tom_widdows

Planners can blindly reject if they want but that would lead to an appeal by AFC. If the appeal went far enough the whole thing could be taken out of the Council's hands depending on the arguments. The Council will not want that as they lose a large chunk of their control (Take a quick look at what happened around Codona's Amusement Park) My opinion is as previously stated. HFM & AFC will continue negotiations with the Planners until enough details are submitted/ changes made to allow a conditional planning consent to be issued. Large chunk of the conditions will have 'no work may begin on site until <insert condition response> is agreed and approved in writing by ACC. Other Conditions will basically say 'you are not allowed to use certain materials, exceed approved noise levels at certain times and so on One the Planning stage is over there is still the little matter of Building Standards approval to negotiate which will cover a large chunk of the 'Technical' details people are crying out for. Of course Building standards drawings are not open to the public so anyone wanting to see them would need to wait until they have been approved and then make an appointment with the council.

I thought the arguments were about car-parking and bus services. Two things that have always been bones of contention in Aberdeen.

Section 75 up here is the same thing. My experience of it in Glasgow has always been with residential conversions of Listed Buildings in which there is no scope for providing a garden area for the future residents. As to whether the Section 75 payments are actually used to fund the public amenity/ green spaces it is supposed to.....

Off the ball mentioned the traffic issues and seemingly people were texting them about requesting a delay to the kick off but the officials at the game say there wasn't even a suggestion from the teams. The issues with the construction works on the major roads around Motherwell and Hamilton have been well documented for at least the last 6months (probably even longer) so anyone who was driving should have made allowances and planned to arrive in Motherwell much earlier. It may not be the nicest place in Scotland but sitting in a Starbucks or Costa beats sitting on the Raith Interchange. In saying that given the upper tier of the 'away' stand was closed it means the Arabs allocation was only 5,376 with St Mirrens being 5,873. Whether or not the upper tier was deliberately shut to make it a fair split St Mirrens allocation looked close to a sell out whilst there were big gaps in the United sections.

I feel the council planning are in a no win situation with this one. After the debacle of the newly elected council randomly reversing previously approved planning applications (including as I recall the training facility section at Loriston) and the mess that was Union Terrace gardens they will be under alot of pressure from the Press & Public to not be seen as denying the City something which many see as a positive move. However I sense approving the application will lead to legal challenges not too dis-similar to that used against the AWPR. I have only skimmed over the No Kingsford stadium FB group but for me it seems to fall into the trap so many people do when protesting something. Social media can be a powerful weapon when used correctly and I have seen groups like this before. There will be a hardcore few behind it but their online conduct will hinder them from getting people who are in the 'I don't want the <insert development here> built here but I have more pressing concerns in my life so I'm really not bothered' to really support them. Those are a key demographic when protesting anything. A few publicity shots in the press will not make up for the mess the objections turned into - Never ever get a standard letter, or tick-box list and get multiple people to sign it. It is too easy to be hi-jacked/ faked and will count against you. The same applies to those campaigning in favour. If you can get people to put their objections in their own words, the most powerful of which will still be the old fashioned formal letter then you will be taken more seriously. One letter signed on behalf of a group of people is better than the multiple copies of the same letter signed by different people I recently advised some people about how best to object to a new housing development. The development itself was not against any local plans and it was most likely going to be approved (council would have been hard pressed to reject it) so in that situation the key was not to get angry and demand it be rejected but to use local knowledge to highlight things the Developers/ Designers either may have ignored or had little to know chance of even knowing. The result was the application was approved but was hit with some seriously difficult & expensive conditions all of which would delay the project and potentially make it so expensive the developer may have to cancel it altogether. The locals were able to download a copy of the conditions along with the planning officers contact details so should the Developer try to cut any corners the alert would be raised sharpish and enforcement action taken. I will not be surprised if the decision is delayed well beyond the June 20th mark but I will be surprised if the Council issue an outright rejection. My money is on a few more months of negotiations followed by a conditional consent with a conditions list similar to what Tesco were hit with for their proposed Glasgow Harbour store (Now cancelled following their 'creative accounting' scandal).

I know its the 'diddy' cup final and its been given a shit kick-off time but I still think it is a sad sign that two of Scottish footballs reasonably big teams cannot muster up 13,742 fans between them. I went to the 2013 final with my QOS supporting mates and that was a sell out in both ends. Still don't understand why Fir Park is one of the preferred venues for this final. Good game so far - 1-1 (2 goals in the space of 1min)

http://www.thecanary.co/2017/03/24/no-one-wants-talk-scandal-dogging-comic-relief-done/

England-shire

I would rather the club had one base which the players could travel to and not then have to be bussed about (Less they have to move about the less likely they are to be injured in coach accidents), which they are trying to do but for some reason you seem to be against this even though the masterplan has '5 pitches and a pavilion' The average occupancy of a car is a lovely stat to throw about and what it shows is the over reliance modern day society has placed on them. The guidelines for building design, master-planning etc have lots of different ratios but if they scrapped them in favour of statistics taken based on a certain number of people, in a certain environment at a certain time then what you would end up with is the following -Small 1 (max 2) bedroom houses with 2 parking spaces as the Average household in Scotland is 2 people but they both own cars. - Large Warehouses with expansive delivery bays as online shopping is seemingly on the verge of replacing the traditional high street or retail park - Sports facilities being shut down as sports participation is declining. Basically a Conservative party wet dream. A wise man once said 'statistics are like mini-skirts, they look great but hide what is truley important' Is your stance in this debate to be 'everything is fine, it has been for decades, so improvement/ change is not required'?

