Coventry 2017

[Woz01]

Bad blood yet Sandhu managed to convince Brandon Estates to sponsor Coventry Bees.

[Theboss]

Bad blood yet Sandhu managed to convince Brandon Estates to sponsor Coventry Bees.

 

Maybe that was agreed prior to the events which caused the bad blood.... or maybe sponsoring the Bees was something that helped show Brandon Estates in good light to the local council?

[Hamish McRaker]

I have heard from a credible source that Brandon Estates is owned by legitimate investors who have no connection with Sandhu. There was actually bad blood between the two parties prior to the latest series of events, and it would not surprise me if we saw the stadium only open for speedway in March and Stock cars unable to be accommodated.

Presuming Coventry Speedway is still going to be the headleaseholder from 1/1/17,would just running speedway be viable? I thought Stox were needed for providing a substantial slice of the stadium operating costs.

[full-throttle]

Don't think it would matter. i'm sure they'd have ensured that your rifle was deactivated when you weren't looking.

 

I remain convinced Sandhu and his family are behind Brandon Estates.

 

When Sandhu bought the stadium it was clear his ultimate aim was redevelopment. Why then would he sell all that land to someone else and allow them to make all the money from redeveloping it instead?

Of course Brandon Estates may have made Sandhu an offer he couldn't refuse and bought it from Sandhu at a much higher redevelopment value, rather than the existing use stadium value, but why would they do that? You wouldn't give away a huge slice of the potential profit when you're the one taking the risk.

If Brandon Estates really are an unconnected party who have bought the stadium at an overinflated price, why would Sandhu go back and tear down floodlights, rip out alarms and other electrics? If Sandhu had sold the stadium for a huge profit, the second hand value of a bit of scrap floodlighting would be mere petty cash, and not something worth getting sued for.

Clearly such things as floodlight stanchions, fire alarms, and internal wiring are fixtures of the stadium, not mere fittings of the tenant. Both parties will know this. Sandhu would not trash these things unless it was part of a pre-arranged plan.

Have the police really been called? Somehow I doubt it. They wouldn't get involved in a civil matter.

 

I honestly believe this is a battle purposely arranged between Sandhu's left hand and Sandhu's right hand to create a smokescreen while the stadium is trashed and becomes unusable.

It has been claimed more than once that Sandhu has no interest in Brandon Estates Ltd (Jersey). Sandhu owns the promoting liscence for stox, so as he claims to own the flood lights he has taken them down because they are his toys and no-one else can play with them without a signed agreement,

 

As for selling the land he has been told numerous times that planning permission would be denied, so maybe he thought it best to get out whilst he could.

 

Having sold the stadium he wasn't bothered about a lease because he could take the Stox on the road, Stoke, Birmingham, Kings Lynn maybe, he has the dates so only needs a track to race on.

 

There are thing behind the scenes we as fans will neve know about,

 

Presuming Coventry Speedway is still going to be the headleaseholder from 1/1/17,would just running speedway be viable? I thought Stox were needed for providing a substantial slice of the stadium operating costs.

 

It appears Cov Stox are needed as they claim to own the fixtures and fittings, as to viability of speedway only, who knows

[Jacques]

Don't think it would matter. i'm sure they'd have ensured that your rifle was deactivated when you weren't looking.

 

I remain convinced Sandhu and his family are behind Brandon Estates.

 

When Sandhu bought the stadium it was clear his ultimate aim was redevelopment. Why then would he sell all that land to someone else and allow them to make all the money from redeveloping it instead?

Of course Brandon Estates may have made Sandhu an offer he couldn't refuse and bought it from Sandhu at a much higher redevelopment value, rather than the existing use stadium value, but why would they do that? You wouldn't give away a huge slice of the potential profit when you're the one taking the risk.

If Brandon Estates really are an unconnected party who have bought the stadium at an overinflated price, why would Sandhu go back and tear down floodlights, rip out alarms and other electrics? If Sandhu had sold the stadium for a huge profit, the second hand value of a bit of scrap floodlighting would be mere petty cash, and not something worth getting sued for.

