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Anger over stadium plan
Reporter: by Richard Hooton
Date online: 16 July 2009
SHOCK plans for Oldham Athletic to build a new stadium on allotments and football pitches in Failsworth have been blasted.
Latics has teamed with Oldham Council to draw up proposals to switch from Boundary Park to a new ground off Broadway.
But the Chronicle understands it would mean building on Lancaster Sports Club, football pitches at Lower Memorial Park, off Park Avenue, and Broadway Allotments — plans vehemently opposed by users.
Failsworth Dynamos Football Club has spent 18 months securing an agreement to transform the park for thousands of children to play football on and has been left outraged at being dramatically usurped by Latics.
Council and Latics chiefs have refused to publicly discuss the plans and respond to the criticism until all parties involved have been consulted.
But the proposals are on the agenda of next Wednesday’s Oldham Council cabinet meeting with a report stating it, “seeks to obtain the requisite approval to enter into a conditional agreement with the club for the transfer of an area of council owned land in support of the club’s ground redevelopment proposals.”
Failsworth Dynamos chairman Leo Turner said his club has a secured, written commitment from Oldham Council to lease the land and develop it for the wider community. It was getting funding together to build a modest stadium, surrounded by three other pitches, so it could play semi-professionally and was to publicly release its plans next week — only to be left “absolutely dumbfounded” that the land has been offered to Latics.
Mr Turner said: “To take the land from us without any explanation or dialogue would not only be underhand and despicable but immoral. We have promised children and parents we will deliver this and there will be absolute uproar if this does go through and scuppers our plans. We will be completely knackered and have no alternative but to pack in.”
Broadway Allotments has been running since the 1940s and all 15 plots are taken. Secretary Tracy Cunningham said council staff had informed her the most suitable site for the new stadium included allotment land. She has been left shocked and distressed by the lack of consultation.
Lancaster Sports Club is home to 11 Avro football teams, as well as two other football teams, two cricket teams and has bowling and five-a-side facilities. It’s also used by Latics’ School of Excellence and for first team training.
It’s owned by BAE Systems, which could not confirm whether it was in negotiations to sell the site.
After a huge battle with nearby residents, Latics were finally given planning permission in December, 2007 to build 693 homes, a new hotel, leisure centre and conference facility around Boundary Park to finance an £80 million stadium redevelopment.
Why we have to move — chairman
LATICS chairman Simon Blitz has spoke of the urgent need to find a new home.
Mr Blitz said: “I cannot see the club surviving if all we can offer is a dilapidated stadium.
“Boundary Park will only get worse over the next 10 years, so we have to find a way to build a new stadium somehow and somewhere.” Mr Blitz added that relocating is now preferred to redeveloping Boundary Park.
He continued: “A revamp of Boundary Park is getting harder by the day because property prices around the world have crashed.”
Mr Blitz did not rule out a groundshare,but believes Athletic will probably go it alone.
Athletic spent £427,000 in the last financial year maintaining Boundary Park and the club’s training facilities.
Comments
I understand we desperately need a new stadium, leaving Boundary park after so many years will always be difficult to take, but as seen with other clubs new stadiums can inject new life into a stagnating club.
I am just not sure that building a new stadium practically With Manchester City just down the road who already offer very reasonable prices to watch premiership football, I just don't see where we are going to attract the fan base from, If this plan should go ahead, create a standing area within the stadium and charge £10 for adults and £5 for kids, it would be the only way to compete.
A new mindset is needed to go with the new stadium.
If past events are anything to go by, this will never get off the ground because nobody is prepared to think outside the box.
Pie in the sky, I'm afraid.
so whats changed since the decision to revamp BP to now saying the stadium can only get worse in the next 10 years? it seems like the board ran before they could walk with the plans for updating BP, and now we the fans are left with the embarassing situation of only having 3 stands. what a joke.this needs sorting out now, are they going to stick or twist?
A new stadium would be nice, but building this at the end of broadway would then mean we would be in the manchester boundary with a manchester postcode, come on Oldham council surely you could find us a big enough plot of land to rebuild in OLDHAM you owe the club this.
Secondly why not build a new stadium at boundary then knock the old one down, surely there would still be enough land left to sell to Marks & Spencers.
i wonder what the price of land down in failsworth is compared with boundry parks land value! quite alot i bet!they aint stupid!
some dodgy dealings will be afoot! and not in latics's interests!
Is it too much to ask for the Chron to hang fire, find out the full facts and not go jumping two footed into negative reporting.
am i wrong,isnt it the people of oldham that by turning up week after week in all sorts of weather win or lose help to pay for the club and the over-paid players,now the club is saying,stuff you lot and your clubs,forget the new site for the kids and the allolment owners that also turn out every week,some every day,at least the allotment owners have things to show for their hard work at the end of every season.
Well done the 'Chron for stirring up a hornets nest before the facts are released to the public.
Whatever happened to honest journalism over blatant sensationalism?
If you don't show this comment in full, I'll know why!
No doubt opposition from locals will spring up in the form of an action group, similar to the Clayton Action Group who opposed Sports Park 2000 or Residents Now who opposed the Boundary Park re-development. Maybe one day Latics will get the support from both the local people and the local council, which they both deserve and need. In the meantime we continue to fall further behind towns such as Bolton and Wigan, who moved into new stadiums years ago.
