• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

Echo News Southend United smaller Fossetts Farm stadium plans held up (Feb 23)

We have submitted detailed plans for the revisions - theres 14 pages with 10 documents on each page on the council website!

Having been through the planning process before on a residential build, I'd suggest it's not the same for everyone.
Really depends on who you know as to how fast and how flexible the council can be.

I think this has even been classed as a delegated decision, councillors probably won't even vote on it!

The council hasn't disclosed what further info they require - that'd be interesting to know.

Having done something similar, I trust our council less than Ron. Like solicitors in a house move they are experts in blaming the other side. Even when I caught them lying over paperwork I had to withdraw at my expense and the project was delayed......No one is ever accountable even when guilty of fraud or gross misconduct let alone incompetence.

Still just like Sainsbury's they have been making mugs of Southend fans for years and sadly still do.
 
In fairness to Ron, this time I think it's because the hotel chain pulled out. Without them there was no funding for the main stand. He hasn't got the money to fund it himself so instead he's added residential units that will pay for the stand. That, unfortunately, has led to a reduction in capacity.

If only we had a chairman that could actually afford to build the stadium.
With the hotel chain conveniently dropping out just after planning for the new stadium was granted, I understand his reasoning for wanting to change the planning permission to make it self funding. However in seeking this change he has materially altered the main stand by reducing the stadium capacity by over 4,000 seats, so our capacity is less than 17,000. This is unacceptable. If he has lost the finance from a hotel chain, then replace it with an individual/consortium who will invest the money needed to complete the stadium as passed. There will hotel chains that would be interested in running the hotel on a leased basis rather than providing the finance to build it. It all comes down to Ron accepting that he needs a new investor/consortium to fund the club/new stadium. In return they will want control of the club and stadium, but they will make sure he walks off into the sunset a rich man. For goodness sake Ron swallow your pride, be less greedy and do what is in the club’s interests for once.
 
With the hotel chain conveniently dropping out just after planning for the new stadium was granted, I understand his reasoning for wanting to change the planning permission to make it self funding. However in seeking this change he has materially altered the main stand by reducing the stadium capacity by over 4,000 seats, so our capacity is less than 17,000. This is unacceptable. If he has lost the finance from a hotel chain, then replace it with an individual/consortium who will invest the money needed to complete the stadium as passed. There will hotel chains that would be interested in running the hotel on a leased basis rather than providing the finance to build it. It all comes down to Ron accepting that he needs a new investor/consortium to fund the club/new stadium. In return they will want control of the club and stadium, but they will make sure he walks off into the sunset a rich man. For goodness sake Ron swallow your pride, be less greedy and do what is in the club’s interests for once.

5/6000 in a 16000 capacity will be far better than a 21,000.

With no hotel the plans would have to change anyway.....Mythical small percentage consortiums or not
 
I thought I had read somewhere that either Ron or Tom had said that the tenders for the Stadium were due due on 28th January or had I just dreamed this up?
Any one heard anything?
It’s not you all us supporters have to dream things up at the moment with our clown 🤡 chairman
 
5/6000 in a 16000 capacity will be far better than a 21,000.

With no hotel the plans would have to change anyway.....Mythical small percentage consortiums or not
If you read my post it suggests we should go ahead with a hotel but fund it from new owners that actually have the money and then lease it to a hotel chain. However it does mean Ron will need to speak to individuals/consortium who want to be involved rather than everything being changed to what he can afford. With the right owner/consortium we can really go places and would need a 21,000 capacity stadium with our catchment area.
At this precise moment in time IMHO Ron would struggle to have a garden shed built if they asked for the money up front.
 
With the hotel chain conveniently dropping out just after planning for the new stadium was granted, I understand his reasoning for wanting to change the planning permission to make it self funding. However in seeking this change he has materially altered the main stand by reducing the stadium capacity by over 4,000 seats, so our capacity is less than 17,000. This is unacceptable. If he has lost the finance from a hotel chain, then replace it with an individual/consortium who will invest the money needed to complete the stadium as passed. There will hotel chains that would be interested in running the hotel on a leased basis rather than providing the finance to build it. It all comes down to Ron accepting that he needs a new investor/consortium to fund the club/new stadium. In return they will want control of the club and stadium, but they will make sure he walks off into the sunset a rich man. For goodness sake Ron swallow your pride, be less greedy and do what is in the club’s interests for once.
Makes sense to me. It would be a bit of a risk though, if you don't get anyone to lease the hotel...
 