There are lots of things which are the 'case all over the world' Lack of Education, Lack of Clean Drinking water, Lack of a safe place to live. There are charities and aid groups working round the clock to try and resolve this but should they stop because they are fighting against arguably the norm for more than half the planet? Actually implying the club should take a half-assed approach to providing facilities for their prized assets is one of the most depressing thing I've read on a Dons fans message board. It will be even more depressing if it actually came form someone who has a vested emotional interest in them IE a fan.

Just want to chuck in that the Standard parking requirement for stadia is Scotland (as adopted by ACC and numerous other councils) is 1 space per 15 seats + a transport assessment be it city centre, inner city, or the outskirts 20000 seat stadium therefore is only obliged to provide 1,334 parking spaces. Current proposal provides 1,598 which is 1 space per 12.5 seats. 5 people per car = 7,990 fans If parking capacity using other nearby facilities saw that increased to 3000 that would be 1 space per 7. up to 15,000 fans (more if people carriers are used) 92 coach parking spaces at 42-75 seats each = 3,864 - 6,900 fans Then you add in the people using public transport, being dropped off, cycling, or walking.

The Purpose of a Park & Ride system as I understand it is to allow people travelling from further afield to leave their car close to a city and travel the last few miles by bus/ train etc. It is not designed for people living next door to them to use as a car-park. I don't know how many people actually commute to the city using the A944 but it always seemed bizarre to me that they chose to build Park & Rides there when it seemed to me they should be built off the A90 & A96 (Can't comment on the Road to Peterhead but is it fair to call Portlethen a Park & Ride?) Perhaps it was some sort of incredible foresight by the Local Councils that someday there might be a large entertainment complex of some sort built in the area There is also the stigma attached to bus travel in so many Western nations, a snobbery if you will that it is for the poor or the elderly and using it is some sort of admission that you are 'not as good as the rest of us'. Kick that into touch and you save yourself a fortune. For me an example of a good bus network is Edinburgh (I only visit though so I will concede to any locals who have more experience) and I do have to wonder if making the centre extremely car-unfriendly has had something to do with that. ACC on the other hand never seem to follow through with their plans to encourage public transport/ pedestrians/ Cyclists. Continuing to build/ extend shopping malls with large car-parks rather than looking at re-opening railway stations at say Cove, Kittybrewster, Bucksburn etc shows where the city is headed.

. An extremely high sand content requiring some very careful thought by structural engineers to ensure the stands would not sink, not just under their own mass but also the additional weight of up to 20,000 moving objects. The stadium would essentially need to become a giant 'raft' I believe the RDS cost circa £4.5million back in 1992/93 and I reckon a fair chunk of that was to get the foundations right. The golf course/ driving range etc are also close to sea level with the beach concourse acting as a flood barrier. A few years back the club had to dig up the entire pitch and fix the drainage as there were issues with the existing run being affected by the tides. The closer you get to the sea the more complicated the ground and foul drainage will become as do installing new services such as power, water, telephone etc. Re-routing an existing road is one thing. Re-routing and upgrading to the required standard for a 20000 seat stadium is another. Anyway I've seen a few mentions of the Council offering alternative sites. If this is to continue I want to see actual evidence particularly given the dodgy goings on that ACC have been accused of in terms of land sales over the last 20 years.

https://goo.gl/maps/qmudFHAkENP2 Oxford United

If this new stadium scenario ends up being anything like the bullshit Bristol City & Bristol Rovers have been through then the club may as well shut themselves down. But a quick Summary Ashton Gate Redevelopment cost is £45million+ Stadium boundary is clear of all primary streets so fans disperse onto private land/ carparks. City actually has space to build on. Approx 50% of the land immediately around it is relatively new commercial property none of which are accessed via any of the land surrounding the stadium. Retail park owners don't tend to kick up a fuss about having 20000 plus people showing up on their doorsteps especially when its an existing situation. Residential property around the stadium is either old terraced housing separated from the stadium boundary by back gardens (on one side the rear gardens are quite large too) or old tower blocks which I hazard a bet will be inline for demolition soon. Stadium redevelopment will not affect their existing accesses/ servicing so provided Bristol City don't screw up the 'daylighting' issues there is little reason for objection. Compare the aerial photos of both stadiums (Old Ashton Gate & Existing Pittodrie)

Another Arab defeat. Record for last 10 games is now 6 points from a possible 30 with 3 straight defeats. Should Morton turnover Falkirk tonight they will 7 points behind hibs with a game in hand.

