SwineTown

Sounds like a great format - will def bring the crowds too.

At the February 2008 committee and following detailed negotiations at officer level, an overall package amounting to some £2.6 million was agreed as part of this application. The applicants argue that in light of the economic crisis, the viability of the scheme has been seriously impaired and “could not carry the additional burden of increased costs brought about by further contributions under the Section 106 agreement”. 22 At the time that this committee approved the application there was a shortfall in the amount of contribution the Council requested versus what was ultimately agreed of some £1.13 million. This gap has now increased to around £2.62 million. In light of the view expressed at the time that the future of Speedway at Abbey Meads was under threat, Members agreed to accept the lesser package in respect of the housing which would act as enabling development for the construction of the new stadium. Whilst the Speedway continues to operate from the site, it is clear that the facilities are grossly out of date and continues to deteriorate. It is acknowledged however that despite fears that the sporting facility would close if planning permission was not given for the residential element of the scheme, the Abbey Stadium and its associated uses has nevertheless managed to stay operational for the past two and a half years but continues to deteriorate as a facility with the Swindon Robins remaining as an Elite League team.

A few key extracts from the new application: ----- ii. The application was considered in February 2008, having first been deferred by committee in September 2008. Officers re-established contact with the applicants on the 4 January 2010 to advise that under Article 25(11)(a) of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure Order) 1995, the Local Planning Authority could be minded to dispose of the application as more than six months had passed since the expiry date of the application with limited progress made towards engrossing the legal agreement. 4 The applicants subsequently confirmed that they were still committed to the project but owing to the effects of the recession which had caused serious problems for the commercial and residential markets, the viability of the development had been brought into question. The applicants now seek a variation of the draft condition 4 to extend the maximum period for the submission of the first reserved matters application after grant of outline planning permission from 3 years to 5 years. Furthermore they wish to vary condition 5 to delay the start date of implementation of the first reserved matters approval from 3 years to 5 years of the date of the planning permission. Link: http://ww5.swindon.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000281/M00004359/AI00023128/$Appn9S071365AbbeyStadiumupdateandreaffirmentincFeb08report.docA.ps.pdf

After a difficult season with some lower attendence, the club looks very vulnerable to me right now. I only found out about this because I was posted a notification direct from SBC due to previous contact and comment. AFAIK there has been: (1) NOTHING on the main Robins site or forum. (2) NOTHING in the local press (3) NOTHING on local radio (4) NOTHING via this forum Glad to be proved wrong on above BTW

Planning Committee Tuesday, 9th November, 2010 6.00 p.m. Venue: Swindon Borough Council Chamber, Civic Offices Contact: Iain Tucker Telephone 01793 463605 email: itucker@swindon.gov.uk Link: SBC Page LINK: Plan of proposal Item 14. S/07/1365 Outline application for the demolition of existing stadium and construction of new stadium, with youth training facilities, 16,745 sq.m. of business (B1) floor space, a care home and 450 no. residential dwellings Access not reserved Abbey Stadium, Lady Lane, Swindon pdf icon PDF 216 KB Additional documents: * 2. AIR PHOTO 07 1365 Abbey Stadium and Business Park Lady Lane Swindon, item 14. pdf icon PDF 328 KB * 3. EXISTING SITE PLAN 07 1365 Abbey Stadium Business Pk Lady Lane Swindon, item 14. pdf icon PDF 574 KB * 4. ILLUSTRATIVE MASTERPLAN 07 1365 Abbey Stadium Business Pk Lady Lane Swindon, item 14. pdf icon PDF 722 KB * Appn 9 S_07_1365 Abbey Stadium update and reaffirment inc Feb 08 report, item 14. pdf icon PDF 264 KB Sorry if this has already been posted - been off-forum for ages.

Yup - my mistake. D

(1990-92) Swindon (1997-98) Swindon (2004-10) Swindon I make that 12 seasons and 7 in a row since we returned EL in 2004

Hi, Can any vintage bike aficionados help us ID this machine and tell me if it is a speedway bike? Looks like an early Jap to me but this is not really my field. And I guess that the long/grasstrack bikes looked similar enough. Any ideas for a date? Looks late 40s/early 50s to me. LINK: Click here Names on back of picture: Denis Comley Les Lindsey (on bike) Terry Webb Johnny Williams Geoff or Jeff Browning Thanks in advance for any help ST

The Defunct site is wonderful. Some great images. It never occurred to me that there would be cigarette cards! Does anyone know if these cards continued after '49 (eg-are there cards with Swindon Riders on?).

