Brandon Update

[Byker Biker]

7 hours ago, adonis said:

I think you missed the point a bit . it's not me who Is RIGHT

 

I have to be honest, IMHO I do feel the venue has a greater opportunity of success as a track without the overbearing costs of maintaining an old facility. Starting again from a track in a field will give it the freedom to go/grow it's own way. The cost of running the sport is more then enough but to have to meet modern legislative demands in an old facility could always threaten it's viability in the future. It may need to take more steps back before it can go forward nevertheless I do sincerely wish everyine connected with the campaign well and good fortune for a positive outcome.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Byker Biker said:

I have to be honest, IMHO I do feel the venue has a greater opportunity of success as a track without the overbearing costs of maintaining an old facility. Starting again from a track in a field will give it the freedom to go/grow it's own way. The cost of running the sport is more then enough but to have to meet modern legislative demands in an old facility could always threaten it's viability in the future. It may need to take more steps back before it can go forward nevertheless I do sincerely wish everyine connected with the campaign well and good fortune for a positive outcome.

Who would rental for use of the land be paid to? How much would they charge for such use? More important would those who hold the Land Deeds agree to such a proposition? 

[Byker Biker]

12 hours ago, gustix said:

Who would rental for use of the land be paid to? How much would they charge for such use? More important would those who hold the Land Deeds agree to such a proposition? 

By "track in a field" i mean the current Brandon track but without the overhead of maintaining a dilapidated facility. A modest rebirth is more financially sustainable and can grow organically like Scunthorpe, Leicester and Redcar as examples but restoring it to it's former glory will place an ongoing cost burden with the associated risk. There are enough examples of oval sports being staged in tired old stadiums commanding disproportionate rents that have proved unsustainable.

[BuxtonTiger]

And how much will it cost to clear everything to make Brandon into a track in a field?

[adonis]

A track with limited facilities is probably the best that should be hoped for now , and elswhere than Brandon as well , far too much time and effort has been wasted locking horns with Brandon Estates , If there is to be a future for the Bees , then it needs a shrewd negotiator to convince Brandon Estates that it is to their benefit to compromise and finance a new smaller project , and that will free up Brandon for their ultimate goal . one thing s for sure .they are not going to be bullied by a few Govt directives as they have already shown . and the fires and Gipsy incursions will continue until theres nothing left , as it is .a property developer has far more clout than anybody ,and where a site may be rejected on enquiry from Individuals , it won't be rejected so easliy by a comapany with massive finance ,  Most people would agree property companies do as they please and always get what they want , if they wanted a speedway stadium because they needed one ,they would get it .

[steve roberts]

Unfortunately I personally think that it's only a matter of time before Cowley Stadium goes the same way.

[Fromafar]

22 hours ago, tyretrax said:

I don't recall Powderhall being left vacant and then going on fire. It was closed down to be redeveloped.

It wasn’t burnt down when left vacant ,but it did have a “dodgy” fire incident towards the end of its speedway tenure.(just to help the redevelopment case no doubt).

[1 valve]

4 hours ago, BuxtonTiger said:

And how much will it cost to clear everything to make Brandon into a track in a field?

Considerably less than it will take to make good the current facility. 

[jenga]

the cost of getting rid of so called rubbish (yes , i typed rubbish ) would be far greater i think . small garage over. the road where i used to live  cost around k20 . 

 

[Gemini]

Has the garden centre been redeveloped yet?

[False dawn]

4 hours ago, Gemini said:

Has the garden centre been redeveloped yet?

Not when I drove past there about 5 weeks ago. Bit small for a new track though I think.

[Odds On]

for speedway to return to Coventry it would need someone with deep pockets and also to run the whole stadium as a business, speedway, greyhound racing, stock cars, football/rugby in the middle, car boot sales at the weekends, conference facilities etc etc.

[R87]

On 4/18/2020 at 9:27 PM, Byker Biker said:

I have to be honest, IMHO I do feel the venue has a greater opportunity of success as a track without the overbearing costs of maintaining an old facility. Starting again from a track in a field will give it the freedom to go/grow it's own way. The cost of running the sport is more then enough but to have to meet modern legislative demands in an old facility could always threaten it's viability in the future. It may need to take more steps back before it can go forward nevertheless I do sincerely wish everyine connected with the campaign well and good fortune for a positive outcome.

Agree 100% with this.  Brandon is a fantastic venue for speedway,  but even in the last few years before it was closed, you got the impression that parts of the stadium were falling down.

