Council Backtracks On Replacement Ground for Newbury FC, who cares if Newbury have played in Faraday Road since 1887! Options

[Simon Kirby]

In the case of the tower, there would not be any legal ramifications so for once, they could reverse the decision with impunity and they did.

I suspect that there is reasonable chance that the decision to ignore the SSSI designation is unlawful and could be overturned at judicial review, though that's probably unnecessary. Quite apart from the planning system that can impose obligations on developers there is still a free-standing legal obligation for land-owners with a SSSI designation to manage their land appropriately, and as managers of the common BBOWT will themselves now have to provide the environmental protection that the planning system failed to deliver. That's now might mean isolating the Control Tower from the common so that visitors to one cannot access the other. That will solve the problem of increased off-track foot-fall disturbing nesting birds, but it will rather stuff the Control Tower.

[spartacus]

Genuine question, any idea how well supported the football club is? The photos on their website from games against Milton don't show a single spectator on the sidelines.
Newbury FC photos

The only photo I could find taken during a game showing the stand show there's one person sat there (it could be the groundsman for all I know)


There doesn't seem to have been an update of photos from games taken this year. Not a very active site. I suspect more recent photos could be easily imagined as below..

[Andy Capp]

Perhaps the CEO could have been a little more candid and said right from the off that as the club has little support, they have no plans to help move them somewhere suitable. Mind you, WBC policies seem to be quite effective at destroying footer pitches.

[MontyPython]

There's many examples of trust owned clubs so you're right, if this is something the local people want there's a tried and tested way to achieve it themselves.

Maybe we should close WBC and allow local people to re-open it and employ the staff if they really want it. Dole queue for User and Petra?

[MontyPython]

Perhaps the CEO could have been a little more candid and said right from the off that as the club has little support, they have no plans to help move them somewhere suitable. Mind you, WBC policies seem to be quite effective at destroying footer pitches.

Exactly but honesty is not on their agenda. Just protecting the jobs of Nick Carter and his bunch of idiots - and no interest in the public.

[spartacus]

Newbury Football Club has been renting the ground for peanuts for decades. If they were to be given public funds to re-home them what about Hungerford Town who were in trouble last year. I imagine there are quite a few sports clubs that would have liked to have had the sort of support they've already benefited from over the years. West Berkshire Council is meant to serve all of the District. It seems some think it's just some sort of extension of Newbury Council.

[MontyPython]

Newbury Football Club has been renting the ground for peanuts for decades. If they were to be given public funds to re-home them what about Hungerford Town who were in trouble last year. I am imagine there are quite a few sports clubs that would have liked to have had the sort of support they've already benefited from over the years. West Berkshire Council is meant to serve all of the District. It seems some think it's just some sort of extension of Newbury Council.

Once again you miss the point. Why were they not open and honest in the first place - probably in case people started to object - albeit they would still do what they wanted.

[Andy Capp]

Once again you miss the point. Why were they not open and honest in the first place - probably in case people started to object - albeit they would still do what they wanted.

Exactly.

[Cognosco]

Once again you miss the point. Why were they not open and honest in the first place - probably in case people started to object - albeit they would still do what they wanted.

It would appear that some still do not understand, our two local Authorities are the reason that we have precept payments, we are only here to enable them to survive in their cloistered world that they live in. If they could survive without us we would all have been removed by now. We are just an abhorrence that they have to put up with!

[spartacus]

Once again you miss the point. Why were they not open and honest in the first place - probably in case people started to object - albeit they would still do what they wanted.

Missing your point or not, MY point is that it's just a crappy little football team that nobody seemed to support or bother with before, so why aren't you being open and honest yourself and admit that (underneath the council bashing) you don't really care..... Hidden away at the end of Faraday Road, unloved, unvisited and falling into disrepair..... blot on the landscape with a clubhouse that's a throwback to the 1970's. Has the place benefited from your patronage in the last five years? Have you waved your Newbury FC scarf around your head while screaming your support from the stands at all? Were you on your own if you did?

