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Post by suedehead on Jan 10, 2021 22:46:13 GMT
Big issue would be resident concerns/objections to any plans. That’s one thing that really will be a tough battle. A big new main stand, Popside, CE will impose over some of the Hardcastle Road houses, plus the additional traffic, noise, disturbance from bigger crowds etc.
I’m sure Stott has a team of resident engagement bods to tackle all that but it won’t be an easy sell.
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Post by BWScarf on Jan 11, 2021 0:23:18 GMT
Big issue would be resident concerns/objections to any plans. That’s one thing that really will be a tough battle. A big new main stand, Popside, CE will impose over some of the Hardcastle Road houses, plus the additional traffic, noise, disturbance from bigger crowds etc. I’m sure Stott has a team of resident engagement bods to tackle all that but it won’t be an easy sell. Is that Sheila Bailey still knocking about? Seem to remember her being a pain in the arse re: the ground too. Money talks though and I think, given Stott is a property developer, things should come together.
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Post by m20hatter on Jan 11, 2021 0:30:32 GMT
Pretty sure in time we'll see that opened up like this, more access with bigger new stands etc. You wouldn’t even need to fill the resser in for that, you can go over it. As per my earlier post construction techniques are more than capable of making that tight corner work.
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Post by Durango95 on Jan 11, 2021 0:35:44 GMT
I don't think it should be that bad. RE/Pop Side should be pretty much contained work that doesn't piss residents off. Also we've been there longer than anyone living in the houses around the ground, it does piss me off when people object to any improvements.
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Post by m14hatter on Jan 11, 2021 0:50:38 GMT
I don’t know if access rules have changed but Hillsborough has a big stand built up right against the River Don. They have bridges over the river and then the stand is built over the walkways and gates for access.
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Post by suedehead on Jan 11, 2021 9:22:21 GMT
Big issue would be resident concerns/objections to any plans. That’s one thing that really will be a tough battle. A big new main stand, Popside, CE will impose over some of the Hardcastle Road houses, plus the additional traffic, noise, disturbance from bigger crowds etc. I’m sure Stott has a team of resident engagement bods to tackle all that but it won’t be an easy sell. Is that Sheila Bailey still knocking about? Seem to remember her being a pain in the arse re: the ground too. Money talks though and I think, given Stott is a property developer, things should come together. It's slightly different because it was a new proposal and not adding to something that had been there 100 years but Sale Sharks were on about building a new stadium in Sale last year, right at the top of my road. Probably 150 yards away. Money does talk, but it would have taken an awful lot of money to get us residents on side with that. Like millions (not each, but for the affected area). If residents genuinely object, which many will, and aren't just after an easy handout, then it's very difficult to get them onside. Sale could have offered us £100k to stop moaning about the new stadium and we wouldn't have accepted it. Why would we? Our street would have been ruined, house prices battered (they're not that expensive to begin with, c£300k) and the area clogged up and gridlocked once or twice a week, plus the noise, litter, people gawping into your house as they walk past etc. There's a lesser degree of that at EP because the stadium is already there and people know what they're buying when they move into the area but we won't be able to just easily chuck up a big new towering stand on two or three sides.
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Post by timberwolf on Jan 11, 2021 9:29:37 GMT
the reser never caused a problem when we had a much bigger pop side. a lot of issues could be put to bed once we know what the capacity of a refurbished EP would be. car parking will always be a problem but could be a bigger one with an out of town ground where the majority of fans would need to travel there by car. just wonder how many go to EP now where their car hasn,t fully warmed up by the time they arrive. some may have a disability but the vast majority will not apart from idleness.
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Post by hedleyverity on Jan 11, 2021 18:33:42 GMT
The old, bigger popside, did it go straight back at the Cheadle end of the stand, or was there a bit of an angle to compensate for the resser?
