Redevelopment questions

[Terryfenwickatemyhamster]

A member of the board is due to meet with DC Re. The development.

They are happy to ask any salient non abusive questions about the current proposal.

If you want your question posed to DC. Please post it below...

[betamax toploader]

David, why did you show a proposed picture of the new East Stand, only to have it amended within weeks of its release? And why do you feel that it is acceptable to construct a stand with restricted views?
An answer without spin would be very much appreciated.

[ajp]

Are we having recaro sports seats in a new dugout, and a big tv in the corner showing the replays?

[hardingstone cobbler]

how much of the 12 million was spent on relocating the athletics club?

[Ectonteynfan]

Why did u say the new image would look the same as the first but with less seats when clearly I'd doesnt

[MKMal]

Why isn't the extension to the West stand for the Executive boxes a double storey building so that you can have bigger and better offices/facilities underneath? From the artists impression it looks like a portakabin on stilts rather than an integral part of the stand.

Surely it wouldn't have cost so much to fill in between the pillars?

[guest2090]

Please could we have a reasonable break down of where the money is being spent i.e. x on internal work in the west, x on the stilts, x on the east stand, x on the conference centre?

Are there likely to be any further changes to the plans and if not when will an accurate image of the proposed stands be shared.  If they may be changed, what is being considered and how long may it take?

How realistic is it that the east stand will be complete in 6 weeks for the start of the season?

Why has it taken so long to decide what to do, we have had the go ahead for the money since XXXXX and yet XXXX months later we are still unclear on what is being proposed/changes plans?

How much will a seat with restricted views cost?

What is your long term vision for the ground?  At what point do you propose to extend the capacity?  How will it be funded? and surely they go hand in hand, bigger ground, bigger crowds (more free tickets, cheap deals to schools), more success on the pitch?  Surely trying to be successful with one of the smallest grounds in the football league is going to be near on impossible?

[Whitedogdo]

The commercial importance of this project to club revenue and reputation is fully understood.
Therefore my question is why build a stand which will clearly not fully maximise both?

[sbedscobb]

Q1.
Why build the directors boxes at the expensive of the east stand development as first proposed?
It would be so easy to add the directors boxes later and use the boxes in the east temporarily?
Q2.
We have been very poor in the league over  many recent years which has a major consequence on the level of support which has been made worse with poor Marketing in the town.
My question is why have you used these facts as a casing point against a proper redevelopment which would give the club a chance to progress up the divisions and compete.
Do you not believe as a Town of 220,000 and 700,000 county inhabitants we are not capable of competing outside league 2?

[memyhead]

Q1 - Original plans for East Stand looked fantastic, why such a massive downgrade?

Q2 - Where will the "big screen" be located & will it also act as an electronic scoreboard? If not, any chance of trying to obtain the scoreboard currently sitting idle at Nene Park, to replace the embarrassing non working clock we currently have?

[Zen Master]

Considering the development hinges on utilising funds made available from the public purse would a tendering exercise within a set budget have shown greater transparency and achieved better results?

Is the East stand too far to walk to make use of a directors box over there?

Why don't the Saints have this trouble in stand design?

 

[CobblerForever]

With regard to the Restricted View seats;

1. How many are there ?

2. How "restricted" is the view (e.g. Corner flag on that side only ?, whole area involved ?). Please state minimum to maximum restriction.

3. What rules will apply regarding moving from restricted seats to unsold non-restricted seats.

4. Pricing ?

5. Will Restricted View seats only become available when all seats without restrictions are sold ?

[JollyCobbler]

A lack of spin would be appreciated:

Q1 - Given that the original plans for the East stand looked impressive, and it now looks frankly hideous, wouldn't it have made greater financial sense to have gone with the original build plan, and then used the revenue generated from the extra boxes in the East, to then finance the building of director's boxes in the West?

Q2 - Was the Sixfields redevelopment work, using monies loaned from public funds, put out to tender? If not, then why not?

Q3 - Can you give us a breakdown of exactly how much of the 7.5 million is being spent on the actual redevelopment, and in what areas exactly - given that some (how much?) is going towards re-housing the athletics club.

Q4 - The general consensus of opinion among the fans, based on the latest artist's impression, seems to be that we have jumped from a design that would grace the Championship, to a Conference standard option, and this suggests that a: you've opted for quantity over quality of build. And b: You no longer see the club as having potential to be anything other than a lower league operation. How would you respond to these two points?

Q5 - Given that you have previously talked of a 15000/25000 capacity Sixfields, does the alteration to the East stand allow for any further expansion of that stand?

