Jam The Man
Well-known member
Re: Inquiry Day 8 – First Cuckoos Of Spring
Funniest thing i've read all day... though I am easily pleased!
Tom Hark said:
Funniest thing i've read all day... though I am easily pleased!
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Day 8 – Tue 15th Feb - FIRST CUCKOOS OF SPRING
- Thread starter Tom Hark Preston Park
- Start date
Robot Chicken
Seriously?
ShorehamGull said:
Thought you were going to miss out the Megan Report.
Another Blonde? DETAILS PLEASE!!
Lord Bracknell
On fire
My report ...
I knew it was going to be a day dominated by fantasies when I found myself sitting next to the Argus reporter. He had brought along a copy of Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to read during the quiet part of the proceedings (‘Brain candy of the highest quality’ – Chicago Tribune). That’s the book, by the way, not our campaigning local newspaper.
And so it proved. Except maybe the quality wasn’t that high. The opening witness on day eight of the Inquiry was Mr Robert Powell, a resident of East Brighton, an architect and urban designer, author of a forthcoming book on World Stadiums, and a man who had convinced himself that a stadium in Sheepcote Valley might merit a whole chapter if that masterpiece ever got to a second edition.
Mr Powell treated us to a lovely slide show, featuring stadiums at Huddersfield, Bolton, Baltimore, Sydney, Cardiff, Brisbane, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Lisbon, Manchester and Houston. Sheepcote Valley could easily join that roll of honour, if only the Albion could share his vision and abandon their plans for Falmer.
Falmer, we were told, was an outdated concept, ‘buried in a rural hinterland’. Sheepcote Valley was ‘embedded in the city fabric’. And Mr Powell produced a drawing to prove it. This seemed to be only a preliminary pencil sketch. But it showed important details, like the new tram system running up Wilson Avenue and the big hotel that Whitehawk has been missing all these years.
It was an iconic vision of the future. Personally, I thought his plan would have been better if he’d coloured it in with crayons. But maybe that’s just me being picky.
The Albion just needed to show a bit of imagination and we too could have a stadium like Huddersfield and Bolton. But we didn’t seem to have what it takes. Or did we?
Albion barrister, Jonathan Clay, decided to explore this a bit further. ‘Were you aware that the driving force in the development of both of those stadiums was the man who is now Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove Albion?’ ‘No’, replied Mr Powell.
Oh dear. Mr Powell really hadn’t been paying much attention, had he? Indeed, as he presented his evidence, it became quite clear that he hadn’t been paying much attention to John Prescott, either. He had used his own criteria for assessing the relative merits of the different stadium sites, stuff like whether the venue was a good one for concerts. Sheepcote Valley had come out top. But the Deputy Prime Minister’s criteria were different. Stuff like whether sustainable transport access is achievable.
And he’d obviously assessed the various sites wrongly, through such basic errors as not knowing that the Falmer proposal involved building on the site of redundant 1960s university buildings, and thinking that the restored countryside in Sheepcote Valley counted as a ‘brownfield’ site.
The Inspector even allowed me to ask Mr Powell a question. My fifteen seconds of fame! ‘Have you made any estimate of the cost of your proposal?’ ‘I’m afraid not’.
Oh well, never mind. It was a delightful fantasy stadium that Mr Powell had shown us. I just wish he’d bought some crayons.
And so to the next fantasy of the day. A gentle lady from Portslade, who was troubled by the heavy goods vehicles that thunder round the local streets, bringing goods in and out of Shoreham Harbour.
Her fantasy was that the Inquiry might help her, by letting the Albion shut down half the port and fill the neighbourhood streets with smiling football fans instead of noisy, smelly lorries. The Inspector let her down gently. Her complaints about existing traffic conditions were not really within the scope of the Inquiry. But she seemed happy that someone had listened to her.
We then heard all about what seems to some people to be a third fantasy – the Shoreham Maritime Vision. However, this one may, some day, become a reality.
The witness was Tony Vaughan, Engineering Director for the Shoreham Port Authority. He was at the Inquiry to provide some hard information about the availability and suitability of harbour land for an Albion stadium.
There were big plans for Shoreham Harbour that had been agreed in principle by all the big players – the Port Authority, the local authorities and the South East England Development Agency. They had a Vision that would hopefully lead to the re-organisation of port activities and the release of land for development. But none of this could happen until after £150 million had been found to build a new link road to the A27. And, even then, it would be essential that port activity continued at the current level.
