Clubs poor PR

[BensGrandad]

The problem with Withdean residents supporting the extra seats give more weight to the argument that Withdean is ideal as a permanent site. Up the seating to 9,000 just add 2,000 more twice and you have 13,000 and some people would say it is more than adequste for our needs. So to get FALMER we cannot enlist the help of Withdean residents for extra seating.

 

[Seagull73]

Bloody hell you can tell we've had a crap start to the season can't you, everybody is picking holes in absolutely everything at the moment.

The sums are also not going to be quite as beneficial as pepole are saying as well, because don't forget, once the P&R has been approved, we've still got to pay to have the seats put up!! We won't see the benefits financially of extra seats until probably next season.

 

[BensGrandad]

Here is the e-Mail I received from Martin Perry




We haven't kept anyone in the dark - we would always answer the question if asked. Indeed it was discussed at the Annual General Meeting of the Official Supporters Club which was held just before the season started so the people that attended that meeting were given a very full answer. I will repeat the answer we gave them.

The planning permission we have been given for the extra seats despite the opposition from the Tories relies upon the Club providing a third park and ride site. Carden Avenue was identified by the Club well over a year ago and we carried out a whole range of traffic studies and safety audits to demonstrate that it would work perfectly.

Unfortunately however there are two residents at Withdean that try and stir up trouble over any issue related to our use of Withdean Stadium and they persuaded the Tory Councillors to oppose the use of Carden Avenue as a way of stopping us putting in the extra seats.

This is one of the problems we now face because the Council is "hung" and Labour do not have overall control and therefore do not have an overall majority on the major committees.

This has meant that we have had to go back to square one and try and find another site which will work. We are currently looking at two options but we have to evaluate them and make sure they will work before we apply to use them.

This is not the Club's fault. It is a direct result of the opposition by the local residents to an increase in the capacity at Withdean that has delayed us.

It just demonstrates how difficult it is for us to increase the capacity at Withdean and why it is such nonsense for the Planning Inspectors and the Falmer Residents to suggest that a solution is to redevelop Withdean.

Martin Perry

 

[Bwian]

The planning permission we have been given for the extra seats despite the opposition from the Tories relies upon the Club providing a third park and ride site.

two residents at Withdean that try and stir up trouble over any issue related to our use of Withdean Stadium and they persuaded the Tory Councillors to oppose...


This is one of the problems we now face because the Council is "hung" and Labour do not have overall control and therefore do not have an overall majority on the major committees.

Notice a familiar pattern developing here? Who is f**king up our plans? Two well off snobs and the f**king Tories! Same old shit when it comes to the Albion being screwed over by the Tories. We need Falmer to be approved before there are any more Tory councillors elected-once they get control we are well and truly stuffed.

 

[London Irish]

It does seem there are loads of us who live in the Preston Park/Westdene/Withdean area.

Time for us to put some pressure on those Tory councillors perhaps with some lobbying of our own?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

IMO the PR of the club leaves a lot to be desired

So you e-mail Martin Perry and - by return - he gives you a straight answer.

Not that it hasn't been seen on NSC months ago.

 

[Colbourne Kid]

The main Conservative being used by the Withdean residents is Brian Pidgeon. He was very active against Carden Avenue and is opposed to any expansion at Withdean.

 

[BensGrandad]

Re: Re: Clubs poor PR

So you e-mail Martin Perry and - by return - he gives you a straight answer.

Not that it hasn't been seen on NSC months ago.

I will be the first to accept that on this occassion MP has exceeded all of my expectations. It is well known that I am not one of his greatest admirers so I am even more suprised that he answered my E mail so quickly and efficiently. I then sought his permission to post his reply to me on NSC to which he readily agreed. For this I take my hat off to him!!

The question of it being posted on NSC some time ago is not in dispute what I was annoyed about as stated by some other poster was that if everythinmg is going well you can not keep him or DK off of the radio but everything about the extra seats just died with no mention whatsoever. It could be said that there was no news to report as nothing had happened but just a mention of that on the club news line saying that there was no further news and that new sites were still being investigated would have been better than we got.

I fully acxcept his answer and just hope that the supporters who live in the areas that have a councillor who has changed his views lobby him/her to assist us. It is vital that we generate more income if only for the reason that our wage bill is set as a percentage of our income by league rules.

 

[balloonboy]

If we can't even get 2,000 extra temporary seats at Withdean then surely the Withdean option as a permanent home is a non-starter? If I was on the BHA board, I would be thinking to myself that it's bl00dy annoying not getting the extra seats (think of all those folk on NSC who will moan at us), but in reality it plays right into our hands on the Falmer front. Perhaps I'm looking at this too simplistically?

 

[balloonboy]

Re: Re: Re: Clubs poor PR

I will be the first to accept that on this occassion MP has exceeded all of my expectations. It is well known that I am not one of his greatest admirers so I am even more suprised that he answered my E mail so quickly and efficiently. I then sought his permission to post his reply to me on NSC to which he readily agreed. For this I take my hat off to him!!

I've emailed MP every now and then on a range of issues. He's always responded amazingly promptly, especially when you consider his workload over the last few years. I can't understand why anyone would doubt his sincerity, commitment or good sense....how many other clubs give you direct access to the Chief Exec on a daily basis?