Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?

[DrillingCobbler]

Can anyone explain the land under CDNL control after the lease surrender as the blue zone does not appear to match up with the huge swathe of land that Cardoza was planning on?

This appears to open a new can of worms.

Are Bower and Thomas going to spend £4million of their own money to finish the East Stand?

What is the status of their masterplan for wider land use which may or may not include what Clarkeysntfc described as

"KT and his group have proposed multiple options for developing the land around the stadium from retail to offices, distribution sheds etc etc. They have also provided proven funding of £ millions."

How does any masterplan tie in with NBC's declaration that

"Neither the 2004 Lease or the lease granted to CDNL in 2013 enable either party to carry out a commercial development of the relevant land due to restrictions in the terms of the leases. If this is to happen there will need to be a separate negotiation between the respective tenants and the Council, who will need to ensure that in agreeing any changes, that the requirements of S.123 of the Local Government Act (1972) to achieve best value are met."

What are Bower and Thomas' short-medium term intentions to fund the football club?

Im glad someone has stated all of this.

Lets see the colour of their money first and a nice new brand spanking East Stand before any 'constructive questioning' is waived. Although I suspect the 85% is back on board for the time being!!!

What we can confidently assume is that the Land fruit machine isn't going to pay out until a further 3-4 million quid is chucked into it (stand and covering losses for the next year). If KT gets the builders in like he always said he would, no questions asked, then I will be the first person to jump back on board with his 'short term vision' for the Football Club. If he doesn't then it will confirm what Im currently thinking.

[BedsCobb]

Im glad someone has stated all of this.

Lets see the colour of their money first and a nice new brand spanking East Stand before any 'constructive questioning' is waived. Although I suspect the 85% is back on board for the time being!!!

What we can confidently assume is that the Land fruit machine isn't going to pay out until a further 3-4 million quid is chucked into it (stand and covering losses for the next year). If KT gets the builders in like he always said he would, no questions asked, then I will be the first person to jump back on board with his 'short term vision' for the Football Club. If he doesn't then it will confirm what Im currently thinking.

My thinking is now that the land ownership/leases issues have been sorted, we could more easily be sold , which may be best for all parties.
Other than promises for a few boxes which were probably subjected to enabling lands that now appear to extend little further than the 8 lanes of running track, its unlikely we will see anything any time soon.
We need owners willing to talk things up and work with the whole Town  and the supporters of the football club to get things moving, unfortunately KT has been very stand alone and quick to play down the very things that constantly hold back our club, lack of capacity leading to subsequent growth.

[Grove]

In my simplistic terms as a council tax payer and a season ticket holder, kelvin Thomas has done very well for HIMSELF AND DAVID BOWER so far, lets see what he does for US

[Monty]

My thinking is now that the land ownership/leases issues have been sorted, we could more easily be sold , which may be best for all parties.
Other than promises for a few boxes which were probably subjected to enabling lands that now appear to extend little further than the 8 lanes of running track, its unlikely we will see anything any time soon.
We need owners willing to talk things up and work with the whole Town  and the supporters of the football club to get things moving, unfortunately KT has been very stand alone and quick to play down the very things that constantly hold back our club, lack of capacity leading to subsequent growth.

Any time soon is not really the issue though, Beds. I don't think anyone can really argue with your idea that to sustain high-end L1 football we should be looking at averaging 9k+ crowds, and to do that requires a 12k+ stadium. I'm happy with baby steps - a more functional ground with boxes/conference facilities but still sub 8k capacity may well be fine for this season - we don't necessarily need new owners for that. Should we (hopefully) get to L1 in the near future then we can see where KT et al go from there.

[JollyCobbler]

so reading that report, and looking at the map...

Kt does not seem to have been full of it, and on a land grab mission?

What do the detractors think about that?

Well, fair does I can understand why KT & co wanted this area returned to NTFC, and fair play for having achieved this. I can even sort of accept their version of events that they "acquired the CDNL land leases to protect the football club". However, it doesn't alter the fact they agreed a MoU with NBC, in which NBC planned on recovering all the land issued to CDNL, and they then leapfrogged the Council to get control of those leases.

So, as it stands, any issue affecting NTFC's build on that plot is now resolved. However, KT & Bower now hold leases for land on which several twenty-million plus offers have already been received - and this was just for the land, so imagine the potential profit margin.

KT will have to work with the Council to forward any development of the much larger plot, so hopefully a deal can still be struck wherein the Council are quids in (including recovering an additional 10 million). If a full land development goes ahead I would like to see the East pulled down and rebuilt to decent specs, though I suspect it'll be a cold day in Hell.
Personally, I wouldn't rule out CDNL (current owners) just offloading the land for a hefty profit and vacating all things Northampton.

The way I see it the jury is still out. If NBC and KT/DB all make good money, and the club end up with a better stadium with realistically improved capacity, then Kelvin Thomas becomes a hero and will go down as a bit of a legend. If we end up back in the basement division with a ****-pit East Stand, and KT/DB bail with a hefty profit achieved by gazumping NBC to those leases, well, that'd tell us all we needed to know.

Over to you, Kelvin.

[clarkeysntfc]

I hope all of those people who were accusing KT and his group of being on a land grab or trying to fleece the council are submitting apologies to him directly.

[Teachers Pet]

I hope all of those people who were accusing KT and his group of being on a land grab or trying to fleece the council are submitting apologies to him directly.

