Not a penny paid for that stand by Hudgell .

Just for clarification I am thankful for your and the councils work on it Phil.
But it is just that it isn't as good as it could have been which on some levels is a shame.

Under the circumstances that generated this stand - creatively done for Hudgell's and Rovers' benefit - any backtracking politicking now can only be seen as at best, profoundly ungrateful and at worst, a cynical betrayal of the highest order.

You're [irenting[/i it (hopefully), not buying it. You're lucky to have had any say at all

To continue my impenetrable GoT theme, Ned Stark was ever so honourable.

Cynicism will take you further than gratitude in many circumstances. I'm not advocating it, because I'm far from sure that it applies to this situation. However, when making appeals to our better nature - Super League, devil take the hindmost, dog eat dog, the consistently vigorous pursuit of their own interests by our rivals etc etc. I doubt we can get a better deal, but if we could we should. Just as Hull (or anybody else) would.
Anyway that is enough of my Machiavelli 101 - from my restricted view of the action, I think we should be a tiny bit less harsh. A happy and rare confluence of what's best and what is fair.

And last official stuff I saw, it was a loan to be repaid rather than rent. I know nh made a (seemingly) offhand comment about rent, but I assumed that was all it was.

Rent would be better from our pov, imo, and the gratitude quotient would rise accordingly.
Seems unlikely though.

Its a commercial, 30 year mortgage @ 50K/year according to Hudge on radio. Not rent at all.

Funnily enough, when I bought a new house, I didn't start paying for it until it was finished and I'd moved in. So, that must be just me & Rovers having this bizarre arrangement.

A perfectly reasonable observation now you've clarified that it's mortgaged, not rented. Also explains Rovers' input. Easty, Hudge and MR just clouding things. Rent. Tsk. .

So given that Rovers are very much in the loop, as one of the concerned bodies they will have been party to all the twists and turns from day one. Present at the various sign-offs, etc. Making Neil's council-fallout even stranger and unexplained. One could suspect there is an ulterior motive after all.

Phil sounds sick of the whole thing and laments the passing of some friendships along the way. So unfair. If MR's politicking, devil take the hindmost, dog eat dog theory bears fruit, Hudgell may do well to bear in mind that other faithful idiom - once bitten, twice shy.

Aye, very possibly. The way things have been at the KC of late has probably meant we won't see the council dipping their toes into these piranha infested waters for a while, anyway.

But where's the immediate need?

I suspect nh is just genuinely frustrated. It has been a tortuous process, unavoidably so in some respects, like the global economic crash. Less forgivably for stuff like getting the quote wrong. And just because Rovers have been in place to see the stuff ups at close quarters doesn't make them easier to swallow.
If You agree that your front room will be painted misty buff and get back from work to discover it is tango orange, your involvement in the decision making process probably isn't of much consolation.

I do not possess a "front room", buffed orange or otherwise.

Caravan then.