I think...this was a clash with Zagar when he signed for us. As it was a temp cover for Bath it was not too important back then.

Thanks for that link. However, it's often hard in my position to apply some of the guidelines listed - and we are relying more and more on material drawn up for archives/museum/library projects.

[...]so does the 70 years after the death of the photographer rule still apply then? Yeah - this is still not clear to me. Your ‘orphan’ clause[...] The 'orphan' was really in the context of historical material with little to guide you in its date or authorship. I am still learning how this is put into practice. on going problem with things like Ebay[...]That's terrible Jim - What's so bad about this is that really Speedway is small world. They would not have to look far to find out about you. Just because its on the internet does not mean its free to use. Completely true! - and thats been the downfall of 1000s every year. However there are companies who massively exploit this issue and issue dubious claims for £1000s with the onus on the 'infringer' to prove ownership. There are image 'Superpowers' out there acting like gangsters. Often they just hope people panic and pay. In your case I guess it may be expensive and often fruitless to pursue this -------------------------------------------- I believe that copyright & surrounding issues are in this mess, legally, internationally, because there is almost no rational way of setttling it fairly and consistently. It almost defies comprehension. I've a Masters in philosophy and beginning my PhD but need a lie down after trying to think it through for more than 10 minutes. Sod Kant! Who needs Wittgenstein?! Consider a picture taken in, say, 1940 by Joe Bloggs. Maybe it was made into a commercial postcard. Do the postcard company own the image? Maybe there may have been no clear deal over these issues. If Joe was working for them when he took it then we get 1 answer, if not, then another. People bought this postcard and collectors have them now - what rights do the owners of the postcard have (or the purchasers of Jim's pics) have? None maybe? Can they photograph their postcard - their own property? Put it online? Publish a book with their collection in? Use an image on ebay to sell it? Say 'Joe' died in 1941. It is still in copyright if we know who he is? And if we don't? What if the postard company folded? What if it was bought up by another years later? What if THEY folded (this is VERY common - a big chain of different commercial owners, all now gone). If the original gets lost and ends up being sold with no info then maybe the 'chain' back to 'Joe' is permanently broken. What if an archive bought it for our collection - Can they charge reproduction rights? Is copyright is still separate? Can they sell copies to the public? Or commercially? How could they check? If an archive scan it and put it online they'd need copyright permission - who do they contact? How do they begin to check? If someone found the online scanned version, well, the archive must 'own' certain rights for that image as a digital entity. Can a postcard owner use our image to sell his copy online? If someone does publish it in a book then eventually that book will go out of copyright - but possibly at different times each side of the Atlantic! USA laws have changed several times and some things have come BACK into copyright (Disney went to HUGE HUGE lengths to stop the image of Mickey Mouse et al going out of copyright - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act). Google Books has scanned 1000s of out-of-copyright books but they own the rights over those scans themselves. Will the digital versions they have made one day expire too? IMO none of these rhetorical questions have bulletproof answers. I'll keep plugging away but I feel that the law in this case is a flimsy levee and that in truth its just a lawyers goldmine that protects the biggest players. I might see things differently in a months time!

Thanks for the reply arnieg, We have a complete run of the Adver from 1854 (& the other local papers), but also have 100s of pictures within our collection duplicated from the Advertiser many years ago. At the moment we are leaving thsoe out of this project. I am planning on making an appeal to Swindon fans for donations of pictures (or duplicates/scans) they have taken over the years - especially team photos and pic of the stadium. Similar appeals will be made in other areas too. We just need clarity about WHO took the pic and under what terms they provide it to us. And we need to be a bit selective! As for progs, I DID find this: http://www.flickr.com/groups/footballprogrammecovers/ - so they don't seem to care! thanks for your posts arnieg, norbold & speedyguy. Much appreciated.

might be a Anti-virus software or firewall problem

Of course, norbold - without the collectors, much of this stuff would never have come to light. In fact it is the process of collecting which often creates the value: one old speedwy pic might be nice - but a gigantic lifetime collection is a hugely valuable resource. But the magpie tendency which motivates the collector seems to prevent them from thinking ahead to protect their hard work. It applies in all areas - huge art collections with treasured masterpieces tucked away in private homes, selfish collectors buying black market antiquities - even sordid European leaders possibly looting undeclared ancient graves for their own vanity! As a musician it often saddens me to think that experts estimate that the greatest musical instruments in the world - 1950s Les Pauls, Stradivari violins, etc - are often largely left - unused - in bank vaults as investments!