Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?

[Vintage Cobbler]

With the Council finally getting off its backside KT is now in a corner with no where to go on the East Stand so he had better come out into the open and share with us his exciting plans for the east side of ground, that is if in reality he has any plans.

The alternative version is that a big chunk of the so-called £4 million has been spent on sub-standard players, 3 hopeless managers and a desperate failed attempt to stay in L1 meaning the money has run out, Bower is saying no more £££ is available and they are open to offers.

[meccanostand]

£4 million is a red herring!!

In the original interview with the BBC after taking over the club, Thomas stated that there was £4 million "to finish the stand and provide working capital"

Bearing in mind the takeover was 2 and a half years ago now, how much of that £4m has been used to keep the club ticking over? There was the HMRC bill at the beginning to start with. What about the £1.1m "loaned" to the club in January? What about the work already done to get the stand in the position it is now (there were no seats in it when he took over were there?)

So he spends a million finishing off the stand and then say's he's done.......he'll have probably have carried out his original promise and nobody could complain!

I don't think KT ever said he'd spend £4m on the ground alone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34938496

Everything depends on the deal agreed with the Council on the takeover. Thomas and Bower were not the only interested parties so it stands to reason that they should and will honour that agreement.

"If you would have told a lot of people the deal we ended up with there would have been 50 people in the room. We were just there with a clear and concise proposal that said we will take the club on, we will invest the money to take it forward.

Has the Chinese debacle and the share buy-back eaten into funds available for infrastructure improvement? It also depends on whether they have capital in the millions to invest in the stand or whether monies are dependent on enabling funds via development of wider land.

For someone as careful with his words as Kelvin, again it stands to reason that the following will pan out or not in the case of wider enabling development.

"David Bower has probably come to the end of his property development cycle and even then probably not on the large scale that was going to be required if we were going to entertain the large scale commercial development on the other side of the East Stand".

[Deepcut Cobbler]

If theres an opportunity with regards to making money 'on the side' via development on land, Id like to see that money channelled towards the football club. Not KT, not Bower, Not DC, no one.

There's the difference between us and them. 
We are fans who want everything for the club, they are businessmen who would like to make money from the current thing that occupies their day before moving onto their next 'project'.

[ajp]

With the Council finally getting off its backside KT is now in a corner with no where to go on the East Stand so he had better come out into the open and share with us his exciting plans for the east side of ground, that is if in reality he has any plans.

The alternative version is that a big chunk of the so-called £4 million has been spent on sub-standard players, 3 hopeless managers and a desperate failed attempt to stay in L1 meaning the money has run out, Bower is saying no more £££ is available and they are open to offers.

Don't think you'll hear anything until the papers have been signed.

[meccanostand]

James Averill from the Trust covered the meeting. From his Twitter

"Cllr Tim Hadland: "There have been statements that this sort of paperwork was stopping the redevelopment of the East Stand. Am I correct in saying there is now absolutely nothing to stop the development of the stand?"

Council leader Jonathan Nunn: "Yes you are correct."

[BedsCobb]

James Averill from the Trust covered the meeting. From his Twitter

"Cllr Tim Hadland: "There have been statements that this sort of paperwork was stopping the redevelopment of the East Stand. Am I correct in saying there is now absolutely nothing to stop the development of the stand?"

Council leader Jonathan Nunn: "Yes you are correct."

Im sure they'll find some more tyres that need a kicking🤣

[FezNTFC]

James Averill from the Trust covered the meeting. From his Twitter

"Cllr Tim Hadland: "There have been statements that this sort of paperwork was stopping the redevelopment of the East Stand. Am I correct in saying there is now absolutely nothing to stop the development of the stand?"

Council leader Jonathan Nunn: "Yes you are correct."

Should point out now that I'm no longer on the Trust board as I stepped down ahead of taking on my new job - which is covering all the council meetings.

[clarkeysntfc]

James Averill from the Trust covered the meeting. From his Twitter

"Cllr Tim Hadland: "There have been statements that this sort of paperwork was stopping the redevelopment of the East Stand. Am I correct in saying there is now absolutely nothing to stop the development of the stand?"

Council leader Jonathan Nunn: "Yes you are correct."

Which is not strictly true because the legals need to be actually done before they can consider the issue closed.

All they have done is tell their legals to get on with it. Now we need them to come to the party and do their bit.

[Vintage Cobbler]

True, but as I keep saying not an excuse to prevent KT telling us his paying customers what lies in those plans he has kept hidden from us for over 2 years.

[unicobbler]

Has anyone contacted KT asking if/when he is going to release the plans and how long he expects the work to take?
If they are serious about finishing the stand (which I believe they are) then I would hope he has contractors etc ready to start when everything is finalised

[Wolvo]

Should point out now that I'm no longer on the Trust board as I stepped down ahead of taking on my new job - which is covering all the council meetings.

Hopefully you'll go undercover and find the missing millions.

[DrillingCobbler]

There's the difference between us and them. 
We are fans who want everything for the club, they are businessmen who would like to make money from the current thing that occupies their day before moving onto their next 'project'.

