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Sadly, the board and Extreme haven't pulled their fingers out and secured a long term future for our club..

A £67m deal hailed as "once in a generation" opportunity for Grimsby has been sealed.

More than 8,800 jobs and nearly 10,000 new homes will be delivered under the new, ground-breaking Town Deal by 2032.

Local growth minister Jake Berry MP, business minister Lord Henley and North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) leader Councillor Ray Oxby signed Stage 1 of the deal on Grimsby's docks this afternoon.

Cllr Oxby said Grimsby would be "totally different" under the Deal, which he heralded as a "big step forward".

The Deal will deliver major investment, including £35m from NELC, £30m from central Government and £2m from the Government's local growth fund.

It promises to improve key roads, establish Enterprise Zones, attract businesses and create jobs.

Launching the Deal, Mr Berry said the "once-in-a-generation" Town Deal signals a "new dawn" for Greater Grimsby.

He said: "The Town Deal delivers on Government's promise to give communities the tools and resources they need to kick-start growth and regeneration while presenting new and exciting economic opportunities for the local area."

Speaking from the roof of ABP's Marine Control Centre, where the historic deal was signed, Cllr Oxby said: "This is a commitment now from the Government to work with us. This is the start of a long journey and this is a big step forward. The Humber is having a renaissance and we're making the maximum opportunity for that to be centred around Grimsby.

And responding to pessimism about yet another Government initiative, Cllr Oxby said the Deal represented a "cast iron guarantee" of Government's commitment to the town.

He said the town would be "transformed" within a decade, with waterfront flats, a thriving nighttime economy and a heritage trail. He also said it would deliver skills and jobs for future generations.

Grimsby MP Melanie Onn said: "This is the Government's eyes on our town, recognising that we have got huge amounts of potential, we have got loads of commitment, loads of ambition, lots of people around who have got a real affection for Grimsby and who want to see it back to its former glory days."

Where the hell does this leave Peaks Parkway and why aren't we involved in the Town Deal? Nearly two decades on and GTFC's owner who laughingly is also a councillor has failed to deliver the single most important key objective of his reign while living out his dream of picking managers and enjoying the benefits of hospitality game after game, season after season. Our loyal fanbase deserve to be given a full picture of the future for GTFC. Forget having a decent manager for a couple of seasons or so. Will there be a GTFC for our children, our grandchildren and their children? We cannot keep getting left behind for decade upon decade.

If JF thinks he can continue enjoying the benefits of being a Football League club's chairman for as long as he wants for the price of lending it £2m without achieving his single key objective, then he's taking the pisss out of every single fan.

Time for you to deliver something huge for the club John, because it's been nearly two decades of absolutely no progression off the pitch whatsoever.

We can get excited about Jolley by all means, but there's a bigger longer term view to consider and it isn't looking too good is it?

I think we're all bright enough to concentrate on two important things at once. At the minute it's all about the Jolley revolution. What will we have left when he's no longer here?

Exciting times on the pitch, dangerous and bleak times off the pitch..

Peaks Parkway is dead. Much preferable to get involved with this.

Agree with the sentiment Bigdog. But that’s a sh1t thread title.

Quoted from Bigdog

Speaking from the roof of ABP's Marine Control Centre

Is he ok?

Come on , we will never get a new ground the will is not there. If we get to the playoffs or God forbid auto promotion just watch the powers that be come out of the woodwork .

More like......Town sign a £670 deal with retired painter Wilfred to give BP a lick of paint.

Quoted from Bigdog

Sadly, the board and Extreme haven't pulled their fingers out and secured a long term future for our club..

A £67m deal hailed as "once in a generation" opportunity for Grimsby has been sealed.

More than 8,800 jobs and nearly 10,000 new homes will be delivered under the new, ground-breaking Town Deal by 2032.

Local growth minister Jake Berry MP, business minister Lord Henley and North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) leader Councillor Ray Oxby signed Stage 1 of the deal on Grimsby's docks this afternoon.

