Stupie82

 

hmmmm....https://upa.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage

 

Looks like a list of planning applications there. What are the restrictions around what can and can't be erected without requiring planning application?

There might be applications, but are not necessarily granted. There are restrictions on most things. If you want to put a conservatory on your house you need to get planning permission. That can be down to height, width, distance from a neighbour, distance from a river... anything really. Same goes for businesses too.

Anyways, my main gripe is this land value thing, the planning permission doesnt put me up or down, but does show they could possibly be a potential nightmare to deal with.

I personally like Brewdog. I like the majority of their beers, I think they've done a lot for the overall "craft beer" market and they throw an exceptionally good bash at the yearly AGM.

 

However, I do think that they've overstepped the line a bit with this one. Probably could have been handled better. Dealing with any council is generally a painful legislative nightmare, but pissing them off isn't going to help matters.

 

Not quite sure where you're getting your info about them "continually putting up Silos and add-ons without the relevant planning permission"

Its local knowledge, plus i have heard from various sources that they don't get permission or even seek it. I get the impression they are a nightmare to deal with. I love their beers personally, but they are way off on this.

Land is as negotiable as anything else is. It - property and acreage - is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it and what someone is prepared to sell it for.

 

I don't know the guys personally but I'm aware that a lot of people consider them arseholes. I would only make up my own mind in the highly unlikely situation that I would ever meet them but I'm also aware how success attracts resentment, which will no doubt be fuelling it for some, particularly in Scotland (as opposed to the US for example).

 

What special treatment have they got and why shouldn't they be able to negotiate a special allowance? Every foreign company seeking to invest in the UK is given incentives and special deals. Why can't a locally-founded company get the same? How many jobseekers would there be if Brewdog weren't a major employer and how many associated companies are getting a living off the back of them? These are questions I'm sure the council aren't asking themselves. Christ they managed to turn down a £50m donation from Sir Ian Wood because of jealousy and resentment so I'm pretty sure the culture in city and shire will be consistently small-minded. Good on them for criticising the public sector publicly. Our counsillors are fucking inept and like the vast majority of civil servants, self-serving. Bung city. Mon the businesses.

Slight flaw in that we are speaking about two different councils... shire and city. However, your point on room for negotiation is a good one, but £5K for land valued at £300K ... i dont think so. 

Money made from these sales goes back into the public sector and is used for schooling and hospitals etc, that is a fact. If the council took this approach they would lose millions a year. They already heavily subsidise things town halls and village halls so that the public get good use of them, while struggling to pay maintenance costs for the upkeep, security and cleaning. My point is that the councils have to cut their spending year on year and to give away land cheaply isnt feasible. The land in question is earmarked for a cemetery, so it has a purpose. The area is currently  zoned for commercial use and therefore rates are higher and It has already attracted many businesses in the area, so its not overpriced. Brewdog just want it cheap and because they arent getting it that way, they are spitting the dummy out. Personally i think its pathetic they went public when negotiations were still ongoing and its lucky for them the council arent as pentulant and threatening to rip down their silos they put up without permission.

Extremely successful NE company in being resented by some of the NE public shock.

 

Brewdog are everywhere in London these days. They've got production plants opening globally.

They just come across petulant to me. They preach that it will directly affect employment in the area, which it will, but they are asking for something on the cheap that no on else gets. Why should they get special treatment?because they are creating jobs? Land value is only marginally negotiable. Chirst, it costs £80K for a 1/3 of an acre of land to build a house on.

Plus this coming form the same company who continually put up new silos and add-ons at their HQ in Ellon without getting the relevant planning permissions. No sympathy at all. By all means they are successful, very successful in fact, but they should not get any special treatment. 

Just as a side note, Tesco paid over a million for their site in Ellon, less than 1/4 mile away from Brewdog.

... are starting to get on my tits a bit. They are marketed ingeniously, but the guys that run it are out of their depth.

