New ground update?

[Tommy2holes]

I remember the Cluny Loonies back in the day.
What's it like around there now?

Still fairly rough but loads of surrounding streets that are just a few mins walk away.

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

In some respects not surprising given the saga we've all had to endure to get to this point, but most of the objections raised in this thread are either from a position of ignorance or simply a matter of personal taste (which I imagine has been somewhat clouded by the all-consuming hatred some espouse for Ron).

Firstly, this is absolutely nothing new. For anyone who has been paying attention (and thanks to a few dedicated posters who go through each iteration of the planning docs, and contribute to some v interesting discussions in the Fossets section of the forum), the news of a reduced capacity and flats replacing the hotel was thoroughly discussed back in September of last year.

A capacity of over 16,000 will absolutely be more than sufficient for us in almost every conceivable future scenario. We can, with good new ownership, strong management, and some luck establish ourselves as a L1 club with championship ambitions with the stadium as proposed in these plans. Anything higher than that is a) pretty damn unlikely - honestly go and look at the names of the clubs at the top of L1 right now and tell me which ones you think we ought to be competing with; and b) attendance numbers start to diminish in importance given the obscene TV deals in the Prem and filtering down to the Championship. 16k+ is more than enough.

Secondly, complaints over the phasing are, as far as I can tell, driven by a blind pessimistic presumption that nothing good can ever come of this development (understandable given the tribulations over the years). But things have changed. The training ground has been developed. The club is for sale. The council want their thousands of new homes. This is going to happen now. And the idea that any new owner waiting in the wings to buy us because of our potential is going to be happy to plod along with us in a 3-sided stadium with its main stand and revenue generator missing in perpetuity seems a bit unlikely. Even after phase 1, the 3 stands will give us significantly more revenue streams, fewer overheads and a much more pleasant experience than the current state of Roots Hall.

And please, if you are still talking about us having no revenue streams because the hotel has been dropped, do yourself and everyone else a favour and find some of @C'mon you Shrimpers posts in the stadium section, because he has done the work for you. There are bars, cafes, food outlets, boxes, ballrooms, and space that can be tailored for whatever the new owners have in mind (office space etc.).

In terms of the design of the stadium itself - it looks pretty good to me, but appreciate that is down to personal taste. Safe standing to create a proper home end will be great, and I actually don't mind the flats built into the main stand. It gives a sense of scale to the ground that we could never achieve through seating alone as we'll never need a 40/50k stadium.

Finally, and probably most disappointingly, the frequent complaints in this thread about this being a housing development with a stadium built on, or us being stuck in a 'ghetto' (from posters with a dubious history of talking about ethnicity of our prospective new neighbours). Honestly, get a ****ing grip. We're currently sitting on a former rubbish dump down Vic Avenue, it's hardly the Ritz. Football stadiums should be in amongst housing, it's where up until 20 years ago, they've always been. Give me this over a stadium attached to a drab and dying retail park any day.

Having lived for a few years in the Olympic Village in Stratford, and actually looked at the Residential plans for this development unlike some of the critics, these modern developments really aren't this eyesore people are thinking of. They are generally quite well designed, have cafes/shops on the ground level and multiple green spaces. I genuinely think in 5/10 years time this will be a desirable part of Southend to be in, and with the right ownership we will be able to take advantage of thousands of new prospective fans right on our doorstep.

I know the last few years have been incredibly depressing for all of us, but really please do try to tone down the 'everything is **** and I hate it' stuff around the stadium. Provided the sale of the club goes well, we've got plans in place for a really bright future, and when we eventually get there I do think the vast majority will be delighted with it.

I smell a rat...me thinks the chairman doth protest too much.

 

[Cockle43]

There will be bars and a fan plaza at the fossetts.

It's only about another 5 mins walk from prittlewell station than it is to Roots Hall, so it's hardly out in the middle of nowhere.

According to Google Earth it is about 100 yards further from Prittlewell Station to Fossetts than it is from Prittlewell Station to the West stand entrance in Shakespeare Drive so not that big a difference.

With regard to parking around Cluny Square and environs the local residents have been previously promised match day parking restrictions akin to those around the Stadium of Light at Sunderland, residents only from 3 hours before kick off.

 

[overseas shrimper]

Basildon Dons?

Basil Dons

Has a continental twist to it.

 

[Sunnyshrimper]

The long awaited new stadium being built should be a time of excitement and yet it feels so thoroughly depressing to see this greedy b*stard continue to renege on his promises, deliver the bare minimum to satisfy the approvers and line his own pockets. He can do what he wants with the Roots Hall site, build a huge estate of flats and make loads of money but anyone with decency would have honored the original, or something close to those, plans at Fossetts Farm. Agree with many on here, we don’t need a 22,000 seater now but we may need more than 16,000 in future, more realistically that could be 15 years from now sustaining Championship level football rather than the next 5. That requires thinking bigger and better with sight also of the medium to long term, something Ron seems to focus little on given our constant shortsightedness with HMRC, underfunding and scraping by season upon season, embargo after embargo. The proposal has become progressively smaller, and less impressive, less future-proof losing the ability to increase capacity easily. (See MK Dons stadium as one good example of how to do it properly, less commercially viable for football club (the no concerts mentioned due to noise for residents, no rent from commercial units / on site hotel, no conference facilities etc and he continues to show such disregard and disrespect to our fans and the club. It has gone from crown jewel to inconvenient bolt on to his housing development. Can’t wait till he foxtrot oscars off for good but a shambles if this is allowed to progress as revised plans show.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I smell a rat...me thinks the chairman doth protest too much.