Cllr Oxby said Grimsby would be "totally different" under the Deal, which he heralded as a "big step forward".

The Deal will deliver major investment, including £35m from NELC, £30m from central Government and £2m from the Government's local growth fund.

It promises to improve key roads, establish Enterprise Zones, attract businesses and create jobs.

Launching the Deal, Mr Berry said the "once-in-a-generation" Town Deal signals a "new dawn" for Greater Grimsby.

He said: "The Town Deal delivers on Government's promise to give communities the tools and resources they need to kick-start growth and regeneration while presenting new and exciting economic opportunities for the local area."

Speaking from the roof of ABP's Marine Control Centre, where the historic deal was signed, Cllr Oxby said: "This is a commitment now from the Government to work with us. This is the start of a long journey and this is a big step forward. The Humber is having a renaissance and we're making the maximum opportunity for that to be centred around Grimsby.

And responding to pessimism about yet another Government initiative, Cllr Oxby said the Deal represented a "cast iron guarantee" of Government's commitment to the town.

He said the town would be "transformed" within a decade, with waterfront flats, a thriving nighttime economy and a heritage trail. He also said it would deliver skills and jobs for future generations.

Grimsby MP Melanie Onn said: "This is the Government's eyes on our town, recognising that we have got huge amounts of potential, we have got loads of commitment, loads of ambition, lots of people around who have got a real affection for Grimsby and who want to see it back to its former glory days."

Where the hell does this leave Peaks Parkway and why aren't we involved in the Town Deal? Nearly two decades on and GTFC's owner who laughingly is also a councillor has failed to deliver the single most important key objective of his reign while living out his dream of picking managers and enjoying the benefits of hospitality game after game, season after season. Our loyal fanbase deserve to be given a full picture of the future for GTFC. Forget having a decent manager for a couple of seasons or so. Will there be a GTFC for our children, our grandchildren and their children? We cannot keep getting left behind for decade upon decade.

If JF thinks he can continue enjoying the benefits of being a Football League club's chairman for as long as he wants for the price of lending it £2m without achieving his single key objective, then he's taking the pisss out of every single fan.

Time for you to deliver something huge for the club John, because it's been nearly two decades of absolutely no progression off the pitch whatsoever.

We can get excited about Jolley by all means, but there's a bigger longer term view to consider and it isn't looking too good is it?

I think we're all bright enough to concentrate on two important things at once. At the minute it's all about the Jolley revolution. What will we have left when he's no longer here?

Exciting times on the pitch, dangerous and bleak times off the pitch..

Lets just focus on getting behind MJ and the lads for now eh?

Scandalous that the new ground is not at the heart of all this.

Is it not time though that our representatives on the board come out and tell us what the position is.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Scandalous that the new ground is not at the heart of all this.

It almost feels like this is the door closing on the whole idea of the new ground. My son wasn't even born when I received my red Conoco cap, he's 16 now and views the new ground in the same way as he views the Yeti, he's seen a picture of it but nothing more.

Anyone think the local council didn’t want gtfc anywhere near the table when trying to negotiate this bounty from government? Let’s face it £67m is fook all these days when trying to regenerate an area so Cllr Oxby can think he’s some kind of local hero but he’s just a little fish in the grander scheme of things .
Gtfc will have to do it by themselves by the look of it

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Anyone think the local council didn’t want gtfc anywhere near the table when trying to negotiate this bounty from government? Let’s face it £67m is fook all these days when trying to regenerate an area so Cllr Oxby can think he’s some kind of local hero but he’s just a little fish in the grander scheme of things .
Gtfc will have to do it by themselves by the look of it

The best news from this is the creation of Enterprise zones which, if used correctly can attract new businesses to the area bringing long term jobs and then the new houses might even have someone in them!

If I were the council or a local MP I would want JF anywhere near the negotiation.

