Club lose Bennett's Field

[Bwian]

Less of an issue than you think, Uni numbers have been falling and places expanded, sometimes CP1 which has roughly half or 500 had 350 spaces last season. With cup games withdrawn for next season even less will have renewed
1901 will prob get 4, 3 then 2 according to hierarchy and others in 1 with Uni ST holders. Issue maybe less than 100 & possibly 0 if they stopped selling Uni ST at the 450 leaving the 650 left to 1901

Like I said, there will be a lot of upset people...

If CP1 is all that's left after the 1901ers and disabled have been allocated all of the rest of the spaces the Uni and the club can expect to lose revenue because lots will not bother. The 1901ers are not going to like the arrangements much either, being made to take a bus to the car parks.

Expect the club and the owner to reach a compromise pretty quickly.

 

[skipper734]

I always understood the land belonged to the Church. The County were obviously not able to Compulsory Purchase the land , in order to build the missing slip road.
If there is a Covenant on it preventing building, it's a bit strange that it allows laying tarmac for car-parks but not for roads. The mythical Bennet who probably donated his field to the Church probably had no idea how valuable his little field would become generations on.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

This. In fact I'd say the value of Bennett's field will increase if the hotel gets the go ahead.

So Mr Bennett could be cold calling Tony Bloom on the river card ?

 

[Seagull by the Sea]

Like I said, there will be a lot of upset people...

If CP1 is all that's left after the 1901ers and disabled have been allocated all of the rest of the spaces the Uni and the club can expect to lose revenue because lots will not bother. The 1901ers are not going to like the arrangements much either, being made to take a bus to the car parks.

Expect the club and the owner to reach a compromise pretty quickly.

I agree.

A certain Mr Bloom calling out Mr Bennett's bluff by emailing it out today?

 

[Seagull by the Sea]

My parents have asked me which Uni car park is the Sussex one? Is it the one across the A27 or the one next to the West Stand? Even they can walk from the west stand one if it is that one!

 

[Diego Napier]

Shove your violin up your arse please. My dad has cancer and dementia and finds it hard to walk. We get a disabled pass (£7.50) for Sussex University and park in car park 5 and get a shuttle bus to the ground.

Please, think about other fans who are not as rich as you or in a worse predicament. You sound like a spotlit brat who can't get his own way.

It didn't come across that way to me.

You however, are using a far more obnoxious and offensive tone than that of the poster you've accused of being a spoilt brat.

 

[Bozza]

My parents have asked me which Uni car park is the Sussex one? Is it the one across the A27 or the one next to the West Stand? Even they can walk from the west stand one if it is that one!

Across the A27 (and railway line).

 

[Bwian]

Use park and ride like the rest of us.

Contrary to popular opinion it works very well in general.

Not if you live outside of Sussex it doesn't. I know people, admittedly they stay until the final whistle, who tried the P&R only to find they got home an hour later than when they used the Uni car park.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

So Mr Bennett could be cold calling Tony Bloom on the river card ?

Don't understand. I just feel that a plot of land next to a football ground and a hotel has more value than one next to just a football ground.

 

[Acker79]

This. In fact I'd say the value of Bennett's field will increase if the hotel gets the go ahead.

Could Mr Bennett delay or prevent the hotel getting the go ahead if he is in a petty quarrel with the club?

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Like I said, there will be a lot of upset people...

If CP1 is all that's left after the 1901ers and disabled have been allocated all of the rest of the spaces the Uni and the club can expect to lose revenue because lots will not bother. The 1901ers are not going to like the arrangements much either, being made to take a bus to the car parks.

Expect the club and the owner to reach a compromise pretty quickly.

The University car park was actually the designated car park in the original 1901 agreement, so I doubt it will be that controversial. In addition to this I know quite a few 1901-era who had already chosen to move from Bennett's Field to the Uni, due to the fiasco of exiting Bennett's.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

I bet the EU subsidy for leaving B field fallow is a tidy sum and without knowing the figures we don't know how greedy he was being, it could be the club cutting back further as they can squeeze the Uni parking and a lot of people in 1901 moved to the uni anyway. I'm guessing he was only getting 5k a year for it and the club need that extra parking to sell use of the Amex during the week. I was told the club needed every sq ft used 24/7 365 to make the Amex viable..

nit having B field could make hosting concerts more difficult too.

 

[Hillian1]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Bennets Field was always going to be temporary.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Could Mr Bennett delay or prevent the hotel getting the go ahead if he is in a petty quarrel with the club?

No idea.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Like I said, there will be a lot of upset people...

If CP1 is all that's left after the 1901ers and disabled have been allocated all of the rest of the spaces the Uni and the club can expect to lose revenue because lots will not bother. The 1901ers are not going to like the arrangements much either, being made to take a bus to the car parks.

Expect the club and the owner to reach a compromise pretty quickly.

Uni income will soar to maximum

 

[Biscuit]

Well done to the club. TB/PB are obviously not willing to pay over the odds for any club expenses, not just transfers/wages.

I predict a deal will be done, Mr Bennett will surely realise something is better than nothing - especially if he hasn't negotiated access rights. Then it's just a case of rushing through the planning before the season kicks off.

 

[pastafarian]

can someone please paste what was said in the email regarding disabled parking.

have purchased disabled parking in bennets but we are not 1901 so havnt heard a sausage about this

cheers

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I was waiting to renew the Uni parking but then they were taken off sale. It will be interesting to see if they reserve the car parks nearest to the underpass for 1901 members only or if it is still first come first served (not that that always worked).

One other thing to be aware of is that Uni also have some development planned. I've been told that this is likely to be on the site of Car Park 1 so the football parking could be moved over to some of the other car parks towards the back of the site which will be a longer walk to the ground.

 

[gjh1971]

can someone please paste what was said in the email regarding disabled parking.

have purchased disabled parking in bennets but we are not 1901 so havnt heard a sausage about this

cheers

I phoned the 1901 phone line following the email and the guy on the phone said the disabled parking will still be in Bennett's field. The area of the first three rows are not under Mr Bennett's ownership - ask to speak to brad who is the 1901 club customer services chap for confirmation

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Don't understand. I just feel that a plot of land next to a football ground and a hotel has more value than one next to just a football ground.

In the 2011 NSC thread on Bennetts Field being used for temporary parking there are some interesting posts.

skipper734 "Isn't Bennett's Field/Church Field the reason there is no slip road on to the southbound A27?"
Lord Bracknell "You may well be right. One of the objectors claims that there is a covenant on the field restricting its use to the benefit of the young people of Falmer village."
Barrel Of Fun "I thought that field was owned by the church?"
Lord Bracknell "It was. It's now owned by the Bennett family, who have some connection with Falmer, even though they now live in London."

If there is a restrictive covenant in place the value of the land will be nowhere as much as land with the prospect of development potential (housing development/commercial/retail). A car park in the field will be more profitable than farming it. Maybe Mr Bennett is gambling on the hotel being built next to the stadium and raised the stakes (what he wants for the new lease) thinking the car park will be intrinsic to the plan.