WoSFL Licensing

[Arthurlie1981]

[a] Presumably the land is owned by the Council otherwise the Council couldn't lease the land to anyone.
Lots of people live in the area and they demand all sorts of facilities and that includes those for football.
[c] The Council cannot afford to pay for additional sports and recreational facilities.
[d] The Council cannot afford the cost of the up-keep of its property (not just recreational facilities and Parks) so this would reduce costs from that Council Budget. That's a direct benefit to local households.
[d] How much space do you need for dog walking, apart from street pavements? There's plenty of them  after all.

On a couple of your points.

East Ren have been trying for a number of years to dispose of assets that don’t make them money. There has been some debate locally if this is due to not being interested or if it is truly about improving facilities. It worked when the reached a long term agreement with David Lloyd club for Rouken Glen golf course and allowed them to build better facilities as part of the redevelopment.

Also on the dog walking point you need far more space to walk your dog than a pavement and that is a stupid remark to make. There isn’t a lot of green space left inside Newton Mearns (although it is surrounded by plenty!) and this will add to the feeling that after most of the green space has been turned into a development of some sort that this is a step too far.

On your point about owning the land there was debate in Barrhead when it came to the Cowan Park if the council had a right to develop the land as the land was gifted to the people of Barrhead. They backed down in the end up but I don’t know whether the same is for crookfur.

I had never realised the running track and I am sure that Sport Scotland would have something to say about it being removed if that is part of the proposal.

It also worth remembering that we are heading toward local government elections in just over a year and that is what sunk the project I was involved in as the local politicians were too scared to take on a well organised group of residents coming into an election. The group raised a lot of funds and were prepared to go all the way to a judicial review which kind of says it all. Not saying the same will happen here but just pointing out that if the strength of feeling gathers pace it could sink the project.

[Lokloyal]

Arthurlie1981 makes a number of very valid points.

The key issue which residents in East Renfrewshire and particularly Newton Mearns area face is that the pressure to develop every bit of open space is never ending.Land values are huge and there is in particular a continuing  non stop appetite from buyers to purchase homes in the area which has led to a massive number of new homes being built in the area year on year and open space swallowed up.

Preserving what limited space is left has understandably become a concern for many residents and I have no doubt that losing access to the Crookfur playing fields and surrounding grounds so that what is perceived as a private club can have its own facility will have stirred up a lot of focus and opposition just as it would be if houses were built on the site.The Council will have its own reasoning for things but I suspect the St Cadocs plans will face major opposition.I believe also that previous approaches have been made by local clubs regarding this site but the Council wasn’t willing to entertain those and give away control to one entity.

[Dev]

Whether or not any particular club which is well run and filled with hundreds of youngsters eventually achieves significantly better facilities than they may have at present is the question. Together with where should those facilities be located in the first place. 

As correctly pointed out, who would want that in their own back yard. Especially when large numbers of homes have already been built in the area which will, presumably, mean that there are even more lads and lasses wanting to use such facilities, if only they were to become available within easy parent driven reach of their homes.

Tough one if you're some-one with such kids or grand-kids. Do you know of any potentially suitable alternative locations for the proposed development?

[Antony]

https://mobile.twitter.com/darvelfc/status/1372255265089806336

Edited March 17, 2021 by Antony

[not man of the match]

https://mobile.twitter.com/darvelfc/status/1372255265089806336

Nice to see the lights go in but can never understand these clubs that put them at the front of the perimiter and blocking the view from the spectator areas.

[Black Pennel]

Aye,... we keep forgetting that (some) Bankies fans have real brass necks. They can't tilt their massive swollen heids to the side by a few degrees to watch their version of hoofbaw. Some of them would probably have a sly dig at Yoker Athletic for the quality of their lights.

[parkcircus]

8 hours ago, not man of the match said:

Nice to see the lights go in but can never understand these clubs that put them at the front of the perimiter and blocking the view from the spectator areas.

The lights go were they spread the best light

[Stag Nation]

9 hours ago, not man of the match said:

Nice to see the lights go in but can never understand these clubs that put them at the front of the perimiter and blocking the view from the spectator areas.

Is that going to be a problem at Darvel? Will the crowds be so dense that a punter can't move a few feet to the left or right?

[Arthurlie1981]

Arthurlie1981 makes a number of very valid points.
The key issue which residents in East Renfrewshire and particularly Newton Mearns area face is that the pressure to develop every bit of open space is never ending.Land values are huge and there is in particular a continuing  non stop appetite from buyers to purchase homes in the area which has led to a massive number of new homes being built in the area year on year and open space swallowed up.

Preserving what limited space is left has understandably become a concern for many residents and I have no doubt that losing access to the Crookfur playing fields and surrounding grounds so that what is perceived as a private club can have its own facility will have stirred up a lot of focus and opposition just as it would be if houses were built on the site.The Council will have its own reasoning for things but I suspect the St Cadocs plans will face major opposition.I believe also that previous approaches have been made by local clubs regarding this site but the Council wasn’t willing to entertain those and give away control to one entity.