Depends if they still have that lady who suggested they scrap the bypass in favour of a tunnel under the City as it would reduce the chances of the road being blocked by snow.

It was something the previous YES campaign failed to fully address. The key to the next referendum is not to ride on the apparent wave of pro independence but to make serious efforts to convince people that whilst change will initially be hard it will be good in the long term. In the case of the central belt bias suggestion I think its along these lines 'well we are being let down by both London & Edinburgh at the moment but at least we know where we stand. Take London out of the equation and we will just be let down by Edinburgh but we don't have a clue about X,Y&Z....lets just stay put. As I saw it the NO campaign in 2014 were not made to work hard enough as they had the away goals advantage that is there are so many people for which change and uncertainty are scarey they will be more inclined to keep the status quo. The undecideds are therefore easier to influence with 'project' fear'. I hope that should it come around the YES camp tone down the populist US presidential style effort, keep celebrity endorsements to a minimum and come out with genuine honest proposals along the lines of: 'Look this is our proposal for x Y & Z. We have researched this and we think this is a viable option but should it not work we have contingency plans to make sure we don't fall off the cliff. Yes it will be hard, of course it will be, we are taking control of everything and it will take time to work out the bugs but we are confident your life and future generations lives will be better as a consequence.' I was pleased to hear an interview with one of the team hired to work out potential economic models for an independent Scotland in which he admitted the 2014 plan was a tad optimistic and they were now basing their plans on any oil income being a bonus rather than a key element. The more uncertainty you can remove the better your case Get the ball rolling now (if indeed it has not been running since September 2014) while Mrs May is sounding off and the Section 30 is still to be agreed.

The Duelling of the A9 is a good thing but once you get past Inverness there are quite significant issues. Take Wester Ross for example where younger populations are on a serious decline. Both Ullapool High School & Gairloch High School are set to drop to 4.5day weeks and there are so many houses for sale yet no one is buying as there is no work. Ludicrously the prices aren't dropping either. The Locals I know are fed up with Visit Scotland boasting about the North Coast 500 yet covering up that tourist income has actually declined whilst traffic has increased. Only the Petrol stations have seen a rise in income as people now take their camper-vans rather than chose to stay in hotels & B&Bs or drive the whole thing in 2-3 days rather than hanging around for a week like they used to. many of them make sure they stock up in the Inverness tesco before they cross the Kessock Bridge rather than rely on the small local stores or restuarants. BEAR are responsible for the A9 section of the NC500 so it gets maintained however the rest of it falls into the remit of Highland Council so if you are planning on driving from say Loch Carron to Ullapool you'd better invest in a serious 4x4. The 10 year freeze on Council tax certainly hasn't helped and the former SNP led coaltion council did themselves no favours with their attempts to shut down rural services for minimal savings which eventually resulted in the Independents taking control when the Lib Dems quit. You can build all the Hydro plants & wind farms you like in the Highlands but with technological improvements they bring minimal employment to the areas and if the tourist trade continues to decline the recent resurgence of the term 'Highland Clearances' may become a reality For the YES campaign to get a real foothold in the highlands (not just Inverness) they have to start showing that an independent Scottish Government is actually interested in the people that live and work there rather than the tourists who turn up for the weekend. This is however probably moot point as the Highlands, Eileen Star, Orkney & Shetland only accounted for 6% of the total votes cast in the 2014 referendum so it I suspect it is unlikely either side of the campaign will really be too concerned about what they think.

In other news, Dundee's Wee team continued their mid season collapse with a 3-2 defeat to St Mirren Their current record is 9 points from a possible 30

Prince Albert's showbiz Eleven 3-1 Arab's play thing Radio 5's commentary team were so far up Man City's ass when they got it back to 2-1 so the 'silence' 6 mins later was very satisfying Athletico Madrid Real Madrid Barcelona Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Monaco Juventus Leicestery City

Improved brakes and tyres have made a difference however they do not always improve the person controlling them. 'Forgetting' to use mirrors, undertaking, indicators only used when illegally parked, forgetting or in some worrying cases outright refusing to put on headlights in bad weather conditions, the obsession with using mobile phones 24hrs a day which I fear is going to get even worse now they are fitting WIFI in cars, ignoring one way street signs, thinking a space-saver wheel is as good as a regular wheel. Essentially forgetting you have a responsibility to yourself and those around you. Cars keep evolving but drivers seem to be going in the opposite direction.

Soon as suarez dived all I could hear was Brian Clough's speech to the Leeds United players. Either way Paris SG much like Man City seem to be destined to be rich as fuck but win very little outside of their own league.

Certainly hope so. Would be nice to see Suarez getting a Red Card too.