So the most recent moan from the "illustrious" company is about the value of land they are trying to buy. They want to build a hotel, plus an extension to the brewery and got a valuation done on the land. So DM Hall came back and said £5000 an acre, but the shire council have come back and said the price is nearer  £300K. Sounds like a the council are having a laugh, however, it was reported last night that the £5000 quoted was actually the price if it was to be used agriculturally, whereas the £300K per acre price is actually nearer the mark for commercial property. Brewdog went public slating the council saying they are anti business, but instead have really made themselves look extremely stupid.

My point is that the council get criticised a lot and rightly so at times, but it must be hard task having to deal with companies like that. Brewdog constantly want special treatment and i am for once glad the council haven't backed down on it. 

Seems like the most apt place to put this:

 

Fifa have just agreed to enlarge the competition to 48 countries...how to kill the tournament completely. As if any of those will add anything to the tournament. International football is dead

Fixed it for you!!

Do you reckon the queen's deid and they're only pretending she has a cold.

 

There's always hope I suppose

I reckon she will top off the year of high profile deaths.

Bar the last part I would agree with that. How is a fan defined nowadays?  I work with a few guys who go to Pittodrie for the big games, but won't be anywhere near it for a Killie or Motherwell on a cold Decembers night, rather stay at home and watch Arsenal v Everton or Champions League, I don't even get to speak about the match the day after as they are not interested in the slightest.

 

The strange times we live in, I guess folks who buy season tickets and travael to away games and so on are a dying breed.

The definition is ambiguous, we are all different. That said, for me being a fan is about passion. That feeling when a goal goes in, especially in big games can never been filled by anything else in life. Winning trophies too is one of the single most greatest feelings of being a football fan. When i see teenagers sitting on phones and not flinching when goals go in, something is missing. My wifes grandad, who sadly no longer alive, would tear up every time his beloved Norwich scored and it was nice to see someone so passionate about their team. Maybe times have changed and maybe the breed of folk who are very passionate about football is dying out. If that is true, maybe football is losing its pizzazz to an extent.

Spot on Big Al.

 

Like you say when you consider all these different factors that make up the game we invest so much interest, money, time, emotion etc into it just makes you wonder, why fucking bother put yourself through all that just for these cunts who run the game take the piss out of us by changing the rules to suit their preferred clubs even more. That obviously applies in both the domestic scene and the international one.

 

I saw a article last week suggesting that the Scottish league winners (celtic for the foreseeable) would now have to play 4 qualifiers to get into the CL while all 4 English teams woud get straight in, as would the other 'big leagues'. My head hurts when i try to think of the unfairness of it all and what the ongoing consequences of will be. It goes without saying it's all about making money and the already strong getting stronger and widening the gap all the time. They are trying to invent a different sport in my eyes... i hope the whole fucking thing implodes! Fuck it, i'm going to cancel my Sky Sports again when i get home!!!! But i'll miss my golf, F1 and tennis... 

When I think about the Champions League, im  just glad we aren't ever part of it. It makes perfect business sense to have the "biggest clubs" in there to generate money, after all that's what business do. However, it shouldn't be a business, it should be a sport first and foremost and the integrity of the game should be at the forefront of any decision. Football stopped being about football over 25 years ago and the further up the chain you go, the more its about the financial aspect. As soon as that happened the game was on its death bed and its been dying ever since. Like all big financial bubbles, I hope it bursts and I hope every fucker that sat back and watched their clubs get bought over by multi billionaires, spending endless millions/billions, all suffer for it.

Even the every day football fan has changed. You look in the crowds of the EPL games and its full of folk who don't give a shit about the club, but rather the success. Even when goals are scored, they look completely uninterested. I saw a video on Facebook a few months ago where a goal was scored and the camera was zoomed into the crowd and there was a kid about 14ish just sitting on his phone, only glancing up as folk started cheering when the goal went in, then started to look at his phone again... no emotion at all. For me, real football and real fans now only exist in leagues below our own. I would class myself as a real fan, but the league in which Aberdeen play is shambolic and soulless. 