Clearly such things as floodlight stanchions, fire alarms, and internal wiring are fixtures of the stadium, not mere fittings of the tenant. Both parties will know this. Sandhu would not trash these things unless it was part of a pre-arranged plan.

Have the police really been called? Somehow I doubt it. They wouldn't get involved in a civil matter.

 

I honestly believe this is a battle purposely arranged between Sandhu's left hand and Sandhu's right hand to create a smokescreen while the stadium is trashed and becomes unusable.

 

Exactly how I'm seeing it......

[SteveLyric2]

According to today's SS, Brandon Estates are challenging whether all the fixtures and fittings are indeed Sandhu's to remove - maliciously or otherwise?!

[Gemini]

"First off when Sandhu purchased the site the business was bankrupt, Ochiltree did not own it he was effectively a manager and the site was costing the London owners money. It was sold as a development site not as a going concern because it was not a going concern. He invested £1m into the site and has allowed as a result a further 15 years use for the two sports. He has not yet had a return on that capital but he is still committed to the sports and frankly is the only person who has no other motive than seeing the sports have a long term future home. Others are trying to either get the houses built quicker or trying to inherit things that Sandhu has bought or cash in on his reputation. One thing is for certain we will be running Stox next year and we hope it will be at Brandon if not we have a plan B which really should be plan A but we have a lot of loyalty to the Coventry site. So trust or don't trust that is for you to decide but nobody on our side is getting rich out of the current situation which is driven by greed from others and that will no doubt become more apparent as the truth always comes out in the end."

So how does this fit into the scheme of things? It's hard to know who to believe. If 'others' are trying to get houses built quicker Sandhu has given them a big helping hand by the extra damage caused when removing his assets.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Gemini

[Starman2006]

According to today's SS, Brandon Estates are challenging whether all the fixtures and fittings are indeed Sandhu's to remove - maliciously or otherwise?!

This could drag on for months and months..

[Jacques]

This could drag on for months and months..

 

You'd like that wouldn't you!

[ovalfan]

Those comments by j heaver are full of lies and inaccuracy. These people are not to be trusted. And it shows to me that there is no intention to put right the venue or run at brandon.

[Gemini]

That's what I was thinking too. Hopefully once Christmas and the New Year is out of the way we can all be put out of our misery so we don't have to endure more months of uncertainty. It just doesn't make sense to have stripped the stadium and done a lot of damage doing it only to say it will all be put back again. Yeah right.

[Halifaxtiger]

That's what I was thinking too. Hopefully once Christmas and the New Year is out of the way we can all be put out of our misery so we don't have to endure more months of uncertainty. It just doesn't make sense to have stripped the stadium and done a lot of damage doing it only to say it will all be put back again. Yeah right.

 

 

Sadly, Gem, that was the way I saw it. Some things might have been worth stripping, but why rip out all the seats, smash them up and a few days later offer to buy new ones ?

[Coventry_Bee]

The statement from the night of talks that was sandhu would put it back at his cost so if he caused a whole load of damage its only his own mess he is fixing. It may well be that cost that Brandon estates have come up with but say if he had 20/30 people working on the site for a week to 10 days I am sure it would soon take shape. Like the speedway star says its down to the definition of fixtures and fittings and the interpretation of it, I am sure it will be an 11th hour resolution and we roll onto the next issue. That or the place goes up in flames in mysterious circumstances.

[philfromcov]

Interesting piece by Mr Heaver, as with all things we no longer trust anyone.

 

The bit around the Ochiltree estate needing to sell the property rings true to me and what i have previously been told.

funny thou pre 2004 i remember the lighting and the seats being there, so the idea that these were separate assets from the stadium doesn't make sense at least then.

 

I also believe that sandhu had to sell the site because he became "over stretched" why else would you sell a piece of land that once (if) it gets planning permission is worth around £25M and not the £2m it was sold for.

 

The murky bit for me is is that he admits that Brandon was never plan A, meaning someone has leverage over them to stay, a condition of sale perhaps?. Either way is clear that perhaps Horton yet again got outmaneuvered and fell into their trap and immediately started to make the stadium unusable.