The problem is now everywhere in east Renfrewshire with Barrhead also loosing a lot of green/open space with developments in both the north and south of the town.

About 18 months ago there was a very early discussion about Arthurlie taking on an old abandoned Astro in the Dunterlie area of the town. It leaked to the press and immediately the locals didn’t want the club there (to be fair many fans weren’t happy either). It just shows the problems teams have to get pieces of land to build improved facilities the benefit not only the club but the community but people always think about it as a commercial deal for the club to benefit from only.

[Arthurlie1981]

Whether or not any particular club which is well run and filled with hundreds of youngsters eventually achieves significantly better facilities than they may have at present is the question. Together with where should those facilities be located in the first place. 
As correctly pointed out, who would want that in their own back yard. Especially when large numbers of homes have already been built in the area which will, presumably, mean that there are even more lads and lasses wanting to use such facilities, if only they were to become available within easy parent driven reach of their homes.
Tough one if you're some-one with such kids or grand-kids. Do you know of any potentially suitable alternative locations for the proposed development?

I had thought maybe they could strike a deal with the local rugby club and take one of their 3 pitches a develop that. Other than that there are only school pitches at Eastwood and Mearns Castle so the options are very limited hence the anger from some local residents. It’s the perfect site for them, central in the town, lots of parking etc but as I said before they are taking one of the few in town open spaces and taking it away from the locals.

Other options are green belt land outside of the town, but as was pointed out above land prices in East Ren as a whole are through the roof and would be prohibitive

[jimbaxters]

11 hours ago, not man of the match said:

Nice to see the lights go in but can never understand these clubs that put them at the front of the perimiter and blocking the view from the spectator areas.

[Lokloyal]

2 hours ago, Arthurlie1981 said:

 

I had thought maybe they could strike a deal with the local rugby club and take one of their 3 pitches a develop that. Other than that there are only school pitches at Eastwood and Mearns Castle so the options are very limited hence the anger from some local residents. It’s the perfect site for them, central in the town, lots of parking etc but as I said before they are taking one of the few in town open spaces and taking it away from the locals.

Other options are green belt land outside of the town, but as was pointed out above land prices in East Ren as a whole are through the roof and would be prohibitive

 

It’s great to see clubs aiming to be progressive but the loss of what was previously open space accessible to all into the hands of one private organisation who will then have sole control for their own purposes is the problem I suspect for most.Many will see it as a non league football team building their own ground for their own purposes on Council land with no benefit or return to the wider community.St Cadocs do of course have several hundred kids playing with them but amidst a local population in Newton Mearns area alone knocking on 30000 that doesn’t really register with many.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Lokloyal

[Bankies Alive]

8 hours ago, Black Pennel said:

Aye,... we keep forgetting that (some) Bankies fans have real brass necks. They can't tilt their massive swollen heids to the side by a few degrees to watch their version of hoofbaw. Some of them would probably have a sly dig at Yoker Athletic for the quality of their lights.

wtf?

[not man of the match]

Aye,... we keep forgetting that (some) Bankies fans have real brass necks. They can't tilt their massive swollen heids to the side by a few degrees to watch their version of hoofbaw. Some of them would probably have a sly dig at Yoker Athletic for the quality of their lights.

Thanks for your input. Your attempt at humour is poor, but keep trying.

[not man of the match]

Is that going to be a problem at Darvel? Will the crowds be so dense that a punter can't move a few feet to the left or right?

That’s very short sighted though. Surely through the aim of progression, they would look to build on their crowds amongst other things. I just don’t understand why clubs put them at the front ant not the back when it’s only a couple of yards.

It’s great that they’ve installed them.

[Arthurlie1981]

That’s very short sighted though. Surely through the aim of progression, they would look to build on their crowds amongst other things. I just don’t understand why clubs put them at the front ant not the back when it’s only a couple of yards.

It’s great that they’ve installed them.

It could be that the company installing them felt placing them there is the best place for them. I hardly think the club would overrule the experts.

[not man of the match]

It could be that the company installing them felt placing them there is the best place for them. I hardly think the club would overrule the experts.

Maybe, just seems to happen fairly often these days.

[Andy groundhopper]

Darvel looking good, well done and keep progressing. Guess we don't know whether the rest of the ground was suitable for putting up lights - what lays underground etc. Well done to ALL Scottish non league clubs, brilliant ground improvements - something I take for granted down south.

[Burnieman]

I believe there's 5 WoS clubs up for a licence this year. 5 also in EoS.

[Stag Nation]

22 hours ago, not man of the match said:

That’s very short sighted though. Surely through the aim of progression, they would look to build on their crowds amongst other things.

OK, let's worry about it when they qualify for Europe.