If Oldham athletic does move then i guess BP will be sold to tescos or Asda or even another Mosque. if so then the local residents who turned down the original rebuild plan because of high appartments and traffic one day every other week deffo will not like this!
traffic will be bad everyday for them especially the weekends! and i bet they wont win qn qppeql qgqinst q tescos being built! they couldnt stop B&Q.
I for once wish the OLDHAM council and LOCALS would hqve for once got behind the FOOTBALL CLUB. give the town something positive to cheer about!
@CRAIG DEAN
There's a recession on!
Who's going to build houses at a time like this?
A new ground needs a new infrastructure. The area around BP is just not accessible enough for larger volumes of pedestrian and road traffic.
They've destroyed one side of Boundary Park (yes, a three-sided stadium IS inadequate, Mr Blitz!), their original plan has proved to have been the unrealistic dream it always was and now the board want council help (council taxpayers money probably) to jump ship to Failsworth. What a mess and we can only be pessimistic about the future.
Sports Park 2000 plans were passed despite opposition and so was the stadium on Westwood Park with no opposition. The recent redevelopment of Boundary Park was also passed. Every single planning application for a new stadium has been passed, so why are you blaming the residents? You've got your planning permission for Gods sake, how many more times do you want it.
The Chron should be ashamed of its cheap, lazy journalism. Get the facts not emotions.
Unfair journalism? reporting that a community club is on the verge of losing the right of use of land that our good old Council has agreed (in writing, I understand)to lease to them, because OAFC has now decided it wants it? I'd liketo praise the Chron for reporting the truth - or maybe Latics' statement tomorrow will say they have no interest in the land?? If I were a betting man.......
Failsworth, welcome to the club. This Liberal council is giving away your facilities, just like ours.
good to see though, that some comment here mirror those of the Clubs official website - ie negative reporting etc - the Chron would be delerlicting its responsibilities to the wider community of oldham if it took heed of the Clubs wishes and pandered to their each and every whim
I always said the plans at BP was pie in the sky, now the truth is finally comming out. These three may have saved the club, but since then have led us one farce after another, do us all a favour sell the club. I am sure if Notts County can get good backers, there is hope for us.
Old Mancunian, if the residents hadn't opposed the redevelopment at the first stage when the housing market was thriving then maybe we would have had our new ground at Boundary Park, Oldham Council is willing to do nothing for LATICS, until they realised listening to you lot has shafted this club. Was at Halifax tonight a team 4 or 5 divisions below us and their council is in the process of building them a brand new £5 million pound stand,
If we are to move away from our HOME and permission is given to build a cinema complex with bowling alley and various restaraunts like other towns have got, then you will be moaning about all the anti social behaviour and groups louting around, then maybe you will wish OAFC was still there
I bet Chaddy the Owl is gutted also.......
i've just one thing to remind people of on here! OMBC cannot be trusted! they promise everything to the public to get their hands on your land! then when they have it they go back on their word!
previous examples!
Watersheddings rugby pitch for a new ground, now we have homeless roughyheads!
Roxy cinema's land for the cinema & bowling complex, now we have sainsburys!
the old periquito hotel for a university complex, which is now just an open space.
history will repeat itself! again!!
Chaddyender, I agree with you. If the resident hadn't opposed the latest plans then they would have been passed first time rather than three weeks later. Do you seriously think three weeks makes much difference when in fact, and take note of this, the planning was only outline. They still haven't submitted a full planning application. You don't say why they didn't build on Westwood Park or Even Sports Park 2000 when both were passed in full.
Correct me if im wrong but i thought sports 2000 was stopped because of CLayton playing fields being owned by someone else who wont sell it.
Speaking of Clayton fileds, nice to see OMBC build a new changing room for the saturday and Sunday football/cricket teams!?
Old_Mancunian. Sports Park 2000 never happened because the then new Liberal Democrat controlled OMBC pulled the scheme before the Charity Commission had ruled on whether the land swap with Clayton Playing Fields was legal.
Old_Mancunian you've just reminded me of another one! westwood running track! now the B&Q.
did we get the new athletics facilities promised?
Hornblower, Watcher, Fedupoldhamaer. Absolutely right all of you, so why do the fans keep blaming the residents. The simple truth is the club does not have enough money or paying fans for it's grandiose schemes and so the fans lash out at the residents.
Erm, Yes 'Fedupoldhamer' - we got a state of the art Athletics centre at Hunt Lane in Chadderton........
The allotments you refer to are shown on the OMBC Unitary development Plan as "other protected open land", I would have thought any decent reporter would have checked this and noted it - unless this was an attempt at muck-raking?
Also it seems that contact has now been made between OAFC and Failsworth Dynamos with a view to discussions. The reports you have made seem to have jumped the gun and appear at first glance to be little more than a clear example of negative press stirring up problems
Have Your Say
I might be being silly here, but wasn't it the money raised from property built at BP that was to revamp the stadium? If this is no longer the case, where is the money coming from to build the new ground if we move? Surley selling BP just wouldn't be enough?
By Dj82 @ 16/07/2009 11:59:54