The fact that Brighton and Hove City Council had, in November 2003, pronounced the Vision to be unachievable in current circumstances did not mean that the Vision was to be abandoned. It would just take longer to implement. What it did mean was that no operational land would be released for development and no land at all would be available until the Shoreham Maritime Vision was back on track.
Even if that did happen, the Port Authority considered that a football stadium would not be appropriate anywhere on the Shoreham Harbour site. So the answer to one of John Prescott’s questions was clear. Is site acquisition a realistic proposition? No.
And that should see the end of the big fantasy that several parties to the Inquiry have fallen victim to. The Albion can never play at Shoreham Harbour. As Jonathan Clay so succinctly put it, when Tony Vaughan had finished his evidence: ‘No questions’.
I knew it was going to be a day dominated by fantasies when I found myself sitting next to the Argus reporter. He had brought along a copy of Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to read during the quiet part of the proceedings (‘Brain candy of the highest quality’ – Chicago Tribune). That’s the book, by the way, not our campaigning local newspaper.
And so it proved. Except maybe the quality wasn’t that high. The opening witness on day eight of the Inquiry was Mr Robert Powell, a resident of East Brighton, an architect and urban designer, author of a forthcoming book on World Stadiums, and a man who had convinced himself that a stadium in Sheepcote Valley might merit a whole chapter if that masterpiece ever got to a second edition.
Mr Powell treated us to a lovely slide show, featuring stadiums at Huddersfield, Bolton, Baltimore, Sydney, Cardiff, Brisbane, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Lisbon, Manchester and Houston. Sheepcote Valley could easily join that roll of honour, if only the Albion could share his vision and abandon their plans for Falmer.
Falmer, we were told, was an outdated concept, ‘buried in a rural hinterland’. Sheepcote Valley was ‘embedded in the city fabric’. And Mr Powell produced a drawing to prove it. This seemed to be only a preliminary pencil sketch. But it showed important details, like the new tram system running up Wilson Avenue and the big hotel that Whitehawk has been missing all these years.
It was an iconic vision of the future. Personally, I thought his plan would have been better if he’d coloured it in with crayons. But maybe that’s just me being picky.
The Albion just needed to show a bit of imagination and we too could have a stadium like Huddersfield and Bolton. But we didn’t seem to have what it takes. Or did we?
Albion barrister, Jonathan Clay, decided to explore this a bit further. ‘Were you aware that the driving force in the development of both of those stadiums was the man who is now Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove Albion?’ ‘No’, replied Mr Powell.
Oh dear. Mr Powell really hadn’t been paying much attention, had he? Indeed, as he presented his evidence, it became quite clear that he hadn’t been paying much attention to John Prescott, either. He had used his own criteria for assessing the relative merits of the different stadium sites, stuff like whether the venue was a good one for concerts. Sheepcote Valley had come out top. But the Deputy Prime Minister’s criteria were different. Stuff like whether sustainable transport access is achievable.
And he’d obviously assessed the various sites wrongly, through such basic errors as not knowing that the Falmer proposal involved building on the site of redundant 1960s university buildings, and thinking that the restored countryside in Sheepcote Valley counted as a ‘brownfield’ site.
The Inspector even allowed me to ask Mr Powell a question. My fifteen seconds of fame! ‘Have you made any estimate of the cost of your proposal?’ ‘I’m afraid not’.
Oh well, never mind. It was a delightful fantasy stadium that Mr Powell had shown us. I just wish he’d bought some crayons.
And so to the next fantasy of the day. A gentle lady from Portslade, who was troubled by the heavy goods vehicles that thunder round the local streets, bringing goods in and out of Shoreham Harbour.
Her fantasy was that the Inquiry might help her, by letting the Albion shut down half the port and fill the neighbourhood streets with smiling football fans instead of noisy, smelly lorries. The Inspector let her down gently. Her complaints about existing traffic conditions were not really within the scope of the Inquiry. But she seemed happy that someone had listened to her.
We then heard all about what seems to some people to be a third fantasy – the Shoreham Maritime Vision. However, this one may, some day, become a reality.
The witness was Tony Vaughan, Engineering Director for the Shoreham Port Authority. He was at the Inquiry to provide some hard information about the availability and suitability of harbour land for an Albion stadium.
