shrimptank
Coach
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2005
- Messages
- 941
Well, what an afternoon.
Myself, BLUEBLOOD and SUFCEssex got to the meeting and has to blag our way in and finally took our seats in the public gallery about 13.55.
There seemed to be a lot of totally pointless wasted time as the councillors, debated the finer details of the application. We were sitting near McCormack, Harrold and Hunt and there were a few sullen faces at times....though we could not work out if this was because of the onset of rigamortis, or the fact that they really didn't care about if the plans contained gross or net figures....whether "bulky items" would be sold in the retail outlets or if there would be a few trees planted in the car park!
Looking down on the procedings, and at the players lined up seated at the back, it was not hard to notice that JCR seemed to have nodded off, and that Freddy looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. AB lokoed rather interested, as did Flav's, and Brushy had the look of an OxBridge student attending a lecture.
About an hour into the meeting it seemed as though there was not going to be anything concrete sorted today as one by one the councillors ummd and arr'd about what appeared to the football fans amongst us to be the most trivial of things.
Then, the unspeakable happened...a propsal to deferr, seconded by another. OH my god, we could not believe it. It suddenly looked doomed. Then, from nowhere, up piped a voice of reason. I cant remember who he was, but he had declared an interest at the start of the meeting. He explained his view of how the club had moved forward, and how other town centres had fought back when "out of town" developments had sprung up.
Suddenly the mood lightened a bit - some positivity had come to town. Prior to this there was not a lot about! (Speaking of Prior, he was really listening intently!)
Then, one of the other councillors, no idea again of his name, (but it was long and began with a V and said he was a Man U fan) started talking. I do not know where his speech and vision came from, but when he stopped there was a tumultuous round of applause from pretty much everyone in the place, and the first proper cheers could be heard outside the building. He talked of International recognition of what we had recently acheived, and the way SOuthend as a town had been put on the world stage. Top Top Man!!!
The tide had turned in favour of the Blues.
They then had a few quiet moments while the Chair discussed a couple of points and then pointed out that he would second the proposal not to defer. Another top bloke!!
They voted on if the approval should be deferred and the show of hands was only 3 in favour, therefore we were set for the final vote to go ahead. When they asked for those against deferral, not only did the rest of the councillors raise their hands, but so did all the players and those of us fortunate enough to be in the public gallery.
Cue.... massive cheers heard vibrating from the waiting crowd of cold Shrimpers outside.
This time, the place was starting to buzz....ever JCR had awoken from his slumber!
Finally, the moment had arrived....... 13 - 0 the vote was, as you will all now be aware. There was NO indication that this would have been the case throught the entire meeting...13 - 0??? No Way. Prior to Cllr "V"s speech i thought it was going to be a "No" vote.
The excitement and relief was pure bliss. The hairs on the neck were standing to attention. The first step had FINALLY, FINALLY after so long trying, been given the green light.
The delight on Ron's face was certainly not hidden, and that of the fans outside was blindingly obvious to hear.
What a great day to be a Shrimper, and another step in the right direction for our beloved Southend United Football Club.
Myself, BLUEBLOOD and SUFCEssex got to the meeting and has to blag our way in and finally took our seats in the public gallery about 13.55.
There seemed to be a lot of totally pointless wasted time as the councillors, debated the finer details of the application. We were sitting near McCormack, Harrold and Hunt and there were a few sullen faces at times....though we could not work out if this was because of the onset of rigamortis, or the fact that they really didn't care about if the plans contained gross or net figures....whether "bulky items" would be sold in the retail outlets or if there would be a few trees planted in the car park!
Looking down on the procedings, and at the players lined up seated at the back, it was not hard to notice that JCR seemed to have nodded off, and that Freddy looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. AB lokoed rather interested, as did Flav's, and Brushy had the look of an OxBridge student attending a lecture.
About an hour into the meeting it seemed as though there was not going to be anything concrete sorted today as one by one the councillors ummd and arr'd about what appeared to the football fans amongst us to be the most trivial of things.
Then, the unspeakable happened...a propsal to deferr, seconded by another. OH my god, we could not believe it. It suddenly looked doomed. Then, from nowhere, up piped a voice of reason. I cant remember who he was, but he had declared an interest at the start of the meeting. He explained his view of how the club had moved forward, and how other town centres had fought back when "out of town" developments had sprung up.
Suddenly the mood lightened a bit - some positivity had come to town. Prior to this there was not a lot about! (Speaking of Prior, he was really listening intently!)
Then, one of the other councillors, no idea again of his name, (but it was long and began with a V and said he was a Man U fan) started talking. I do not know where his speech and vision came from, but when he stopped there was a tumultuous round of applause from pretty much everyone in the place, and the first proper cheers could be heard outside the building. He talked of International recognition of what we had recently acheived, and the way SOuthend as a town had been put on the world stage. Top Top Man!!!
The tide had turned in favour of the Blues.
They then had a few quiet moments while the Chair discussed a couple of points and then pointed out that he would second the proposal not to defer. Another top bloke!!
They voted on if the approval should be deferred and the show of hands was only 3 in favour, therefore we were set for the final vote to go ahead. When they asked for those against deferral, not only did the rest of the councillors raise their hands, but so did all the players and those of us fortunate enough to be in the public gallery.
Cue.... massive cheers heard vibrating from the waiting crowd of cold Shrimpers outside.
This time, the place was starting to buzz....ever JCR had awoken from his slumber!
Finally, the moment had arrived....... 13 - 0 the vote was, as you will all now be aware. There was NO indication that this would have been the case throught the entire meeting...13 - 0??? No Way. Prior to Cllr "V"s speech i thought it was going to be a "No" vote.
The excitement and relief was pure bliss. The hairs on the neck were standing to attention. The first step had FINALLY, FINALLY after so long trying, been given the green light.
The delight on Ron's face was certainly not hidden, and that of the fans outside was blindingly obvious to hear.
What a great day to be a Shrimper, and another step in the right direction for our beloved Southend United Football Club.