Th club's colours were pinned to the wrong mast. Simple as that. Yesterday's man with yesterday's solution to today's problem.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Anyone think the local council didn’t want gtfc anywhere near the table when trying to negotiate this bounty from government? Let’s face it £67m is fook all these days when trying to regenerate an area so Cllr Oxby can think he’s some kind of local hero but he’s just a little fish in the grander scheme of things .
Gtfc will have to do it by themselves by the look of it

Didn’t Cllr Oxby say he wanted to secure a new ground under is watch empty words

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Scandalous that the new ground is not at the heart of all this.

This.

If we don't get a new ground I think the club is in serious trouble long term. Blundell Park is not sustainable and as much as I love it the ground is embarrassing compared to others. We'll be floating around the lower and non league and would put the future of GTFC in jeopardy. Clubs smaller than us have progressed by relocating to better facilities. The lack of support from the North East Lincolnshire Council is shameful. And the commitment of our board over the years for this has been slow and badly managed. Another reason why I would like to see them gone and a more progressive, forward thinking board in place.

If the club doesn’t have the backing of the local council then there’s no way it’ll get a new ground unless it gets some mega rich owner to bankroll it . As the chances of the latter are remote for so many reasons it’s a question of if rather when it ever happens .

PP is dead. Wrong location, wrong way to fund it, developer with no experience. Strong local opposition. It was stillborn from the start.
However, a modest project on Europarc with conferencing facilities and no training pitches would tick a lot of boxes. Access, location, locale to industry on the Humber bank that would possibly use said facilities. Maybe not enough to massage the Fenty ego though

Quoted from realist

PP is dead. Wrong location, wrong way to fund it, developer with no experience. Strong local opposition. It was stillborn from the start.
However, a modest project on Europarc with conferencing facilities and no training pitches would tick a lot of boxes. Access, location, locale to industry on the Humber bank that would possibly use said facilities. Maybe not enough to massage the Fenty ego though

Doesn't matter where they want to put it. There will always be strong local opposition to it. This is Grimsby FFS.

Quoted from RoboCod

It almost feels like this is the door closing on the whole idea of the new ground. My son wasn't even born when I received my red Conoco cap, he's 16 now and views the new ground in the same way as he views the Yeti, he's seen a picture of it but nothing more.

More chance of the Yeti playing centre forward. :P UTMM

Quoted from realist

PP is dead. Wrong location, wrong way to fund it, developer with no experience. Strong local opposition. It was stillborn from the start.
However, a modest project on Europarc with conferencing facilities and no training pitches would tick a lot of boxes. Access, location, locale to industry on the Humber bank that would possibly use said facilities. Maybe not enough to massage the Fenty ego though

Euro park worst location than Great Coates, think it's time the club came clean with the fans on the PP development I mean when was the last update FFS.

Quoted from Grim74

Euro park worst location than Great Coates, think it's time the club came clean with the fans on the PP development I mean when was the last update FFS.

Totally agree that Europarc is wrong place. Out of Town stadia would kill the club imo. If not PP then part of the regeneration near the Freemo area flats

Shame we couldn't get our hands on the old titans site, keeps the ground next to the river, nice harsh wind for the visitors to endure and pretty large plot to expand for carparking and training facilities.....

I really don`t get what is going on in relation to town relocating? The Club appear to get zero help from the Council and I can only guess the lack of an anchor tenant and the death of retail as we know it has done for the ground at least short term? £67m is nothing these days and the ground would cost an estimated £20m sadly that money must come from somewhere and nobody has it.We can only hope at some point somebody realises the potential of a new community stadium in the right area and everybody on the council backs them up.The Gateway into both GY and CLPS leave a lot to be desired and a shiny new stadium would help.

Think many on council WOULD want a new stadium for GTFC but they expect GTFC to come up with a sound, commercially viable plan rather than sounbites and rhetoric. I wouldnt trust a word JF said and guess the council may feel the same

67 million for this town lol, howler. like chucking 10p at a high class hooker.
Buys you fook all, just gets lardy mel onns face in the paper again.

