350k

I think it's not too much to ask the club for clarity on what the direction of travel looks like but until they have done the work with the strategy group Jason spoke about it won't come and when it does I doubt there will be a specific date for a new ground.

The owners are working hard to give Paul Hurst the tools he needs to deliver success on the pitch, I'm sure everyone will agree that this has to be the priority. We know that's not just a bigger budget for players, a masseur  and a bloke with a lap top it extends to significant investment in a new training ground and several other strands that the previous leadership chose not to address.

If we have success then it could actually bring forward and facilitate a move/re-development and until that happens I doubt there would be the true demand to make such capex worthwhile if it was at the determent of the club or provided risk.

This thread seems to have gone off on a tangent.

Some are calling for a new ground, which the owners have said more than once isn't in the immediate future plans. Some are calling for additional seating in the corners, which again, the owners have addressed by saying that the demand is not yet there, but that they are looking at it. We are averaging 6500 this season, so it's hardly a pressing matter.

What is pressing is the amount of things that need to be done, just to keep BP running at it's present capacity, and the unexpected bill of 350k has to be the priority, even if it is seen by some as a sticking plaster and a waste of money. Simply put, if we don't do it, then the stand could be closed, losing revenue. Knocking it down and rebuilding is going to cost a lot of money, so getting it safe for the next few seasons until the next inspection is the quickest and cheapest way forward I would imagine.

The Osmond had to have tens of thousands spent on it after the report on it this time last year, because the metalwork was rusted to the point that it was dangerous. There are literally hundreds of jobs that need doing around the ground, some needing more immediate attention than others.

Then there is the new training ground on the horizon and the fact we need to invest more into the playing squad, all of which costs money.

They are trying to fix both the footballing side and the myriad problems with the ground at the same time. There is no bottomless pot of money to solve all the problems at once, and to be fair, they have done more in 2 years than JF did in twenty.

I'm sure the long term goal is a new ground or an updated version of BP, but for now, we just have to keep the old girl running and fit to host football matches, and some of those decisions are in the hands of outside authorities.

I wonder how much the two large stands at Barnet cost to build as they are prefabish to say the least but do a job and wouldn't have to be as big as they are at Barnet.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I wonder how much the two large stands at Barnet cost to build as they are prefabish to say the least but do a job and wouldn't have to be as big as they are at Barnet.

A lot.

https://www.barnetfc.com/news-planning-approval-for-major-expansion-of-the-hive-london

Quoted from Simon

We have just had TWENTY years of false promises regarding building a new ground by the tinpot last regime and look where that's got us, only one who's benefited from the proposed Great Coates, Peakes Parkway, Freeman Street and Grimsby Docks proposals has been the bloody architects

Jason Stockwood & Andrew Pettit are not idiots and will not want to go down that route of making themselves look silly promising something that we can't in the short term deliver. I predict the conversation has gone something like this patch up a dilapidated Blundell Park while at the same time improving the training facilities, give Paul Hurst the tools required to build a solid team that can hopefully get out of L2 and start knocking at the door at the top of L1 while at the same time in private behind the scenes look at the long term plans re the ground, my prediction of location when it happens will be that we will see a new ground pop up as part of the plans for the Freshney Valley development which fits in with the ten year time scale

The thing IMO was that the previous regime, The Leech, looked upon any ground move as what he could benefit from it and not the club. Under our new owners the emphasis is more on what benefits the club and there lies the difference. I don't know for sure but I think that if the previous regime had looked on the club first then maybe we wouldn't have wasted 20+ years in finding a new ground.

Quoted from ginnywings

This thread seems to have gone off on a tangent.

Some are calling for a new ground, which the owners have said more than once isn't in the immediate future plans. Some are calling for additional seating in the corners, which again, the owners have addressed by saying that the demand is not yet there, but that they are looking at it. We are averaging 6500 this season, so it's hardly a pressing matter.

What is pressing is the amount of things that need to be done, just to keep BP running at it's present capacity, and the unexpected bill of 350k has to be the priority, even if it is seen by some as a sticking plaster and a waste of money. Simply put, if we don't do it, then the stand could be closed, losing revenue. Knocking it down and rebuilding is going to cost a lot of money, so getting it safe for the next few seasons until the next inspection is the quickest and cheapest way forward I would imagine.

The Osmond had to have tens of thousands spent on it after the report on it this time last year, because the metalwork was rusted to the point that it was dangerous. There are literally hundreds of jobs that need doing around the ground, some needing more immediate attention than others.

Then there is the new training ground on the horizon and the fact we need to invest more into the playing squad, all of which costs money.

They are trying to fix both the footballing side and the myriad problems with the ground at the same time. There is no bottomless pot of money to solve all the problems at once, and to be fair, they have done more in 2 years than JF did in twenty.

I'm sure the long term goal is a new ground or an updated version of BP, but for now, we just have to keep the old girl running and fit to host football matches, and some of those decisions are in the hands of outside authorities.

Thanks John - the legacy you've left will never be forgotten

Quoted from forza ivano

Thanks John - the legacy you've left will never be forgotten

Ok lets face it then we love BP but yes we still need to invest in the club to refurbish the "Old Lady" to keep her going.UTM

Effectively all she needs is lipo, a boob job and some botox..

On that basis I cant believe it wasn't done previously.  

The main stand is terrible shocking view no facilities.
i refuse to pay the money to sit in it.

Quoted from rancido

The thing IMO was that the previous regime, The Leech, looked upon any ground move as what he could benefit from it and not the club. Under our new owners the emphasis is more on what benefits the club and there lies the difference. I don't know for sure but I think that if the previous regime had looked on the club first then maybe we wouldn't have wasted 20+ years in finding a new ground.

Said this all along, the new ground was never about the club when it came to Fenty. It was about him, making something for him, being it the status of being someone who delivered a new ground or, and what I really think his ambition was, money.

Fenty was so obsessed with a new ground that he never arsed himself to keep on top of BP. He wasted a million quid of club money ‘exploring ideas’ that could’ve been spent on BP so perhaps it wouldn’t be quite as knackered..:

Once again, a fine example of the blokes inability to run a football club or actually give a excrement about it…