Well said. Some even accused him of being as bad if not worse than David Cardoza 

[cobblerwatch]

I hope all of those people who were accusing KT and his group of being on a land grab or trying to fleece the council are submitting apologies to him directly.

Unlikely, knowing human nature - still quite a lot of wait and see that will be used before the rhetoric finally (hopefully for NTFC) fades away.

[Grove]

Lets see what he does with the land before hailing him as the second coming

[Monty]

I hope all of those people who were accusing KT and his group of being on a land grab or trying to fleece the council are submitting apologies to him directly.

Well, I'm a big KT fan in the absence of anything or anyone better, and hope that his stay at the Cobblers is a long and successful one - but isn't it the truth that he's grabbed some land and gazumped the council already?

[St Edmundsbury Cobbler]

The council are that stupid they deserve all that they get.

[everbrite]

The council are that stupid they deserve all that they get.

The Council may have made mistakes but to call them stupid is a bit narrowminded.  I am no great fan of the Council but they, in fact, saved us back in the dark days pre KT. I am grateful for that. You should be also.

[St Edmundsbury Cobbler]

On the back of managing to lose £10 million which they've never been able to explain, have no idea where it went and will never ever recover. Only a stupid council would lend an organisation £10m for it to be siphoned off elsewhere.

[southofthecounty]

On the back of managing to lose £10 million which they've never been able to explain, have no idea where it went and will never ever recover. Only a stupid council would lend an organisation £10m for it to be siphoned off elsewhere.

Stupid isn't the only option.

[everbrite]

On the back of managing to lose £10 million which they've never been able to explain, have no idea where it went and will never ever recover. Only a stupid council would lend an organisation £10m for it to be siphoned off elsewhere.

I don't necessarily disagree with all your sentiments. I still think it is somewhat harsh to call them stupid; as mentioned before they saved us when some Councils may not have been so 'constructive'.  Anyway its just an opinion as is yours. The word I would have used is chaotic or even inept.

[JollyCobbler]

The council are that stupid they deserve all that they get.

Just because someone is stupid it doesn't give you the right to rob them.

[EssTeeFree]

Just because someone is stupid it doesn't give you the right to rob them.

There's a lot of people making assumptions (good and bad) about what KT wants to do with this land he 'robbed' from the council, perhaps best to see what he does once the other lease issues are (hopefully) resolved this week.

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, apologies if so, but surely it is better that it was KT & DB who made a jump on the council to acquire CDNL and their associated leases, rather than another party doing so. This whole situation has been complicated enough, image if a third party was involved.

If (and it is a big If) Thomas remains true to his word about not being interested in large scale development then whatever 'other' leases are held by CDNL will be surrendered to the council, once the club are protected. Should that happen that is probably as good a solution for all parties that could have come from this sorry mess.

Interesting week ahead...

[cobblertone]

I don't necessarily disagree with all your sentiments. I still think it is somewhat harsh to call them stupid; as mentioned before they saved us when some Councils may not have been so 'constructive'.  Anyway its just an opinion as is yours. The word I would have used is chaotic or even inept.

Forget Sixfields....what about successive councils who are taking the town down the pan with poor and bizarre decision making? Chaotic, inept, incompetent, the list goes on. I’m sure some stronger misdemeanours, which I’ll leave for the armchair sleuths.
Sky high town centre rates, not giving businesses a chance. No forward planning for the bus station site. Terrible design of traffic flow. I do feel feel sorry for the majority of council staff too who work under the umbrella of redundancy or poor pay rises. They will be no different to a lot of local councils around the country but several wrongs don’t make a right.

[memyhead]

I know the council are (hopefully!) agreeing to the lease surrender this Wednesday, but the reporter who broke this news via Twitter on Friday, said there was also some other meeting regarding this today I believe...

Craig Lewis
Land next to Northampton Town FC’s East Stand looks set to be transferred by Northampton Borough Council to the club.
The move will be discussed by the authority on Monday.

[JollyCobbler]

There's a lot of people making assumptions (good and bad) about what KT wants to do with this land he 'robbed' from the council, perhaps best to see what he does once the other lease issues are (hopefully) resolved this week.

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, apologies if so, but surely it is better that it was KT & DB who made a jump on the council to acquire CDNL and their associated leases, rather than another party doing so. This whole situation has been complicated enough, image if a third party was involved.

If (and it is a big If) Thomas remains true to his word about not being interested in large scale development then whatever 'other' leases are held by CDNL will be surrendered to the council, once the club are protected. Should that happen that is probably as good a solution for all parties that could have come from this sorry mess.

Interesting week ahead...

My response to St Edmund was a general reply and not specifically aimed at KT. Someone's (anyone's) stupidity isn't just cause for robbing them.

On your other points, I agree. I've already stated that I can understand why KT took the action he did, if it was to safeguard the club - nevertheless, it was still underhand.
What worries me more is Clarkey, who claims to be ITK and yet is calling for everyone to apologize to KT, while making such declarations as: "KT and his group have proposed multiple options for developing the land around the stadium from retail to offices, distribution sheds etc etc. They have also provided proven funding of £ millions."

Presumably this multiple-options-development is on land intended to benefit the finances of Northampton tax payers, right? Although, as you've said, KT previously declared he had no interest in large scale development. So let's see who benefits down the line. For now, the jury is still out.