I'm not aware of any sites in the centre of the district that are suitable.

Perhaps Odsal is the only site where the council owns land that of sufficient size? It's easy to reach from the city centre by road. It's not on green belt and is in no danger of flooding.

A new stadium next to the motorway network is a potential money spinner for the council too in case it wishes to bid for events, so maybe there is something in it for the non Bulls supporting taxpayer after all? The stadium development will give the council a bigger asset than it currently holds. The KC stadium in Hull is the base for a lot of positive work in the community where various projects and businesses have offices. This could be repeated in Bradford.

If the OSV ends up attracting people from Calderdale or Leeds or anywhere else then surely that's a good thing? They'll be swelling the coffers of Bradford council! That's another benefit to you!

Edge?

Odsal?

Are you drunk?

And while we're on it, that's wrong. My 6036 converging with 641 beats your position hands down.

By at least 200 yards.

This has been driven by the council from the start. The Bulls are one interested party of many.

The Richard Dunn loses money because the facilities are so restricted.
The new facilities will serve thousands of people from across the district. It will form part of the sports facilities offered by Bradford College and local (by that I mean district wide) facilities for sports groups.

The vast majority of people who will use the site will not be connected to the bulls in any way at all.
If one of the district football clubs moves in too and at least one local amateur RL team then the usage of the stadium itsself will widen.

If other towns and cites far smaller than Bradford can have sports villages then why should we be denied just because some residents on the other side of the city don't think it's close enough.

The sports village could not be developed at VP or it probably would have already happened. At Odsal we have the space, the motorway access and the interest. The sports centre could be replaced and the valuable land used to help pay for it. Could Keighley offer all that?

Of course not!

AJ seems to be saying that the money going towards the OSV from the Council should be shared equally across all facilities across the entire district rather than a big chunk spent in one place because it's too hard to travel from Keighley to Odsal.

This seems to be regardless of need, and regardless of the fact that better facilities could be provided if resources were pooled.

I get the feeling that some folk wouldn't be making any noise at all if there was no stadium as part of the OSV. AJ has already said the scheme is a Trojan Horse for the Bulls. It seems a bit odd that if that were the case why so many organisations would be signing up.

The benefits of a new stadium and the OSV being built would filter down to council tax payers whether they use it or not. It's a good project and I hope it goes ahead.

For the record, I don't have any problems with the Richard Dunn being replaced, it's a tip, and it's outdated. That area needs new public recreational facilities, no doubt at all.

For the record, the same could be applied to Keighley Leisure Centre and Pool, and Shipley pool ( I can't say anything about the other facilities in the area, as I'm not familiar with them).

The issue I have is of funding. Bradford Bulls were paid £4.6 (?) million to take care of the stadium for the foreseeable future. What happens to that money now? I'm not stirring it here, but surely that's a reasonable question?

Because Andrea, and I hate to drag this up again, we'll end up paying for it!!



Andrea, talk of motorway access isn't relevant at all. How much of the metropolitan district of Bradford does the M606/M62 serve?



Nobody said it could.

This discussion is getting silly, it sounds like to me it's a case of if i can't have direct access to something i don't see why others should, when i pay the same tax...whilst we're at it why don't we look at the spend per head by the government and have a go at the southerners.

Please use your common sense, the access links, the land, the proximity to the university... all already discussed, at least 1 team who could go some way to filling it and the replacement of Richard Dunnes, which as loss making, your paying for now!

If you object to using the money for this what else would you use the money for?

That funding was necessary because of the chronic mismanagement of Odsal by Bradford Council since the year dot. Odsal and the Bulls are potentially two of Bradford's greatest icons, yet the short-sightedness and incompetence of the Council has allowed the former and consequently the latter to reach a parlous state. If there is a solution that also provides community facilities, ones far more likely to be used with a professional sports club on site and drawing publicity, surely this is just the sort of thing rates are for?