If you read my post it suggests we should go ahead with a hotel but fund it from new owners that actually have the money and then lease it to a hotel chain. However it does mean Ron will need to speak to individuals/consortium who want to be involved rather than everything being changed to what he can afford. With the right owner/consortium we can really go places and would need a 21,000 capacity stadium with our catchment area.
At this precise moment in time IMHO Ron would struggle to have a garden shed built if they asked for the money up front.

Once the council rushed through their own Seaway development, then there was always going to be further problems and delay with FF.

If you don't have a cinema the food outlets wont open and therefore the retail at FF was dead.

Thats why they have withdrawn from the hotel deal. No one will invest in a hotel in that part of town with just houses around.

When it comes to football we are London on sea. So catchment means nothing.

We could in our widest dreams become mid table Championship. Years of soulless half empty stadium promotions in the hope that we fill FF with away fans and plastic cokneys who's fat children want a couple of local games......If we ever get that miserable, I wont be going place, then the capacity can be upped if needed
 
If you read my post it suggests we should go ahead with a hotel but fund it from new owners that actually have the money and then lease it to a hotel chain. However it does mean Ron will need to speak to individuals/consortium who want to be involved rather than everything being changed to what he can afford. With the right owner/consortium we can really go places and would need a 21,000 capacity stadium with our catchment area.
At this precise moment in time IMHO Ron would struggle to have a garden shed built if they asked for the money up front.
Why would we ‘need’ a 21,000 capacity stadium when at best we will be top half L1/bottom half Championship? Brentford are in the Premier League and only built a 17,000 capacity stadium.
 
5/6000 in a 16000 capacity will be far better than a 21,000.

With no hotel the plans would have to change anyway.....Mythical small percentage consortiums or not
I do agree with this, but its the principle that he's not done it because it makes more sense, he's done it to build more housing and make more money, and put the whole future of the club on the line to make a few quid more.
 
I do agree with this, but its the principle that he's not done it because it makes more sense, he's done it to build more housing and make more money, and put the whole future of the club on the line to make a few quid more.

Like i say the council rushed through Seaway when the plans were on the back of fag packet......"never mind we will say yes and sort details later"

So we know for a 100% fact they can get there finger out when it suits. Plus its the council who wanted housing. Even under the BL scheme there was going to be two tower blocks as part of the stadium

With less match day traffic and alterations to the delayed, some say never, 4th stand there is no real reason way it cant be started. It will be in the same place with same footprint.
 
Why would we ‘need’ a 21,000 capacity stadium when at best we will be top half L1/bottom half Championship? Brentford are in the Premier League and only built a 17,000 capacity stadium.
Erm, have you seen the location of their stadium? Might give you a clue why it holds only 17,000…
 
I can probably shed a bit of light on the hotel saga, having undertaken feasibility studies for hotel development in the past. I can confirm that very, very few hotel buildings are actually owned by the chain occupying/managing them and rarely do they get involved with funding a new hotel building. In respect of FF, I would guess (and it is only a guess) that Hilton was prepared to either lease the proposed hotel or to have it operated on a franchise basis with a share of the profits going to the building owner. Having such an agreement signed up for a fixed term with a reputable company, it would have enabled the developer to borrow the required capital for construction of the building with security provided by the lease/franchise income.

As I understand it, the official reason cited for Hilton pulling away from the FF site is they preferred to have a hotel closer to Southend airport. However, as Rigsby has said above, the changed nature of the whole development to residential makes it no longer a desirable location for a hotel chain. Once a chain has rejected a particular location it has the effect of deterring the interest of other players in the industry so it would be extremely unlikely for another hotel chain to be attracted. In this scenario RM has to find another way of financing the development of the fourth side of the stadium and hence the change to residential units.

As I said, the above is just my guess based upon past experience of hotel development projects. I would add also that it is not as simple as building a hotel and then finding a chain to manage it because every chain has its own corporate standards and many of those have to be designed in from the outset.
 
Why would we ‘need’ a 21,000 capacity stadium when at best we will be top half L1/bottom half Championship? Brentford are in the Premier League and only built a 17,000 capacity stadium.
I think it depends on who owns the club. For the last 35 odd years we have had 3 successive property developers who all bought the club for the development potential of the assets and in the last two cases a move to a new stadium. We have been dreadfully unlucky. In comparison Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Reading to name a few in the south have had owners that have put the advancement of the club first before their own interests. If we were fortunate enough post Ron to attract the right owners I would hope we would have the potential of those clubs mentioned above.
 
Back
Top