Q6 - If the answer to Q5 is no, then doesn't this back up the previous claim that you no longer see NTFC as anything other than a lower league club?

Q7 - It was stressed as a major part of the original design, that the stadium could be easily expanded with added tiers. Did the club look into this before progressing the current plans? And what would it cost to put another tier on the North or South stands?

Q8 - How do you justify, with a budget of 12 million, building a stand with restricted viewing seats? This is not a 1920's build: In 2014 it is far from acceptable.

[guest49]

Q2 - Was the Sixfields redevelopment work, using monies loaned from public funds, put out to tender? If not, then why not?

Cllr David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council.
"The loan we are making to the football club is not money from the tax payer. As a public authority we have access to funds that the football club don't have and the developments will pay for the stadium improvement. Until then, this loan will allow the club to get started."

DC (not a real quote) "Yes it was."

[sbedscobb]

The Chairman has stated that it ' makes no business sense' to have enough capacity to allow us to compete at a higher level, but clubs like Peterboro, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Wimbledon, Brentford, Shrewsbury, Plymouth Hull Swansea Cardiff ..etc etc who all rightly believe differently and have got or getting a ground fit for promotions, why would he insist that Northampton Town are unworthy of a chance to progress by not using the NBC loan properly? Does he believe it better to compete at the lowest level while he is Chairman?

Why would he  claim that he will build extra capacity at a later date when there's plenty of money in the pot to get it right now.
Something he himself once agreed we needed but now thinks a small ground is the way forward?

[JollyCobbler]

Cllr David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council.
"The loan we are making to the football club is not money from the tax payer. As a public authority we have access to funds that the football club don't have and the developments will pay for the stadium improvement. Until then, this loan will allow the club to get started."

DC (not a real quote) "Yes it was."

Cllr Mac was referring to it not being (public money) provided by the 'tax' payers of Northampton. If it was borrowed from Government funds, then (in my book) it is public money.
So, was the work put to tender?

[guest49]

Some straight forward questions. To make it more difficult, he is not allowed to give the answers in red:

Q1 - Do you think that you have consulted and communicated with the fans as effectively as possible?

We've met with the Trust and welcomed everyone's input. There have been press releases and the project has evolved very quickly. If we've been told that there has been a better way of doing something, we're not going to say no.

Q2 - Did the events last season (i.e. very nearly losing our league status) influence the development plans at all?

No. We'll have a ground fit for the conference, League 2, errr, which league are we in now?

Q3 - What would be the approximate cost to double the size of the North and/or South Stand(s) and how would this be funded?

It's not very expensive and we have a plan of how to fund this.

Q4 - Would promotion to L1 be an automatic trigger to carry out the work in Q3?

Errrrr, that's a good question. Maybe, yes, no, we'll see.

Q5 - Are you looking at branching out and hosting any other events once the work is complete? e.g. concerts, other sporting events.

Good idea. Gareth, get me Cliff Richard's agent on the phone.

Q6 - Are you on track with the current building schedule and that it will be finished (or best part finished) by the start of the season?

Yes but the forecast is for it to rain over the next 6 months, so it may be August 2015

Q7 - What is a realistic target date to have the current redevelopments (including hotel and conference centre) completed?

We have a plan to put the plans in. I'll say August 2015 to keep you happy.

Q8 - Have you been surprised by the reaction to the latest images released?

Yes. Some people are still going on about bloody stilts and now restricted views. I said that there won't be many who won't be able to actually see the pitch. You'd think they'd be glad after last season. They'll probably be playing on the free Xbox anyway.

[AidyMannsDog]

Using the new stadiums at Chesterfield and Rotherham, the planned development at Wimbledon (12,000 capacity/conference/executive facilities/600homes £16m) as a cost comparison, considering Sixfields was constructed with expansion in mind, why can’t you deliver a 10,000 capacity with corporate/executive facilities for £7.5m?

[bri77]

Can you please reconsider this latest image and revert back to the previous one? By having boxes all the way across the stand surely this could increase the financial benefits if we were to have some success in the leagues. Even if we had some empty ones for the immediate future.

Why has all the ambition of us progressing up the leagues gone?

[Dan]

Oldham Athletic were able to build this stand for £5 million. It will hold 2,500 fans, a new supporters bar, a 500-seat conference facility, offices and commercial suite, car park, health and fitness suite and a coffee shop.

Do you honestly believe that the new East Stand plans are more attractive than this?
Do you believe that you have got full value for money when this was achieved using a similar budget?



Do you honestly believe that having restricted seats is acceptable?