Probably cost more to demolish all the shite the council are resposible for building.

Depends what it's for monkey. Could be a useful pump primer. I'd like to see some flesh on the bones before commenting.

We're shafted long term I am afraid. The last few decades have seen numerous teams overtake us and they continue to do so. I fear it's inevitable we'll drop down into non-league again and this time it will be a lot harder to come back. If we don't get a new stadium we might as well forget league football in the town on a long-term basis.

Any investment in this area has to be welcomed with arms wide open, regardless if the football stadium is at the heart of it or not.  That said I think not having a community football stadium at the heart of any regeneration will be a huge mistake.

Couple of things stand out for me, I remain quite cynical regards this £67million deal that has been signed.  Despite Ray Oxby's declaration of us having an iron-clad deal, it wouldn't surprise me if it comes to ultimately nothing.  An iron-clad deal from this Government is about as effective as a chocolate fireguard.

Secondly, why are the football club not sat around the table for these talks?  An absolutely vital part of what our local community looks like, going through our own process (apparently) of bringing some sort of regeneration to the area via the stadium.  You can only conclude sheer incompetency on the behalf of the local authority in not recognising the club, the club didn't want to be involved or the club weren't invited.

Ray Oxby is a Town fan, regardless of your views of him as an individual, leader of the council or as a local Councillor.  I'm pretty certain he's aware that the club are in need of a new stadium and have plans of some sorts in place.

We've not heard anything of substance regards the stadium since the Extreme rep embarrassed themselves at the Fans Forum last November.  Their poor show was forgotten by the hatchet job done on Matt Dean later on.  We're close to 8 months passing since then.  C'mon Fenty, either put up or shut up (for good).  If you or Extreme can't deliver on this stadium come out and say so.  Sick to death of these drips of meaningless information from the club as if we're some sort of lesser being that only deserves what we get.  We are the club, not Fenty or Extreme.

Quoted from GrimRob

We're shafted long term I am afraid. The last few decades have seen numerous teams overtake us and they continue to do so. I fear it's inevitable we'll drop down into non-league again and this time it will be a lot harder to come back. If we don't get a new stadium we might as well forget league football in the town on a long-term basis.

I would love to say you are wrong Rob but can`t. NE Lincs is a massive area NOT to have a football league side though and I prefer to try and remain optimistic in the hope someone will actually try and exploit the potential on offer?

Quoted from Bigdog

If JF thinks he can continue enjoying the benefits of being a Football League club's chairman

Intrigued to hear what you think the benefits are to John Fenty, in being the chairman of a football league club?

As far as I can see, in the years he has been the chairman, its been all about him putting his hand in his pockets to give/lend money, not receive money. I'd hardly call that a benefit.

Now if you think that sitting in a posher seat and eating a prawn sandwich on a Saturday is a benefit, I'd suggest that he could do that anyway without having to pay the amount he has over the years for that minuscule experience.

Benefits indeed. Please don't make me laugh

Peaks Parkway was only picked because at the time Fenty insisted that the enabling development had to be on the stadium site. He’s since back tracked on this and said enabling developments could be anywhere in NE Lincs.

Garth Lane would be ideal.Town centre location and close to railway station and town centre bus routes. And it’s bang next door to the Riverhead development.

Is the Garth Lane still available or has it been sold to another developer?

Quoted from 120790

Intrigued to hear what you think the benefits are to John Fenty, in being the chairman of a football league club?

As far as I can see, in the years he has been the chairman, its been all about him putting his hand in his pockets to give/lend money, not receive money. I'd hardly call that a benefit.

Now if you think that sitting in a posher seat and eating a prawn sandwich on a Saturday is a benefit, I'd suggest that he could do that anyway without having to pay the amount he has over the years for that minuscule experience.

Benefits indeed. Please don't make me laugh

If/when he leaves I think he wants ALL that money back so in effect won`t he have had his prawn sandwiches and posher seats for nowt?