I actually think we might strengthen with loss of Maddison. He is no doubt a cracking player, skillfully anyway, but he fails to track back and defend, and he doesnt tackle often enough. Could do with replacing him with a big bastard.

Watching MOTD , how the hell did West Ham win yesterday?!? Hull hit the post about 4 times! So unlucky. Second game in a row the hammers have won 1-0 courtesy of a penalty.

Thats the luck when one is that the bottom... Hull were so unlucky! Penalty was saft too

So, Monday morning and feeling a bit down about the whole AFC scenario currently, but to be honest it doesn't just stop there. Fifty plus years of playing and watching football every chance I could get and really starting to lose interest in the whole thing.

 

My apathy (for want of a better description) is caused by a number of factors most of which have been mentioned on here and in isolation are manageable, but lump them all together and the issue increases.

 

AFC are regressing, there is a general feeling that Scottish football is back the way it should be, dominated by two clubs built on years of hatred and religous bigotry. How long before the statement comes out of Pittodrie that finishing third would represent a successful season ?

 

The national team I lost interest in a number of years ago. To think I used to think that failing at a Euro Championship or World Cup was depressing. FFS oh to just get there nowadays.

 

Champions League football has become so so boring I rarely bother to watch a game in it. Same teams playing same teams year after year after year and getting richer and richer to the detriment of all others.

 

Back to domestic football and we have "Project Brave" raising it's head. What the fuck is brave about letting the two biggest supported clubs in the land enter teams "B Teams/Colt Teams"(or whatever the fuck you want to call them) into your league set up. Just another method to allow them to hoover up what little young talent is out there and further increase the gap between them and the rest.

 

Would normally be off to Fir Park on Friday night come hell or high water...right now couldn't give a fuck and highly unlikely to make the 45 minute journey to attend.

 

Sure I read somewhere that our next 3pm league kick off @ home is not until 1st April. Farcical if true and just sums up how fucked the game really is.

 

Merry Xmas everyone

Great post Al.

For me, it all stems back to 2012 when Rangers got binned. That should have been the catalyst for change, a chance to really change the game and move forward and be self sufficient. Of course, it never happened and foolishly i purchased a season ticket this season thinking that most clubs would be able to keep them at bay or that something might change for the good. Yet here we are, back to normal, the Glasgow two at the top and now the talk of colt teams for them only.... What a real kick in the steens for Scottish Football.

It is a complete ruin of its former self, on life support and the best idea mooted for the game is to introduce two more wanker Glasgow teams??.... honestly Fuck off. It has spent years in the shadows, run by utter imbeciles with its sole purpose to try and copy the model of English football, another footballing travesty. The SFA are like a virus... and like a virus they are multiplying with vile cunts like Malky McKay, spreading through the system and taking everything out in its path. The game is utterly fucked and its not even sad to watch anymore. It's a bit like an old dying relative, you almost want it put out of its misery so the pain will end.

The scary part of it all is that even if the fans stopped going to games, the SFA still wouldn't see the error of their ways. If anything it would almost speed up their quest to see colt teams in the leagues, in the hope it brings fans to the games. Utterly deluded and rotten to the core. The need for the preservation of two teams only is the detriment to the rest of us and its no wonder we really are a laughing stock. I sure wont be putting money into this league next season...

Well it was as bad as the opening game of the season. We have no idea how to break them down. Horrible feeling we are going to finish behind the Tribute Act as well now.

I think that is likely now without doubt, unfortunately!

In / out: In

Prematcher: Working later

Match: RDS Lower

Post-matcher:  Hopefully driving home with a smile on my face.

Prediction: As i said on Abamd We will scrape a 1-0 win, 8000 crowd tops and a lot of folk with sare heids from last couple of weeks piling the pressure on the players and the manager.

Probably just something in the way of gratitude. Mezz and Co have experienced many other difficulties relating to the club in regards setups at Pittodrie and storing of goods for their displays. Mezz doesnt seem the type who expects some sort of public thank you, but more an acknowledgement from the club and help to organise some of the best displays in the country. Shouldnt be too much to ask for a club that uses the displays to make its own money with regards merchandise.