You say WBC should have been honest and open, but probably kept it quiet "in case people started to object". Frankly I don't think many 'people' in Newbury cared for it that much before this article in the NWN so why is it an issue that anyone should care about now. I don't see who these 'people' are you refer to that would have objected. A 'person' or two maybe, but these 'people' certainly don't seem to be teeming masses of Newbury folk judging by the photos on their website.

Again, any idea what sort of attendance the club might get on an average home match against mighty Woodley United Reserves? ...or what about their league match this Saturday against top of the table Reading YMCA? Newbury are second in the table playing against top performers Reading YMCA... If that doesn't get the punters in then there's no hope for the club... Any forumites prepared to miss the rugby matches on the TV and take a look at what standard of sport's on offer that might be worth saving? (I'm not... I'm doing my hair...)



The thread title is "Council Backtracks On Replacement Ground for Newbury FC, who cares if Newbury have played in Faraday Road since 1887!" I understand I'm probably being a killjoy for not joining in with the let's bash the Council theme but I suspect there are better causes to get hot under the collar over in this town. The football club's not one of them........

[spartacus]

According to Wikipedia the ground has a capacity of 2,500. I reckon 25 might be nearer the mark. Then again the rugby club has an 8,000 capacity according to wiki...

[On the edge]

I just wonder! Aren't the S106 (or whatever they are called) payments supposed to pay for enhanced provision for the community? Arguably, not for operational maintenance, like more library books etc, which should be funded via the increase in tax take.

So then, lets forget about the success or otherwise of the football club; what would an enhanced provision look like? We could follow examples elsewhere, build a stadium.. Locate it in a field, even roughly where the green area could be the continuation of a park and then it could be used for a multitude of purposes. Football, Hockey and dare I suggest, semi professional outside performances. Under the tiered seating could be a multi purpose hall / bar as well. Well designed it could be a draw in its own right!

I wholly agree that the Council haven't done themselves any favours; but what's new there? It simply adds another entry to the long list! However, I'd agree with Spartacus; simply pouring money in to rescue an almost moribund football club isn't the answer.

[Andy Capp]

Missing your point or not, MY point is that it's just a crappy little football team that nobody seemed to support or bother with before, so why aren't you being open and honest yourself and admit that (underneath the council bashing) you don't really care..... Hidden away at the end of Faraday Road, unloved, unvisited and falling into disrepair..... blot on the landscape with a clubhouse that's a throwback to the 1970's. Has the place benefited from your patronage in the last five years? Have you waved your Newbury FC scarf around your head while screaming your support from the stands at all? Were you on your own if you did?

You say WBC should have been honest and open, but probably kept it quiet "in case people started to object". Frankly I don't think many 'people' in Newbury cared for it that much before this article in the NWN so why is it an issue that anyone should care about now. I don't see who these 'people' are you refer to that would have objected. A 'person' or two maybe, but these 'people' certainly don't seem to be teeming masses of Newbury folk judging by the photos on their website.

Again, any idea what sort of attendance the club might get on an average home match against mighty Woodley United Reserves? ...or what about their league match this Saturday against top of the table Reading YMCA? Newbury are second in the table playing against top performers Reading YMCA... If that doesn't get the punters in then there's no hope for the club... Any forumites prepared to miss the rugby matches on the TV and take a look at what standard of sport's on offer that might be worth saving? (I'm not... I'm doing my hair...)



The thread title is "Council Backtracks On Replacement Ground for Newbury FC, who cares if Newbury have played in Faraday Road since 1887!" I understand I'm probably being a killjoy for not joining in with the let's bash the Council theme but I suspect there are better causes to get hot under the collar over in this town. The football club's not one of them........

As stated right at the beginning, it's the less than candid words of the CEO that grate.