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Peaks Parkway was only picked because at the time Fenty insisted that the enabling development had to be on the stadium site. He’s since back tracked on this and said enabling developments could be anywhere in NE Lincs.

Garth Lane would be ideal.Town centre location and close to railway station and town centre bus routes. And it’s bang next door to the Riverhead development.

Is the Garth Lane still available or has it been sold to another developer?

Happy to be corrected but I think Garth Lane would be too small, even without an enabling development.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

If/when he leaves I think he wants ALL that money back so in effect won`t he have had his prawn sandwiches and posher seats for nowt?

Garth Lane is far too small a site. You might just fit a smallish stadium in there but that would be it. Very little parking available, surrounded by town houses. The traffic on Saturday match days would be far worse than now and much worse than even PP. In essence we would move location but still be faced with similar problems.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Peaks Parkway was only picked because at the time Fenty insisted that the enabling development had to be on the stadium site. He’s since back tracked on this and said enabling developments could be anywhere in NE Lincs.

Garth Lane would be ideal.Town centre location and close to railway station and town centre bus routes. And it’s bang next door to the Riverhead development.

Is the Garth Lane still available or has it been sold to another developer?

A football stadium there would be a problem assuming it would fit? I suppose a road off the 180 direct to the ground could though be a possibility to at least get rid of traffic congestion and added to it fans would be able to access the ground far easier from train and bus? A poor 3rd choice at best for me though.

It's obvious everyone is bored with having no Town games, no exciting signings and the World Cup being tantamount to a penalty competition.

After a refreshing break of three or four months (since he employed Jolley) it looks like it's starting to become 'have a go at Fenty' time again

Leave it until we are 10 games into next season please

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Peaks Parkway was only picked because at the time Fenty insisted that the enabling development had to be on the stadium site. He’s since back tracked on this and said enabling developments could be anywhere in NE Lincs.

Garth Lane would be ideal.Town centre location and close to railway station and town centre bus routes. And it’s bang next door to the Riverhead development.

Is the Garth Lane still available or has it been sold to another developer?

Garth Lane would be a ridiculous place to put a football ground. It would cause similar or worse problems with traffic congestion and has been stated the parking would not be enough. Peaks Parkway would have been a far superior location if comparing both. Without going over old ground Great Coates would have been ideal, gateway to the town, good road and rail links, easily commutable and not too far out and was big enough. Unfortunately that ship seems to have sailed.

The local authority could do more but some councillors seem hell bent on keeping this town in the dark ages. That must be frustrating to the ones who want to try and progress the area. A football club, especially a league member is a major part of a community and should be capitalised on as if successful brings income to the area and surrounding businesses. I love the club and the town, it has got so much going for it. I do despair though when I see how other areas progress where we could but don't.

Quoted from Ipswin

It's obvious everyone is bored with having no Town games, no exciting signings and the World Cup being tantamount to a penalty competition.

After a refreshing break of three or four months (since he employed Jolley) it looks like it's starting to become 'have a go at Fenty' time again

Leave it until we are 10 games into next season please

Not sure they are Swin I think most fair minded people blame the Council for the lack of new ground of course Fenty`s part of that but you know what I mean.

Quoted from Dogger Bank

Garth Lane would be a ridiculous place to put a football ground. It would cause similar or worse problems with traffic congestion and has been stated the parking would not be enough. Peaks Parkway would have been a far superior location if comparing both. Without going over old ground Great Coates would have been ideal, gateway to the town, good road and rail links, easily commutable and not too far out and was big enough. Unfortunately that ship seems to have sailed.

The local authority could do more but some councillors seem hell bent on keeping this town in the dark ages. That must be frustrating to the ones who want to try and progress the area. A football club, especially a league member is a major part of a community and should be capitalised on as if successful brings income to the area and surrounding businesses. I love the club and the town, it has got so much going for it. I do despair though when I see how other areas progress where we could but don't.