Im acutely aware of this, 100% in agreement.

Its for this very reason why nothing has happened in 15 odd years which has directly resulted in taking the football club forward. I would love to know why Mr Stonhill and his co-directors pre-Cardoza didn't try and head down the route that has been the road to nowhere since they left. Or maybe they did but didn't make it public? I say that because they were the last owners we had that were in it for love and not for money!

[DrillingCobbler]

True, but as I keep saying not an excuse to prevent KT telling us his paying customers what lies in those plans he has kept hidden from us for over 2 years.

His excuse for not releasing those plans already will be that the vast majority of his paying customers were totally happy that he didn't. And sadly still are. Thats why he's been given such an easy ride. Even now, a fan fair announcement as to what the plans are (if good) would definitely boost season ticket sales. Perhaps thats what he intends to do very imminently. I doubt it though!

[claretparrot]

I see your point, but the previous fanfare announcement(s) complete with fancy drawings etc. ended up being a series of false dawns.

If the plans exist and KT/DB enact them once the necessary paperwork is finally signed, I'll be content. Why go around shouting about plans that, as it stands, you're not in a position to implement?

[Vintage Cobbler]

His excuse for not releasing those plans already will be that the vast majority of his paying customers were totally happy that he didn't. And sadly still are. Thats why he's been given such an easy ride. Even now, a fan fair announcement as to what the plans are (if good) would definitely boost season ticket sales. Perhaps thats what he intends to do very imminently. I doubt it though!

You're right, Drilling about too many wanting, one way or another, to believe in KT but when you stand back and consider his time here I don't think it will be remembered with any great affection.  I am convinced he will be gone before long because he has run out of road. 

[barnabas]

There's the difference between us and them. 
We are fans who want everything for the club, they are businessmen who would like to make money from the current thing that occupies their day before moving onto their next 'project'.

Spot on.

Kelvin certainly has more options available to him following the Council resolution. But as others have said we wont hear anything until its all signed sealed and delivered.

I think his choices to make the money and move on are probably...

Option A - Sell the club with infrastructure as is. Once the land issues are finally sorted he could market it as a clean slate and an opportunity for someone to come in and shape the future. If he is thinking this way then we may see them cashing in on players as much as they can. He may even apply for planning permission for a conference centre or hotel or something else to make the club more saleable. He may also choose not to have a fire sale as a club near the top of league 2 or on the brink of promotion would be more saleable.

Option B - He sticks around for a while longer, does a basic completion of the East stand shell, bolts on a conference centre at the back, possibly with a hotel that could be sold off or franchised out to a hotel operator. Not sure that doing this makes financial sense if he's planning on selling up in the short to medium term.

Option C - Demolishes the East stand and build a stand/ conference / hotel / employment/ retail area on the land that is now available - you know the sort of thing that we should have got out of the original loan. that could make us a very sustainable club at League 1 level...or it could give the owners a larger financial return, albeit on a significant level of outlay.

Personally I'm not sure that he'll view any level of major expenditure as being worthwhile and it will be interesting to see what happens to CDNL as an entity and their remaining leaseholds in particular. So from a purely financial point of view Option A and riding off into the sunset with CDNL has to be his choice? Hopefully though he can see something bigger and better in the longer term as he's obviously an astute businessman.

Whatever happens he can rightly claim to have left the club in a better position than he found it - but its still a big opportunity lost on and off the field from where we could have been after promotion and scope to develop.

[BedsCobb]

I see your point, but the previous fanfare announcement(s) complete with fancy drawings etc. ended up being a series of false dawns.

If the plans exist and KT/DB enact them once the necessary paperwork is finally signed, I'll be content. Why go around shouting about plans that, as it stands, you're not in a position to implement?

They've  been happy on occasions  to ask the fans to push the nbc for what they need, so its not unthinkable that if/when these plans ever see the light of day, it will require lots of interactions with many different organisations  to make them work,
So just getting them out in the open for the Towns folk to see, get behind and be excited by will help push the ideas over the line,  has got to be a good thing and will help the feel good factor that drives a club forward.
Proposed plans are just that and no one will be held accountable should they genuinely fail to materialise immediately, they will be afforded some patience if we can see they are trying to do right by the club.

Big news must be on the horizon, I can sence it🤓

[cobblertone]

Proposed plans are just that and no one will be held accountable should they genuinely fail to materialise

I dunno, this proposed £4m figure still gets banded about years later. I think we need a re-quote on the actual amount to finish the stand. 

It is about time we had a pretty picture though. Remember the farce of the last ones?! Buried in the earlier pages.

[guest2487]

One thing is for certain, whatever happens people won't be happy and will moan. WHATEVER HAPPENS.

[JollyCobbler]

One thing is for certain, whatever happens people won't be happy and will moan. WHATEVER HAPPENS.

I don't think this is necessarily true. If the East had been completed to Cardoza's initial specification, good facilities and upping our capacity to almost 10,500. I doubt there's one person would have complained.