Offy86 wrote:
Regarding the stadium and surrounding areas,.I touched on this the other day.
Hull City owner is already in the process of negotiations with HCC
Huge plans have already been drawn up and been put forward
HCC are happy to sell and happy with the plans out forward
One sticking point atm is the purchasing of a small part of land and building on the grounds that HCC do NOT own (yet)
The plans would cut into where the Fair is held and would make the fair much smaller, which the Fair have said "we just wouldn't bother coming"
These plans etc haven't been made fully available as yet and can't properly until HCC acquire the land they need for the full sale to go ahead
I'm not sure from what I'm hearing from the council that the bit about the 10,000 stadium is totally correct as at present that bit is 'a moveable Feast' as is its capacity, but otherwise the purchase of the land is well down the road and then its all systems go. The liberal Democrats are on board with the scheme and pushing ahead in the guildhall.
The Fair is a thorny one though because there could be a public backlash on reducing its size and indeed if the Showman's Guild of GB decide to boycott it because of the reduction in size. The fairground layout at present featured around 130 sites that are 'owned' by different showman's families the rights for which have been passed down over the years from generation to generation. Some sites that are allocated separately every year are owned fully by the council whilst the rest (the majority) operate under this ancient convention of family rights.
If the site is reduced, there will be a lot of hand wringing and doom mongering from them as they talk of robbing the community of the fair, its heritage etc. they are a good crowd in general but in the end for them its all about money as it is the biggest earner by far that some get in their whole travelling year. Many I knew told me they lived through the winter from the takings. Whatsmore, an alternative site is completely out of the question as planning and safety legislation deems that any new site for the fair would have to be up to the standards of a current pleasure park with in addition massive car parking provision and with horrendous traffic management issues and anyway development land within the City Boundaries is extremely limited.
So for now as our new owner says we have to concentrate on getting as many as possible through the gates to get those points back.
Playing in the best and possibly the biggest stadium in the country makes a bit of a farce of the percentage of capacity rules in the gradings but at present it is what it is.