This Council built Meridian Point ,scrapped Scartho Baths and built another leisure centre on the site of one already failing due to lack of footfall.What chance have we got?

i do work with someone who is adamant that he has seen plans of the wider scheme and that a football ground is shown on them down Freeman St.
Personally i dont believe it, he may have seen some proposals at some stage perhaps with it on but i just dont see it.

Also for the scheme announced...i just dont believe it will happen to anything like what they state. We may see more fancy paving and some shop fronts tarted up but in reality thats just more stuff that the already stretched council resources will have to service in the future.
Seen far too many proposals of regeneration going back to days of Yorkshire Forward , which had a tram running down Freeman St in 10 yrs ...and that was mid 90's i think.

Not holding my breath.

Quoted from 120790

Intrigued to hear what you think the benefits are to John Fenty, in being the chairman of a football league club?

As far as I can see, in the years he has been the chairman, its been all about him putting his hand in his pockets to give/lend money, not receive money. I'd hardly call that a benefit.

Now if you think that sitting in a posher seat and eating a prawn sandwich on a Saturday is a benefit, I'd suggest that he could do that anyway without having to pay the amount he has over the years for that minuscule experience.

Benefits indeed. Please don't make me laugh

It was in his own words that it was his dream to run GTFC. So the huge benefit is that he is living out his dream. He is in a very privileged position of being able to steer the direction of the football club he loves in whichever way he desires. You seriously think he'd have been doing it all this time if he hated it. If it was such a burden for him, he could have employed an experienced CEO years ago, one with a proven track record and maybe one that has had previous experience at a club that had procured a new stadium. In fact I wish that he had, we may have made greater strides off and on the pitch over the past sixteen years. Typical.. try defending his record rather than blindly defending the man. If the job's too difficult for him to make progress off the pitch or it's such a hardship on his part, then get someone else in. Ever wondered whether JF and his persona, attitude and modus operandi may be the roadblock to progression rather than the proposition itself? I'm not trying to be personal about JF, I'm just analysing his record over an increasingly large chunk of the club's history, and as always on here, I'll put my hopes for the future success of GTFC before anything else..

.

Quoted from RoboCod

It almost feels like this is the door closing on the whole idea of the new ground. My son wasn't even born when I received my red Conoco cap, he's 16 now and views the new ground in the same way as he views the Yeti, he's seen a picture of it but nothing more.

please tell me the Yeti wasnt pictured near Peakes Parkway or we'll have no chance of building on there !!! ;D

Quoted from Ipswin

It's obvious everyone is bored with having no Town games, no exciting signings and the World Cup being tantamount to a penalty competition.

After a refreshing break of three or four months (since he employed Jolley) it looks like it's starting to become 'have a go at Fenty' time again

Leave it until we are 10 games into next season please

Do be sure to send out a note telling us when it’s OK to criticise. I thought it was open season to be critical or does that only apply to your incessant whinging?

Patronising old fart.

Firstly ,the "deal" announced is limited by the fact that NELC has to find £30million of the amount-from where? Mr Oxby is well aware that he is up for re-election next time round and currently the balance of power is precariously close to tipping away from him so he will keep on releasing "feel good "news to bolster his position.
Secondly ,Mr Fenty is an opposition councilor so will not receive any favours from the current leadership or the blatantly "left" officers who actually run this fiasco of a council.When ,or if, we get a new stadium will be down to the discretion of the officer elite - the Councillors will only rubber stamp the decision. Whether Mr Oxby-also an ex council officer- is a town fan or not he certainly knows which side his bread is buttered and will not compromise his own position to further GTFC's fortunes.

Quoted from monkeyboy

67 million for this town lol, howler. like chucking 10p at a high class hooker.
Buys you fook all, just gets lardy mel onns face in the paper again.

Probably cost more to demolish all the shite the council are resposible for building.

You might make a valid point but is the personal insult neccesary? Can we assume you’ve got a calendar coming out for 2019?