There were big plans for Shoreham Harbour that had been agreed in principle by all the big players – the Port Authority, the local authorities and the South East England Development Agency. They had a Vision that would hopefully lead to the re-organisation of port activities and the release of land for development. But none of this could happen until after £150 million had been found to build a new link road to the A27. And, even then, it would be essential that port activity continued at the current level.
The fact that Brighton and Hove City Council had, in November 2003, pronounced the Vision to be unachievable in current circumstances did not mean that the Vision was to be abandoned. It would just take longer to implement. What it did mean was that no operational land would be released for development and no land at all would be available until the Shoreham Maritime Vision was back on track.
Even if that did happen, the Port Authority considered that a football stadium would not be appropriate anywhere on the Shoreham Harbour site. So the answer to one of John Prescott’s questions was clear. Is site acquisition a realistic proposition? No.
And that should see the end of the big fantasy that several parties to the Inquiry have fallen victim to. The Albion can never play at Shoreham Harbour. As Jonathan Clay so succinctly put it, when Tony Vaughan had finished his evidence: ‘No questions’.
Ccider
New member
Why do Inquiries only work half-days, not on Mondays, and have the odd week off in the middle?
Why can't Inquiry people work 9 to 5 like a lot of ordinary working people?
Then it would be over in a trice...
Why can't Inquiry people work 9 to 5 like a lot of ordinary working people?
Then it would be over in a trice...
Dover
Home at Last.
Many thanks for the reports.
LB. I will save my Persil arts and craft stars for the crayon collection, and not give then to the kids next door.
LB. I will save my Persil arts and craft stars for the crayon collection, and not give then to the kids next door.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Top reporting again Lord B.
I reckon by the end of this inquiry (and the 2003 one), there'll be enough reports posted on NSC to compile and publish a bloody good book.
I reckon by the end of this inquiry (and the 2003 one), there'll be enough reports posted on NSC to compile and publish a bloody good book.
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,348
- Thread starter
- #28
Easy 10 said:
Can we have the lovely Megan posing on the cover in an Albion top? Actually forget about a book, can we just have the lovely Megan posing in an Albion top?
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
If a book was ever produced, perhaps Megan could feature in some kind of centrefold spread.....Tom Hark said:Can we have the lovely Megan posing on the cover in an Albion top? Actually forget about a book, can we just have the lovely Megan posing in an Albion top?
Back in a mo, I'm just off to the toilet.
Peter Grummit
Well-known member
Anyone know the lovely Megan's surname or official job title?
The Stalker
The Stalker
Gritt23
New member
This really is 'marvellous news'.
As we always knew, it's all very well having general discussions in the letter pages of local rags, or on radio phone-ins about how there are much better alternatives than Falmer. And no doubt stuff like "a local artitect has done a study on Sheepcote ... blah blah" but when it comes down to a detailed conversation, these are just pie in the sky ideas. No research, no costings, and no crayons!
Reality is starting to dawn on the NIMBY's I believe. We are the professionals, with a well researched and planned proposal, while they are just amateurs offers a whole load of nothing.
Falmer here we come ... let's just hope the rumour I've heard about the re-organisation of the ODPM doesn't happened before he gives us the thumbs up.
As we always knew, it's all very well having general discussions in the letter pages of local rags, or on radio phone-ins about how there are much better alternatives than Falmer. And no doubt stuff like "a local artitect has done a study on Sheepcote ... blah blah" but when it comes down to a detailed conversation, these are just pie in the sky ideas. No research, no costings, and no crayons!
Reality is starting to dawn on the NIMBY's I believe. We are the professionals, with a well researched and planned proposal, while they are just amateurs offers a whole load of nothing.
Falmer here we come ... let's just hope the rumour I've heard about the re-organisation of the ODPM doesn't happened before he gives us the thumbs up.
Peter Grummit
Well-known member
Because there is a Purdah period before an election when no decicions are made (about 6 weeks) it is impossible for us to have a decision this side of the election (unless it is somehow delayed). This is not good news as the political fallout is the main reason for going against the original Inquiry reports.
Sorry to be negative!
PG
Sorry to be negative!
PG
Curious Orange
Punxsatawney Phil
Peter Grummit said:
That's okay, it is a planning decision, not a political one.