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Post by desmond on Jan 11, 2021 19:48:07 GMT
The old, bigger popside, did it go straight back at the Cheadle end of the stand, or was there a bit of an angle to compensate for the resser? You are correct, it wasn’t as deep at the CE of the popside.
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Post by m20hatter on Jan 11, 2021 19:56:21 GMT
Sound system sounds better!
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Post by vicar on Jan 12, 2021 15:04:06 GMT
The old, bigger popside, did it go straight back at the Cheadle end of the stand, or was there a bit of an angle to compensate for the resser? The back of the stand covered what is now used mainly for food kiosks, there'd be no problem accomodating them under a new stand.
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Post by desmond on Jan 12, 2021 15:35:19 GMT
The old, bigger popside, did it go straight back at the Cheadle end of the stand, or was there a bit of an angle to compensate for the resser? The back of the stand covered what is now used mainly for food kiosks, there'd be no problem accomodating them under a new stand. Correct but the very end bit of the Popside towards the Cheadle End didn’t go quite as far back as the rest of the stand, or at least that’s my memory of it.
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Post by tgttiw on Jan 12, 2021 16:21:56 GMT
The back of the stand covered what is now used mainly for food kiosks, there'd be no problem accomodating them under a new stand. Correct but the very end bit of the Popside towards the Cheadle End didn’t go quite as far back as the rest of the stand, or at least that’s my memory of it. I've never seen a decent picture of it before the back was removed. Has anyone got one?
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Post by redhatter on Jan 12, 2021 17:21:51 GMT
Regarding previous comments, not just today, that’s there’s loads of land at the back of the Popside, this photo begs to differ. Taken from the corner of CE and Popside, you can see it drops down almost immediately.
The back of the Pop Side does drop away sharply close to the Cheadle End.
If we did develop the Pop Side, would we see a similar stand to the Cheadle End, but moved part way along the pitch, to avoid the reservoir?
That stand would have a similar profile to the Cheadle End, so looking at 5,000 or so?
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Post by edinburghhatter on Jan 12, 2021 20:46:39 GMT
The current Pop side holds 2400. The area behind, within the boundary of EP (occupied by the refreshment and toilet facilities, and the outdoor "concourse"), is easily large enough to hold another 3000, maybe more. The fact that the end block is clearly closer to the reservoir shouldn't matter: just taper that end of any new stand to fit.
Also it's worth bearing in mind that any new stand would have more steeply-raked seats, just like the Cheadle end and Main stand. Therefore, you could get a few more rows of seats within the available footprint, by building higher and more steeply. This would also apply if you were simply adding another tier behind the present seats. But for preference, of course (and maybe actually cheaper) you'd want to completely flatten the current earth-based terrace, and start afresh from ground level. Thus creating both more useful space underneath, and also potentially making it easier to exit...
All this applies in a similar fashion to the Railway end. It wasn't ever designed as a seating terrace, and again, even within the current limited footprint, by totally rebuilding it you could easily add another 800 or so seats to the current 1200 or so. However, having more of the land available behind it would permit not just the possibility of even more seats there, but crucially would allow for much enhanced access to an expanded Pop side. Talking of which, I seem to recall that when the Cheadle end was being built, there were suggestions of a sort of elevated walkway around the corner of the Cheadle end leading to a new Pop side. While neither was actually built then, the idea seems not only simple to achieve but also eminently sensible.
Which just leaves the Main stand. Re-roof it, add another bay at each end, and you'd have at least another 800 seats.
I calculate that by adding just the numbers described above (3000+800+800 = 4600) the capacity at EP would rise from 10800 to around 15400. Which I would have thought was plenty, and importantly, achievable in increments. Maybe a couple of thousand more, if the Railway end were rebuilt on a slightly larger scale. Job done!
It looks as though the plans for a block of flats in the area behind the Railway/Pop corner may have been withdrawn. If so, good. But unless Mr Stott is in the storage business, I'd be a little concerned about all those containers that are now lying on the bowling green, hard up against the back of the Railway end...
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