I have read the following statement from Mezz on both Facebook and Abmad this morning, about his displays and how the club are treating him. Very, very disappointing.

I spoke with a few folk involved in the display project and family and friends in the weeks leading up to the Final.

Sundays final will be my last involvement with displays and those I spoke to fully understand why .

The club held its AGM on Monday and a shareholder asked Milne ,Yule and Fraser about those behind the display and a vote of thanks was agreed, Im not sure what that means but Milne said they had been in touch with the organisers.

I can assure you now we haven't been thanked by any of them .

So he blatantly lied to a room full of shareholders .

They had an opportunity to put some money towards the display as well but we had a deadline to meet to place the order.

We had to go through the Operations department, they were meant to relay info to our chief exec to keep him up to speed as to where we were at with the funds , I received an email at 9 pm on a Saturday night from him asking where we were at despite telling Operations on a daily basis .

They dragged their heels so we had to look elsewhere, the DST lent us £2500 which we paid back .

Production time for 20,000 flags takes time .I asked our chief exec if he would still like to donate something like a bus for volunteers, I never got a reply but the DST did and the club said they couldn't do a bus as they would all be booked .

I called Central coaches , same firm the club use and got a bus straight away , the DST offered to pay half of that which was a lovely gesture .

The club are impossible to deal with , they hate me that's for sure because I stand up to them and won't allow them to treat those giving up their spare time like dirt .

How can I work with a club that contacts Ian Low at Dundee United , or the operations Manager at Inverness Caley and try and talk them into banning us from doing display at their grounds?

When we did a foil display in the Shed at Tannadice I was taken aside and told they (Dufc) would do anything they possibly could to make sure our display was a success, which it was .

Dufc and ICT both couldn't understand why any club wouldn't want their own fans to add as much colour to the games .

The League Cup final at ParkRed for example the club did absolutely nothing to assist us.I had to deal with the SPFL, Celtic,and the police and all were very helpful .

The club were quick to sell framed pictures at £70 a pop in the club shop of the display , I was never offered one .

This display was a huge task and thankfully I had a great team to share the load , some of them will continue Im sure but after witnessing how I'm treated they will probably do future displays away from home .

At Hampden, Motherwell, Celtic,Inverness,Ibrox,Tannadice I have always been made welcome and always get a glowing report of how organised we were .Its just our club that make life extremely difficult to do anything and I've had enough .

We also have a SLO at our club , a role given to someone in the community trust just to appease UEFA , a SLO should be someone that is known to the support and is helpful to the supporters , ours didn't even get in touch leading up to the final , Im not even going to mention his name but another ex cop who nobody within the support knows .Im in regular contact with SLOs at other clubs as well as Supporters direct etc and kept up to date with matters.

It was very humbling for the support to put so much faith in me at the last 2 finals and to donate such an incredible amount was just staggering , I had several sleepless nights leading up to this game but I knew as soon as I knew the materials we would use what I was going to do .

Without the supporters kindness and participation I'd never have been able to do any of them .

Thanks also to those that helped me make it happen , you know who you are

Thank you all once again and good luck to those who want to try and add some colour in the future .

Time to spend some time with those that are far more important than football, my amazing family .

Cheers

Mezz

As i have said over on AbMad, the club owe Mezz and his contributors gratitude for what they have done.

Like Rico, i wouldnt give the great unwashed my heard earned.

Massive performance needed from the players this weekend and they owe to those who are going to put on a great show and get the win. Looking at Rangers last night, they are very beatable and if we play the way we can and they play like that, we will hump them. That said, they will raise their game this weekend and if Deek takes his cautious tactics with him, we will lose.

11/5 for us to win and a sneaky 33/1 for a 3-0... tenner slapped on that, so DM its over to you!!

Best result for us tonight at Tynecastle?  A draw would probably suit us, or at worst a Hertz win.  I think the last thing we need is Sevco going home with all 3 points, especially with us heading to Mordor on Saturday.

