Toads Hole Valley

[Wilts]

sorry mate but thats bollocks, I was in the Bus queue at the first game of the season for 45mins and only just caught my train because it was thankfully delayed by 10mins! (and the queue went on behind me for quite a way too)

Very true, but that is on the way home when all 24,000 people (doesn't happen that often!) are running all at the same time for the buses. Prior to kick off its very simple and easy! I've never had a problem regardless of the crowd, and Reading is meant to have one of the top 5 traffic congestion problems in the UK according to our local press.

 

[Marc]

Very true, but that is on the way home when all 24,000 people (doesn't happen that often!) are running all at the same time for the buses. Prior to kick off its very simple and easy! I've never had a problem regardless of the crowd, and Reading is meant to have one of the top 5 traffic congestion problems in the UK according to our local press.

But it is a problem and something that we can use against THV/Sheepcote (presuming here), saying that we need to vacate the area by a certain time and we dont have enough buses blah blah blah.

 

[Uncle Buck]

But it is a problem and something that we can use against THV/Sheepcote (presuming here), saying that we need to vacate the area by a certain time and we dont have enough buses blah blah blah.

But even at Falmer, we are relying on Southern playing ball. Putting enough extra trains on and making sure they are at least 8 carriages etc etc.

 

[Marc]

But even at Falmer, we are relying on Southern playing ball. Putting enough extra trains on and making sure they are at least 8 carriages etc etc.

yeah thats something thats stuck in my mind since day one, Falmer station is only small aswell, can/could it handle 8 carriages or would it need extending? If extending is it possible, how much cost, who pays (club/railways) etc etc.

Still as its right next tot he ground then surely that should count for something along with Bus routes for Park & Ride as apposed to just only Buses at THV/SC

 

[perseus]

Well i live in the road which looks onto THV (downland drive) and as much as i want us to get a new stadium i do NOT want it being there. mainly becuase of all the wildlife that lives in the field. However i would rather it was used for a new stadium than office blocks or something like that.

My sympathies. But it is "benign trespass land" and not public open space (like Sheepcote and Waterhall), so it will get built on. When?

However, it is undeniably a better bit of the environment than Falmer. Probably because the farmers have not been at it.

The best bits for wildlife are not where the farmers have sprayed, ploughed and overgrazed but the wasteland bits where the planners cannot make up their mind what to build. Or the steep bits that are not much cop for farming.

As far as I know Toad's Hole Valley has not been zoned for a use now. You get bet on it that the landowner wants in order of preference:

1) retail
2) houses
3) industrial
4) sport's facilities

Wildlife will not even be on the agenda. No dosh in it.

 

[The Large One]

Sweet Jesus this is not rocket science...

Outside the ground on Saturday I was in a queue of people awaiting buses to leave to go back to town and the suburbs. There were probably around 30 buses in the vicinity of the ground at the time. Some then go and come back. Why would we need 120 buses, when we can have 30 buses doing 4 trips!?

Prior to the game its even easier... buses go every 4 minutes from stand SK at the train station bus area... first buses go to the stadium around 1pm ish. So thats 15 buses an hour, and therefore 30 from that bus stop alone. Then there's the stops in Newbury, Earley, etc... some of them on link below:

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Transport/0,,10306,00.html

There is a total of 3,900 car parking spaces (from the official site) - 2,000 of which are car park season ticket holders. It takes around 1 hour to get out of the car park on matchdays.

There is also an away fans park and ride scheme from the Foster Wheeler/Ex-Berkshire County Council HQ which runs every 15 mins.

It all works like clockwork for up to 24,200 people and there is no train station nearby. I can't see the problem.

OK, fair enough. I accept that Reading can move the supporters around. That's nice.

Brighton, however, cannot. If you knew the geography of the city, you would know that driving in excess of 60 buses (even 30 buses) through the city would clog it up - from wherever the start and finishing points are. You cannot physically fit more than 12 buses outside Brighton Station, and this does not include the regular buses. It is wrong to compare Brighton and Reading in this way.

Besides, we think it is a good idea to have our ground next to a railway station. It makes life a bit easier.

Crabbers: the fact that the Inquiry is not talking about Falmer implies that the Albion's plans (including transport) have been OK'd.

 

[Marc]

Crabbers: the fact that the Inquiry is not talking about Falmer implies that the Albion's plans (including transport) have been OK'd.

bloody hope so, last thing we need is to win thsi Inquiry only to be told we need another Inquiry about the Transport links :thud:

 

[The Large One]

The Inquiry is about all aspects of the stadium plan, including environmental impact, noise pollution, light pollution, financial benefit to the community and - as we have done to death here - transport impact.

None of these will be discussed in relation to Falmer.

 

[Wilts]

Besides, we think it is a good idea to have our ground next to a railway station. It makes life a bit easier.

Ever since day one I've wished for a train station next to the ground purely for convenience sake! - still a couple of years in the pipeline, mind. Would make my journey (along with many others) a lot easier time-speaking.

The problem (or perhaps a dilemma rather than a problem!) is that buses can only go in certain direction from the middle of Brighton outwards, as there's a nice great big English Channel to the south which we in Reading don't have! Hence our buses and shoppers/workers can try many various routes in and out of the place.
I have found in the past that with Brighton (not unlike Southampton and Portsmouth), there's not many main roads into the place that could sustainably hold large volumes of traffic. Being in Bournemouth now, this place needs a COMPLETE overhaul...

 

[clapham_gull]

The two times I been to Reading I've seen the SAME buses go from the stadium to the station, then come back again and do another trip. One of the reasons why you have to wait so long to get out I guess.