Quoted from moosey_club

i do work with someone who is adamant that he has seen plans of the wider scheme and that a football ground is shown on them down Freeman St.
Personally i dont believe it, he may have seen some proposals at some stage perhaps with it on but i just dont see it.

That's what I was told.  Total knockdown of the Freeman Street area around Riby Square, thinking beyond the flats and the much wider area.   Stadium built as part of a much larger complex that includes a council super-hub where all their offices and bases are, partly funded by grants but also from the sale of council buildings that are expensive to run but also form part of a nightmare estates management situation because they're so spread out.   Few strategic council buildings would remain but the vast bulk would be in the Riby Square superhub.

Parking wouldn't be an issue as part of the plans would incorporate a huge staff car-park, vast majority of staff wouldn't be there for 3pm or 7:45pm games.

This was a while ago, around the time the feasibility studies were underway.  I was told that Freeman Street was the favoured choice of quite a few people with influence on the decision so was surprised that it was dismissed out of hand.

Personally I think it's the best option by an absolute mile.  Not just for the club but for the area overall.   Town Centre is, at present, propped up by the people who work in that area popping in and out on their lunch break.  However the Town Centre is also dying a slow and painful death.  Freshney Place has forced many shops out with their extortionate rental rates which has then seen a decrease in people bothering to venture in (other than to use it as a thoroughfare when it's bad weather).  :Less people visiting = less sales.  Less sales = less business = less jobs = less people paying tax & with disposable income to spend = a vicious circle.

Move the workers up to Riby Square where independent businesses can be supported alongside larger retailers (who won't move up there at the minute because there's no captive audience) that will want to open up.  Remove Freshney Place's ability to strangle the local economy.  Town centre can still thrive as an entertainment hub, retail moves up to Freeman Street.

GTFC get a stadium in a prime location with access to the motorway, bus routes, train-line and with sufficient parking, existing number of pubs and shops (which would no doubt increase) for the fans.  Pretty sure most clubs with an eye on a new stadium would love to have somewhere like to build.

Quoted from diehardmariner

That's what I was told.  Total knockdown of the Freeman Street area around Riby Square, thinking beyond the flats and the much wider area.   Stadium built as part of a much larger complex that includes a council super-hub where all their offices and bases are, partly funded by grants but also from the sale of council buildings that are expensive to run but also form part of a nightmare estates management situation because they're so spread out.   Few strategic council buildings would remain but the vast bulk would be in the Riby Square superhub.

Parking wouldn't be an issue as part of the plans would incorporate a huge staff car-park, vast majority of staff wouldn't be there for 3pm or 7:45pm games.

This was a while ago, around the time the feasibility studies were underway.  I was told that Freeman Street was the favoured choice of quite a few people with influence on the decision so was surprised that it was dismissed out of hand.

Personally I think it's the best option by an absolute mile.  Not just for the club but for the area overall.   Town Centre is, at present, propped up by the people who work in that area popping in and out on their lunch break.  However the Town Centre is also dying a slow and painful death.  Freshney Place has forced many shops out with their extortionate rental rates which has then seen a decrease in people bothering to venture in (other than to use it as a thoroughfare when it's bad weather).  :Less people visiting = less sales.  Less sales = less business = less jobs = less people paying tax & with disposable income to spend = a vicious circle.

Move the workers up to Riby Square where independent businesses can be supported alongside larger retailers (who won't move up there at the minute because there's no captive audience) that will want to open up.  Remove Freshney Place's ability to strangle the local economy.  Town centre can still thrive as an entertainment hub, retail moves up to Freeman Street.

GTFC get a stadium in a prime location with access to the motorway, bus routes, train-line and with sufficient parking, existing number of pubs and shops (which would no doubt increase) for the fans.  Pretty sure most clubs with an eye on a new stadium would love to have somewhere like to build.

Jeez....have you forget where you are ? Coming on here talking sense ;D