Currently huns are 1-0 down and look mince... anything other than a win for us at weekend would be a disappointment.

There is one big problem looming however, the stupidity of people always being a problem. Some will misinterpret the anti-stablishment wave as a licence to unleash their deep prejudices. We're already seeing that in Britain post Brexit and I fear the Hispanics and Muslims in the states may face a similar backlash in the coming days.

...and this is exactly the reason why these sort of votes end up with bigoted opinions, from the very people who claim to hate bigots themselves.  I voted for Brexit and have been called xenophobic, racist and even un-Scottish... whatever that is, yet it couldn't be further from the truth.

The people who are racist and xenophobes use these votes as a platform to practice their prejudices and so the two are assumed to go hand in hand. Did Trump appeal to the masses of white supremacists? yes he probably did, but in no way are the 59 million people that have so far voted for him, also white supremacists or believe he will bring about segregation or deportation. He gained a higher Hispanic and Latino vote than his Republican predecessor and that speaks volumes. The media want everyone to believe that he is a neo-nazi, racist and xenophobe, but his other ideas and policies could bring about real change. Like Rocket though, i do fear however that people will use it as a platform for hatred and thats not what the vote should be about.

Left wing or right wing, its irrelevant. Its the vote against what is precieved to be normal, or in other words, what the government wants you to think and do. Scottish independence, project fear, Brexit, project fear and Trump, project fear. The fear is spread by those who themselves fear the outcome. Its all about self preservation.

I see your point about Trump being a billionaire, therefore is part of the elite, however he isnt your everyday billionaire. IF he lives out his vision, you will see massive political reform in the US. That is anti-establishment whether you are a billionaire or not. He is the protest vote and in the eyes of those who voted for him he is anti-establishment. What is important here is that the majority of Amercians who voted, voted for someone who isn't a "normal" president. Current Obama opinon polls have him as one the highest rated presidents leaving office in the US history and yet, Trump still managed to turn the vote away from the Democrats. What i would turn my attentions to was how did the Democrats allow it to happen. Where they like Dave, where they assumed the public would tow the line and fall for the propaganda? Clinton had billions behind her and yet the people still voted against her and the party.

I agree with your establishment point but what puzzles me is how in the UK people saw voting for a banker and a career politician (Farage and BoJo) as an anti establishment vote.

 

I also dont see how Americans can view voting for a paper billionaire that has been in the public eye for 3 decades as anti establishment either.

 

They are all part of the 'establishment'.

 

To me anti establishment would be someone from the street, an every man/woman rising to the top and not career politicians that are usually on the losing side or milti-millionaires/billionaires with axes to grind.

I personally see it is anti-establishment, not because of those involved in running the campaign, but more in the results. Yes, Trump is a billionaire, but he is against all things political. His own views on NATO and Russia will shake the world to its core if he carries them out. The people have turned against what was perceived as the right thing to do, both with Brexit and this US election. The media, celebrities, political propaganda... none of it worked. The world is a different place now and thats not being OTT. Two of the most powerful nations in the world have had their political core rocked this year alone... next year its France and Germany... who knows what might happen.

There is far too much panic over this. Granted, the man doesn't scream secure world leader, but now is the time to define what was real in the campaign and what was media spin/propaganda.

As Rocket said, this is a vote against the establishment... The US media and its celebrity prowess threw everything behind Clinton and it failed catastrophically. Its repercussions will be felt across all of America and most of the world. They are after all the most powerful nation on the planet and anything that affects them affects us all. What he does now with his new found power is anyone's guess, but lets hope it is all for the good.

My own initial thoughts were panic, but who knows, this maybe the start of something that is long overdue, good or bad.

Barton gone.

Mutual consent apparently

That's a shame... would have hoped he would have bled them dry.

Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer

"Well, well, well.  If it isn't little Bobby Parkhurst! saucier than a direct hit on a Heinz factory".

Michty aye!