michaelcroucher Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just been reading on what is happening with Oxford and Wimbledon GRA. I see that Oxford dont run greyhounds anymore there and that planning for new homes is a no go, which is great news. So the question is why do Risk Capital Partners want to keep the stadium. Now they now that Gillard homes cant build there they might as well just sell to have speedway back there, also with regards to Wimbledon I have just seen a document that Merton council have said that they cant build a football stadium there under Risk Capital Partners. If they are to have the stadium then it will have to be a Greyhound stadium only. I know there is a meeting this week all about it but if they are in money difficulties with Irish Nationwide Building Society they might as well sell it to pay off Irish Nationwide Building Society. I hope that with this in mind that Oxford and Wimbledon do return. http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/planning/planningpolicy/ldf/sites_policies_plan/site_37_r031_hume_statement.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Because land increases in value and the current ruling doesn't mean that more development applications can't be made. What you probably really mean is, "why can't wishful thinking come true"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just been reading on what is happening with Oxford and Wimbledon GRA. I see that Oxford dont run greyhounds anymore there and that planning for new homes is a no go, which is great news. So the question is why do Risk Capital Partners want to keep the stadium. Now they now that Gillard homes cant build there they might as well just sell to have speedway back there, also with regards to Wimbledon I have just seen a document that Merton council have said that they cant build a football stadium there under Risk Capital Partners. If they are to have the stadium then it will have to be a Greyhound stadium only. I know there is a meeting this week all about it but if they are in money difficulties with Irish Nationwide Building Society they might as well sell it to pay off Irish Nationwide Building Society. I hope that with this in mind that Oxford and Wimbledon do return. http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/planning/planningpolicy/ldf/sites_policies_plan/site_37_r031_hume_statement.pdf Because its value as development land is way in excess of its value as a stadium. They will play the long game I am afraid. Sandy Lane will be allowed to fall into disrepair, travellers move in, the site becomes an eyesore etc etc. Ultimately planning permission will be granted. It needs someone prepared to pay way over the odds for it to remain as a stadium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin Jason 72 Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just like Cradley and long eaton did :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelcroucher Posted January 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 I can understand why they want to keep the land for investment but they are in money difficulties with the sport. If I was to take out a loan to run a business and the bank doesn’t see it would work they just refuse the money even if you can prove it will work. With this they have lost money and they are losing more money so they should be made to sell the ground. But only if the council agrees to what item goes on the area. So if the council says no to housing then a company who wants to build homes cannot buy it etc etc. It seems if you have a company but they company is losing money and owes money to other companies they have borrowed from then you don’t have to do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflyingkiwi Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 I think Mr. Taggart makes an extremely valid point in stating what right do AFC Wimbledon have on the Plough Lane site. The original site was at the other end of Plough Lane, however It always seems to me that those who run football clubs and their fans always believe that football has a god given right to any piece of land that they perceive as 'suitable' and disregard any other sport's that may currently preside in that venue. At the present time Kingsmeadow fulfills the needs of AFC Wimbledon and it is fantasy that their almighty return to Plough Lane will signal a return to the higher echelons of the professional game. What I do fear is the mismanagement of the Stadium by Risk Capital Partners is falling right into the hands of the AFC Wimbledon, the fact that the Stadium is in a dreadful condition must affect attendance figures and this could lead to questioning the value of Greyhound racing in London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifer sam Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Because its value as development land is way in excess of its value as a stadium. They will play the long game I am afraid. Sandy Lane will be allowed to fall into disrepair, travellers move in, the site becomes an eyesore etc etc. Ultimately planning permission will be granted. It needs someone prepared to pay way over the odds for it to remain as a stadium No it won't, we'll go up there and give the place a good tidy up before it gets too bad. We'll see just how long the stadium owners can play the long game with a 50m debt hanging over their heads... All the best Rob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 No it won't, we'll go up there and give the place a good tidy up before it gets too bad. We'll see just how long the stadium owners can play the long game with a 50m debt hanging over their heads... All the best Rob Let's hope they call it in................................................................................