 

If it was for the Councillor i suspect making it very plain that no planning permission would be granted until at least three years, and thankfully the coventry telegraph making this a big issue (lets ignore how accurate the stories are that doesnt matter) bad publicity around "sharp" business practices is not something any business wants the smell of, so my gut feeling is that this will be resolved before the new season.

 

not forgetting that Sandhu chose Mick Horton and new exactly what he was getting, the idea that he was the only promoter that would have been interested is nonsense, so he knew what he was getting, basically you hired him so no sympathy im affraid

[Theboss]

The statement from the night of talks that was sandhu would put it back at his cost so if he caused a whole load of damage its only his own mess he is fixing. It may well be that cost that Brandon estates have come up with but say if he had 20/30 people working on the site for a week to 10 days I am sure it would soon take shape. Like the speedway star says its down to the definition of fixtures and fittings and the interpretation of it, I am sure it will be an 11th hour resolution and we roll onto the next issue. That or the place goes up in flames in mysterious circumstances.

The night of talks was with a councillor and not Brandon Estates. At the end of the day they own the property and will have the final say. Who would blame them if they told Sandhu that his offer is not welcome and want the job done properly via their insurance company... And I would imagine that is why the police have allegedly been contacted as they will want a crime reference number.

[Coventry_Bee]

I agree that Brandon Estates were not involved on the night of the talks but they had a good few days watching it all unfold and did nothing. The moment a seat was removed they should have called the police had they full confidence that it was not sandhu's to remove. Who would watch their house burgled and call the police a few days later?

[Gemini]

 

 

......philfromcov...... also believe that sandhu had to sell the site because he became "over stretched" why else would you sell a piece of land that once (if) it gets planning permission is worth around £25M and not the £2m it was sold for.

 

Was that to do with the relative who owed thousands of pounds in tax or something? Sandhu had always said he owned all the stadium but that was yet another lie as this relative 'allegedly' owned half of it and the money was needed to pay back what he owed otherwise he'd end up in prison.

[Little Thumper]

Interesting piece by Mr Heaver, as with all things we no longer trust anyone.

 

The bit around the Ochiltree estate needing to sell the property rings true to me and what i have previously been told.

funny thou pre 2004 i remember the lighting and the seats being there, so the idea that these were separate assets from the stadium doesn't make sense at least then.

 

I also believe that sandhu had to sell the site because he became "over stretched" why else would you sell a piece of land that once (if) it gets planning permission is worth around £25M and not the £2m it was sold for.

 

The murky bit for me is is that he admits that Brandon was never plan A, meaning someone has leverage over them to stay, a condition of sale perhaps?. Either way is clear that perhaps Horton yet again got outmaneuvered and fell into their trap and immediately started to make the stadium unusable.

 

If it was for the Councillor i suspect making it very plain that no planning permission would be granted until at least three years, and thankfully the coventry telegraph making this a big issue (lets ignore how accurate the stories are that doesnt matter) bad publicity around "sharp" business practices is not something any business wants the smell of, so my gut feeling is that this will be resolved before the new season.

 

not forgetting that Sandhu chose Mick Horton and new exactly what he was getting, the idea that he was the only promoter that would have been interested is nonsense, so he knew what he was getting, basically you hired him so no sympathy im affraid

 

Planning application decisions are not made by one councillor.

Any planning application would have to be considered by the planning committee and the application would be judged against prescribed criteria.

 

It is quite possible that having sought a professional opinion, a party in this matter holds the belief that the probability is that a suitable planning application would be approved by committee.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Little Thumper

[Gemini]

I'm sure it would especially if the stadium is no longer suitable to stage motor speedway but is more or less already derelict. I think Sandhu knows exactly what he's doing and is in some way involved with Brandon Estates. I just wish I could be as optimistic as some on here but sadly I'm not.

[philfromcov]

 

Planning application decisions are not made by one councillor.

Any planning application would have to be considered by the planning committee and the application would be judged against prescribed criteria.

 

It is quite possible that having sought a professional opinion, a party in this matter holds the belief that the probability is that a suitable planning application would be approved by committee.

the way this works is that you need to get into the local plan which is updated every three years, they have not requested or indeed been accepted into the latest three year plan, so i suspect this is where the timescales has come from