What a really poor response to what was an excellent post.

Whilst you, and no doubt many, will disagree with it, you could at least respond with a proper response/debate instead of what is becoming the norm on here unfortunately.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

I'd imagine a fair few might be first time buyers either renting or living with parents. Not everyone moving to Southend will have sold up their house in London to move here

Having had 2 next door neighbours moving from London and coining the difference in house prices they are much more likely to move to Leigh than Fossets Farm.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

What a total load of deluded drivel. Mr Martin could not have written this nonsense any more succinct. I can't even begin to reply to the above post without derision

Why not try? This appeared to be a well though out piece that deserves more than an accusation that the poster is deluded. If you disagree with what the poster says then point out where and why.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

I smell a rat...me thinks the chairman doth protest too much.

This is becoming a tiresome response whenever a post doesn't adhere to the anti-ron rhetoric on here. If you don't agree then you must be RM posting under an assumed identity.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

Just for accuracy and I suppose it depends what you consider conference facilities but in my view the ballroom in the main North stand which can be split into 3 is well able to cope. Add to that the 16 boxes/meeting rooms and it sounds like a decent venue.
The South stand has a cafe/ restaurant near the club shop near the "hospitality entrance" and a further cafe/restaurant plus terrace that is called the South residential hospitality. I personally would like the ground to be bigger but the facilities are there. With imagination from the commercial department there is money to be made.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

can we close this threacd ?

13 pages about an empty greenfield and some pretty pictures.

Meanwhile we have been robbed of our club and left with a team of below national league level players in a stadium that is being left to fall down ....

 

[Tommy2holes]

can we close this threacd ?

13 pages about an empty greenfield and some pretty pictures.

Meanwhile we have been robbed of our club and left with a team of below national league level players in a stadium that is being left to fall down ....

I think it's an important aspect of the clubs future and highly debatable subject. You can always click the ignore button.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

According to Google Earth it is about 100 yards further from Prittlewell Station to Fossetts than it is from Prittlewell Station to the West stand entrance in Shakespeare Drive so not that big a difference.

Yes but what about those are on the Fenchurch St line into Central and access the ground fron the East?

 

[Tommy2holes]

Yes but what about those are on the Fenchurch St line into Central and access the ground fron the East?

You get off and Southend east and arguably fossetts is closer or just as close as central or westcliff is to Roots Hall.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

You get off and Southend east and arguably fossetts is closer or just as close as central or westcliff is to Roots Hall.

When you say Fossetts - are you talking about the edge of the housing estate or the actual stadium entrance?

There are also no direct trains to Southend East for those on the Tilbury loop and fewer trains for those on the main line.

 

[The Late One]

When you say Fossetts - are you talking about the edge of the housing estate or the actual stadium entrance?

There are also no direct trains to Southend East for those on the Tilbury loop and fewer trains for those on the main line.

IF it ever gets built give it a couple of years and you would be taking your life in your hands going through that housing estate

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Those commenting on the size , we need to remember that the stadium will be here for decades, not just the next few years.

Re concerts, the club has said before that we would NOT get permission for concerts because of the proximity of the housing development

It’s all very depressing

The plan is for smaller gigs in the 1000 seat conference room. Also, xmas parties are a massive revebue stream. Talking to Tom, Gills made 800,000k profit on xmas parties in December when he was CEO there

 

[Tommy2holes]

When you say Fossetts - are you talking about the edge of the housing estate or the actual stadium entrance?

There are also no direct trains to Southend East for those on the Tilbury loop and fewer trains for those on the main line.

Almost all mainline trains on c2c go to Shoeburyness via Southend east. I've checked the timetable for saturdays and they do go there.

There is also the welcome bonus of various pubs on southchurch road to stop at on the way for a pint.

Looking at a walking app.

Central station to Roots Hall is 1.3 miles and about a 20 min walk.

East to fossetts is roughly 1.5 miles and 25 min walk.

Again, from prittlewell, which is the main station for blues, there is literally a 5 minute difference in walking.

I, therefore don't subscribe that Fossetts is out in the middle of nowhere or is much harder to access.

 

[edwardss2]

With imagination from the commercial department there is money to be made.

I can't even get the club to reply to a simple email query. Now we are requiring imagination as well...

 

[Whispering Bob]

The plan is for smaller gigs in the 1000 seat conference room. Also, xmas parties are a massive revebue stream. Talking to Tom, Gills made 800,000k profit on xmas parties in December when he was CEO there

My Sister lives near the Amex. A teacher, she is always there on courses/for seminars. They host all kinds of events, Wedding fairs etc.