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 I got an e-mail from the Save Oxford Stadium group at the weekend telling me that Galliard are appealing two of the council decisions. One the decision against demolition and then a separate appeal against the decision against the housing plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Unfortunately, being refused planning permission by the local council is just the first step in the merry game to getting permission granted. If you want an example of the futility of it all, take a look at this. All the right noises from the council and MPs, 50,000 signature petition and no where near existing houses. Permission granted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Unfortunately, being refused planning permission by the local council is just the first step in the merry game to getting permission granted. If you want an example of the futility of it all, take a look at this. All the right noises from the council and MPs, 50,000 signature petition and no where near existing houses. Permission granted. Could this be classed as Flood Plain - I don't know - but looking at the picture?....................................................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Building on floodplains doesn't stop them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatwick Rocket Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 In my email to comment on the plan to appeal the Oxford decision to refuse the recent application I suggested the local authority seek a compulsory purchase order and resell the site to someone who wants to use it for it's intended purpose, and tell the applicants not to waste any more of the public purse trying to do something the site is not intended for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Personally, I think Oxford speedway's best bet is to cut a deal with the property developers to support housing in exchange for a down payment of a couple of million to build their own speedway track elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 In my email to comment on the plan to appeal the Oxford decision to refuse the recent application I suggested the local authority seek a compulsory purchase order and resell the site to someone who wants to use it for it's intended purpose, and tell the applicants not to waste any more of the public purse trying to do something the site is not intended for. What was the response in regard to the suggested CPO? I think they are very difficult - and costly - to implement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatwick Rocket Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 None so far. I'm not familiar with planning regs and the like so have no idea if it is even possible for them to do what I suggested. But the idea that the applicants can keep trying ad infinitum and cause tax-payers money to be spent in the process seems wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) None so far. I'm not familiar with planning regs and the like so have no idea if it is even possible for them to do what I suggested. But the idea that the applicants can keep trying ad infinitum and cause tax-payers money to be spent in the process seems wrong. It isnt possible Edited January 21, 2014 by Oldace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur cross Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Have a look on the Wimbledon Stadium thread at my very detailed reply to salty's request for more information about how the Greyhound Racing Association, Risk Capital, Galliard Homes and the Irish debt agency Nama all fit together in the ongoing saga of Wimbledon's (and Oxford's) future. In short, it's very easy to ask "why don't Risk Capital sell up if they can't build houses ?" ... the massive problem (especially at Wimbledon) is that Risk/Galliard still appear to owe multi-millions to Irish banks that they borrowed for their existing ownership of these stadiums. If those multi-millions are a bigger amount than Risk/Galliard can hope to raise from any quick sales (and that seems an increasingly likely scenario), then there's no incentive for Risk/Galliard to sell up because any money they collected would go straight to Nama and they'd still owe the rest of the debt but now without owning anything they were previously using to service that debt !! The generally-held view within greyhound racing is that while all the GRA tracks make enough profit to cope with the interest payments on those Irish loans, those profits aren't enough to make any worthwhile dent in repaying the loans themselves. Any wider way forward at either Oxford or Wimbledon can't start until checking how it fits into any direction Nama & Risk/Galliard have worked out between themselves over those Irish loans. For now, all we know is that in the short-term it suits Risk/Galliard to keep their current greyhound tracks ticking along without further investment as the cheapest/simplest option for keeping up with the interest payments ... meanwhile, Nama still seem to regard working with Risk/Galliard as their best hope of getting as much of their money back as possible (albeit with steadily increasing pressure to hurry up) rather than turning on Galliard and then actively supporting the financial credibility of anyone else's solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 In my email to comment on the plan to appeal the Oxford decision to refuse the recent application I suggested the local authority seek a compulsory purchase order and resell the site to someone who wants to use it for it's intended purpose, and tell the applicants not to waste any more of the public purse trying to do something the site is not intended for.If you Google "oxford council cuts" you'll soon see why they couldn't afford it, and certainly not unless they had a guaranteed buyer ready to pass it on to (extremely unlikely). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 With all the debate on Wimbledon Stadium's future, it's interesting to see that Spedeworth International list their car racing to go into 2016 - although I suppose the stadium owners could soon rescind that if they wanted to.Spedeworth Motorsports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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