton Road without having to negotiate Cuckoo Corner. While the dualling of Priory Crescent would be ideal, there are other ways to access the development, via East Street/Sutton Road if coming from the A127 or the A13, and via Fossetts Way if travelling from the east of town.

The other element of the scheme that must be mentioned are the all-weather domes. To be able to buy the David Beckham Academy was a wonderful coup and it is vital that youngsters in this part of Southend have all-weather pitches to utilise. You only have to look at the success of the Goals complex near Roots Hall, which is full every week, to see the demand for this type of facility. The FA is keen to provide 3G 11-a-side pitches and as far as I am aware, there are only a handful in the south Essex area.

Finally, the importance of Southend United to the town cannot be overstated. Opponents will argue that the club's gates don't warrant such a stadium. I disagree. The last thirty years of the club's history have been blighted by financial problems and off-field issues. Despite climbing as high as the second tier, we have always been held back from going further and gates have reflected that. But during the most recent spell in the Championship, Roots Hall was full every week. The town is a similar size to Swansea, Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Blackburn. All of these clubs attract gates of 20,000 or more regularly. If Southend United were to achieve success (and there is no reason why they should not under the current set-up), they would be held back by Roots Hall, which is no longer fit for purpose. The club's future at Roots Hall is of a team in the lower echelons of English football, it could not sustain even a second tier side for long.

A Premier League football team would give an immeasurable boost to the town. More curious visitors flying into London Southend, fewer football fans choosing to get the train to London on a Saturday afternoon and more spending money in the town, not to mention the prestige. It may not happen at Fossetts Farm, that much is down to the club. But it certainly could never happen at Roots Hall.

Overall, I understand why some people in the town may have concerns about this large scheme. However, this land has been earmarked for a new Southend United stadium since at least 1996. The enabling development is required for it to be built privately (we are not lucky enough to have our stadium provided for us by the taxpayer, unlike certain other football clubs not a million miles away). It has been well-designed and will provide vital housing and amenities for those living all over the town, not just in the north east of the town, and the surrounding area.

I hope you will take these views into account. Thanks for your time.

 

[Pubey]

Good email Jai, and nice dig at the end!:smile:

 

[RHB]

Thanks for sharing Jai, good that you kept it short.:winking:

 

[Jai]

Thanks for sharing Jai, good that you kept it short.:winking:

This is what happens to me on Saturdays with no football.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

having been involved with the proposals for the Grand even going to a planning committe and ranting at the committee and the protestors and writing quite a few letters of support I always found it interesting that in planners' eyes and probably the regulations is that a planning application stands or falls on its merits. Views for and against carry little weight although those against if backed up with facts relating to regs/law seem to be given more weight.
Anyway. Please all write in. If it fails you can legitimately say you did all you could. Jai's post is excellent as it points out the benefits but also how it fits in with government policy and local plans.
Frankly any council who takes itself seriously should approve this plan. The fact the High Street is dying is nothing to do with FF. In fact the Council can take some of the blame with their bonkers parking policies.

 

[kentblues]

So I have received a response below..

Let's hope that the input is from Southend fans supporting the club rather than the opponents of the scheme- frankly should be the former if passion transfers to action

Dear Gareth

Thank you for your email. We have had an overwhelming response to Cllr Ron Woodley's article in this month's Oracle. I will be forwarding all of these emails to Cllr Woodley
as the opinion is too strong to ignore.

Many Thanks,
Emma Wynne-Morgan

 

[OldBlueLady]

So I have received a response below..

Let's hope that the input is from Southend fans supporting the club rather than the opponents of the scheme- frankly should be the former if passion transfers to action

Dear Gareth

Thank you for your email. We have had an overwhelming response to Cllr Ron Woodley's article in this month's Oracle. I will be forwarding all of these emails to Cllr Woodley
as the opinion is too strong to ignore.

Many Thanks,
Emma Wynne-Morgan

Yep, I received the same email response, and well done Jai, a much longer epistle than mine!!!

 

[kentblues]

Let's hope that the opinion that 'is too strong to ignore' is ours!!!!

 

[BrettieAngell]

Sent mine.