One thing that struck me today was this. Before the meeting all concerned were waiting in the reception area. Yorkcourts solicitor also had to wait there but remained in a quiet corner well out of the way. Then Rogers the head of planning walked into the room and went straight up to him. They seemed over friendly and were laughing and joking together. Rogers then went upstairs and sat quietly at the back of the chamber but made no contribution. However the 'legal advisor' was right in front of rogers. I must say the impression I got was the legal advisor did not seem one bit impartial and tried all he could to persuade the councillors to pass the application.

These views and observation are just my opinion but I got a very strong impression today that certain people within the council tried there best to get this passed.

I have knocked local councillors many times in the past but today those that stood up and showed true moral backbone must be applauded for their stance.

This stadium (Stevenage FC) will be vacated within the next twelve months. Leave the flats where they are for now, they can occupy the space at the bottom of the picture & be replaced with a 'grand stand' at a later date, the other three ends would meet our needs. We could even look at getting the unfinished stand from Millmoor & put that into the space current occupied by the flats from the get go. That option could be purchased and moved for the end of the season & put in place during the year and a half that follows.

The third image is Glandford Park (Shorpe), they'll be completely redeveloping soon & you could probably pick the entire thing up pretty cheaply. Whilst this would undoubtedly be the better option of the two, it'll probably be available too late for what we need. If this option we to be ready for September, I think it could be picked up for less than a million. A lick of paint & we could have something we could be really proud without breaking the bank.

Sounds about right to be honest. Apart from one or two hollow and vague statements from Box, the Council haven't done anything else to show their on the side of the people rather than the developer.

Still waiting for the ‘good news’ in the new year.

Hi All

Firstly can I thank you all for your continued support... and sorry we have and still continue to be a little vague on recent progress and ongoing discussions. We do have to make these choices because our aim is purely to deliver what we all want and what was promised, a new stadium, somewhere within the City. To do so we do have to try and maintain a level of confidentiality, because that is what is asked of us by the other parties involved and also because we have learnt the hard way that getting peoples hopes up in what is a complete mess of complexity and politics really isn't good for anyone. We remain hugely sceptical of the leadership WMDC and Yorkcourts/Henry Boot desire and ability to deliver both a location and funding for a new stadium... but we ain't ever giving up.

I need to also say a massive thanks to Ian Bramley, Phil Townsend & Mary Creagh MP for speaking in objection to the Kitwave application. Ian had to step in when it unfortunately became apparent early this week, that I wasn't going to be able to make the meeting to speak in behalf of the Trust. Thanks Ian, you are a star!

So, there is still some potentially good news to be delivered in the coming few weeks, but again we are still cautious because we have been here so many times before. However, that news while hopefully good and very welcome is only the first piece of the jigsaw and what matters now is that we work towards getting all the pieces of the jigsaw in place, or all we are left with is an unfinished jigsaw!

We didn't expect the result we got yesterday and we are delighted that, to our surprise if we are completely honest, that it was so soundly rejected by the planning committee. We would look to thank those councillors that did so overwhelmingly vote against Kitwave, against officer advice, because they actually did take a moral stance and asked some fundamental questions about how the developer had been allowed to stick up "two fingers" (Ian B) and show "utter contempt" (Phil T) in the "biggest game of cat and mouse in the council's history" (Mary Creagh) to the citizens of Wakefield.

What happens next... well we are not exactly a 100% sure and while we discussed the possibility of victory and what then might happen, we didn't do so into the level of detail we did for losing. We do know that winning yesterday was much better for the cause, that is what we set out to do, and certainly initially a much more cost effective way to make progress.

We will of course give you as much information as we are able, with prejudicing our goal of delivering that new stadium.

Thank you all again for keeping faith with us, we do appreciate it.

As a forever hopeful IA, I give you and the others concerned, my sincere thanks for your time and great efforts.
I really don't know how you stick with it!

This

Thanks for the update I.A.

When Henry Boot’s came to the party I was more optimistic than I had been for seven years, finally a bona fide company that could curtail the deplorable actions of the Yorkcourt “tin pot” shysters.

Whilst I appreciate you have to be careful, do you think Boot’s involvement has improved negotiations or hindered them?

Thank you for the update IA

Hear Hear!!!

Thank you IA for your update.

All good but I'd actually have the Millmoor stand as the main stand - it's actually too big for the end and its by far the most availiable and easiest to move and re-errect - it is fundamentally a new stand.

Isn`t that stand half built?

Missing some cladding and the obvious but the structure is complete - what I mean is its unused as far as I'm aware so we can format it as we want.

Looking at this image it got a bit further than the image on here but far from complete even if it has been slightly used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millmoor# ... 336903.jpg

Looking at this image it got a bit further than the image on here but far from complete even if it has been slightly used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millmoor# ... 336903.jpg