I still think it's a big ask to get the Bees and Stoxs back in there, but having the track and building it up around it (as was the case at Somerset) would be the best option

[cityrebel]

On 4/19/2020 at 11:21 AM, Fromafar said:

It wasn’t burnt down when left vacant ,but it did have a “dodgy” fire incident towards the end of its speedway tenure.(just to help the redevelopment case no doubt).

I knew there was a fire in there somewhere. It was a long time ago.

[Gemini]

On 4/19/2020 at 9:52 PM, False dawn said:

Not when I drove past there about 5 weeks ago. Bit small for a new track though I think.

Just wondered because it has been empty for years. I'm surprised there has been no interest in buying the land to build houses or perhaps it has to remain as a garden centre?

[Gemini]

10 hours ago, Odds On said:

for speedway to return to Coventry it would need someone with deep pockets and also to run the whole stadium as a business, speedway, greyhound racing, stock cars, football/rugby in the middle, car boot sales at the weekends, conference facilities etc etc.

Afraid I can't see that happening especially as people are anti Greyhound Racing these days and Speedway is in decline. I think Mr Sandhu held a car boot sale in Tsunami year 2004 ? and there were about half a dozen people there. Don't they have regular ones a bit further down the road?

[MattK]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:23 AM, adonis said:

A track with limited facilities is probably the best that should be hoped for now , and elswhere than Brandon as well , far too much time and effort has been wasted locking horns with Brandon Estates , If there is to be a future for the Bees , then it needs a shrewd negotiator to convince Brandon Estates that it is to their benefit to compromise and finance a new smaller project , and that will free up Brandon for their ultimate goal . one thing s for sure .they are not going to be bullied by a few Govt directives as they have already shown . and the fires and Gipsy incursions will continue until theres nothing left , as it is .a property developer has far more clout than anybody ,and where a site may be rejected on enquiry from Individuals , it won't be rejected so easliy by a comapany with massive finance ,  Most people would agree property companies do as they please and always get what they want , if they wanted a speedway stadium because they needed one ,they would get it .

This is the answer. I don't understand why so many people look a gift horse in the mouth - Coventry, Swindon and Oxford could all take the same approach.

The plan at Brandon is for 137 new homes. If you assume a £100k profit on each house, that's £13.7m of potential profits for the developers. If speedway (and stox or whoever) ask for a simple donation of just ten percent, this would give £1.3m for everyone to go off and set up a track, away from any potential housing development and completely own by the racing fraternity. In exchange, any claims or opposition to the housing development from Save Coventry Speedway or other groups would be dropped.

I don't know why this approach isn't pursued. Maybe people think it is too much work? I think it is less work than trying to go up against experienced developers with deep pockets. Maybe they think they don't have leverage? The situation at Oxford proves that protests can at best slow development and at worst bring it to a halt for years.

This for me seems like a solution where everyone walks away with what they want.

[Gambo]

3 hours ago, MattK said:

This is the answer. I don't understand why so many people look a gift horse in the mouth - Coventry, Swindon and Oxford could all take the same approach.

The plan at Brandon is for 137 new homes. If you assume a £100k profit on each house, that's £13.7m of potential profits for the developers. If speedway (and stox or whoever) ask for a simple donation of just ten percent, this would give £1.3m for everyone to go off and set up a track, away from any potential housing development and completely own by the racing fraternity. In exchange, any claims or opposition to the housing development from Save Coventry Speedway or other groups would be dropped.

I don't know why this approach isn't pursued. Maybe people think it is too much work? I think it is less work than trying to go up against experienced developers with deep pockets. Maybe they think they don't have leverage? The situation at Oxford proves that protests can at best slow development and at worst bring it to a halt for years.

This for me seems like a solution where everyone walks away with what they want.

And where is this piece of land? Do you not think that alternative sites have been sought, and none found?

[adonis]

10 hours ago, Gemini said:

Just wondered because it has been empty for years. I'm surprised there has been no interest in buying the land to build houses or perhaps it has to remain as a garden centre?

Sandhu owned the garden centre as well ,he applied for permission to build a hotel but that got turned down  ,  just like all his permission for the stadium site . so maybe he or his nonexistent partner sold that to brandon estates as well

[MattK]

9 minutes ago, Gambo said:

And where is this piece of land? Do you not think that alternative sites have been sought, and none found?

What wrong with here?