[Berkshirelad]

I just wonder! Aren't the S106 (or whatever they are called) payments supposed to pay for enhanced provision for the community? Arguably, not for operational maintenance, like more library books etc, which should be funded via the increase in tax take.

So then, lets forget about the success or otherwise of the football club; what would an enhanced provision look like? We could follow examples elsewhere, build a stadium.. Locate it in a field, even roughly where the green area could be the continuation of a park and then it could be used for a multitude of purposes. Football, Hockey and dare I suggest, semi professional outside performances. Under the tiered seating could be a multi purpose hall / bar as well. Well designed it could be a draw in its own right!

I wholly agree that the Council haven't done themselves any favours; but what's new there? It simply adds another entry to the long list! However, I'd agree with Spartacus; simply pouring money in to rescue an almost moribund football club isn't the answer.

The "Enhanced provision" for the community will be the road works require to add yet another roundabout to the A339 - that is what the payments will be used for

[Biker1]

The "Enhanced provision" for the community will be the road works require to add yet another roundabout to the A339 - that is what the payments will be used for

Oh, I'd forgotten about that.
Hit the motorist with MORE parking charges and then build an unnecessary, congestion inducing, roundabout!!

[motormad]

Who honestly does the traffic planning for Newbury?

NUMPTY.

Where on the A339 will a roundabout be built? I can't see a reason for one anywhere.

Also, on an unrelated note, who changed the A4 on the way back from Reading from a dual carraigeway to a single carriageway.

[x2lls]

Who honestly does the traffic planning for Newbury?

NUMPTY.

Where on the A339 will a roundabout be built? I can't see a reason for one anywhere.

Also, on an unrelated note, who changed the A4 on the way back from Reading from a dual carraigeway to a single carriageway.

Almost certainly the same numpty.

[James_Trinder]

Any forumites prepared to miss the rugby matches on the TV and take a look at what standard of sport's on offer that might be worth saving? (I'm not... I'm doing my hair...)

Usually I would have put my money where my mouth is and gone to see the match, just to prove a point, if nothing else.

However, since I have won a pair of free tickets to the Reading vs. Middlesbrough match, that won't be happening, which I guess just goes to prove your point.

By the way, I would much rather watch any football match than any rugby match so given the choice between a Newbury RFC match and a Newbury FC match I would always go for the latter.

[spartacus]

Also, on an unrelated note, who changed the A4 on the way back from Reading from a dual carraigeway to a single carriageway.

When a Coroner's report recommends that this change should be made to prevent further loss of life it would be a bold engineer who goes against that sort of comment. There's lots of numpties behind steering wheels too and if this change wasn't made and there was another incident the fallout would be immense. Potentially criminal proceedings and a spot at Her Majesty's hotel facilities. As an engineer myself I wouldn't want to be held accountable as these decisions can bite you on the ar$e many years later and you might find yourself being hauled in front of the beak and being asked to explain a decision you made all those years ago.

The art of overtaking is pretty much dead anyway. The roads are so clogged up that this short length of dual carriageway was only used as a 'blast past' lane by idiots gunning their motors to jump five or six vehicles so they could join the back of another queue of traffic further along. It's no great loss imho

[spartacus]

Usually I would have put my money where my mouth is and gone to see the match, just to prove a point, if nothing else.

However, since I have won a pair of free tickets to the Reading vs. Middlesbrough match, that won't be happening, which I guess just goes to prove your point.

By the way, I would much rather watch any football match than any rugby match so given the choice between a Newbury RFC match and a Newbury FC match I would always go for the latter.

...which also goes to prove my point about Newbury people really being Reading-centric when it comes to sport. Rugby followers would rather go to shout “Oirish!” in the Madjeski (even when Newbury were in the division down from the Premiership that was the case) and footie followers would rather go and get beaten up by Cardiff supporters and watch Reading FC in the Madjeski than be seen in the Faraday Road tumbledown shack....