The Council is likely to recommend that Vale Stadium should be developed by a private investor, a public meeting at Spitfire House heard last night. Erdington Senior Manager Chris Baker put forward a series of options, including setting up a local trust to manage the stadium, and inviting private companies to get involved.
In summing up the mood and feelings of the meeting, Neighbourhood Manager Steve Clayton concluded that the preferred option was to invite private companies to get involved. 38 people attended the meeting, which at times produced heated comments and responses from individuals who believe that Castle Vale has been short changed.
Some residents continue to believe that a figure of £380,000 available via the Council for spending on the stadium is way short of the amount originally left by the Housing Action Trust when it disbanded in 2005.
The meeting was called to gauge local opinion about how to develop the stadium, following the collapse of the ’soccer village’ project, a public private partnership which has been abandoned after four years of difficulties.
November 11, 2009...10:01 am
Private option the likely way forward for Vale Stadium
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5 Comments
November 13, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I think that instead of rushing out to the public sector, particularly considering the lamentable progress made over the past four years or so, a thorough feasibility study should be conducted into community ownership of the stadium.
The Housing Action Trust had a habit of being institutionally patronising and frequently failing to recognise the skills, resourcefulness and determination of the community to develop solutions, and if we are not careful the estate will again be short-changed and instead we will find that private shareholders will be trousering a tidy profit instead of the benefits accruing from the development being enjoyed by the community in which the stadium is located.
There will be a lot of hard work to be done to bring about a community based solution, but I am confident that it could be done in a reasonable timeframe, and considerably sooner than the four years that have been wasted to date.
November 13, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I would take a lot more notice of Grant Williams comments if he was a resident here and not one of the many good professional people who gain their livihoods here. Much of what is required has to do with funds, which are not easy to get and when they are, need careful management.
November 14, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Yes we all know grant and his jks involvement
the estate would be up in arms.
Teams at the stadium have been there for 10 years
castle vale fc,st gerards,paget sports.
jks have a long way to go.
(edited -final sentence deleted).
November 14, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I am not associated with such a comment made by this anonymous writer – it is an unnecessary comment and does nothing for the well-being of the estate. We are not here to oppose one another but to live in harmony even when we differ. Grant has served this estate well in the years he has been associated with it. Why don’t you get your negatives about JKS sorted out once and for all?
November 17, 2009 at 11:43 pm
I do really wonder sometimes; I haven’t been a director of JKS since February, although I am still their company secretary, which means I’m the one who gets to fill in some official paperwork once a year.
The stadium should be for the benefit of the whole community, and of course that means the people who use the stadium, but it also means the people who are affected by its use, and more importantly it means widening the use of not just the stadium but the existing facilities as well as developing new ones.
If the anonymous writer thinks that I’m just out for JKS, then they’re somewhat mistaken.
As far as money and resources are concerned, David’s quite right, funds are not easy to get and do need careful management. In the time I’ve been working in Castle Vale I’ve brought in well over £1 million, to do such things as support unemployed residents into work, support local groups etc.
I do think that collectively we need to avoid minor squabbles and focus on what will bring the greatest benefit to the estate, something I would respectfully suggest the current situation isn’t doing.