General New Stadium Plans - Stratfield Brake

[Wallop]

Pick the bones out of this from The Fiends of Stratfield Brake Facebook page (copied as to not direct traffic to their sites):

"The cost of Stratfield Brake: This is a popular argument for allowing OUFC Ltd to build a stadium/commercial development. Kidlington Parish Council currently pays Cherwell DC £168k a year to manage the site - something they are currently reviewing. We also heard at the annual parish meeting just how many people use Stratfield Brake regularly, whether for sport or leisure. However you look at it, this spend is more than just a cost: it’s a service charge for a vital green space.

Aside from all of that though, it seems somewhat hypocritical for supporters to keep chanting this mantra given that the owner of OUFC Ltd appears to have put in over £3m in the year to June 2021, and a similar amount in the previous year. According to OUFC Ltd’s accounts, they owe over £17m to related companies (presumably to their Singaporean holding company); have net liabilities of a similar amount; and they’re a going concern only on the basis that the owner will provide ongoing financial support. What if he loses interest?

The commercial development alongside the stadium (hotel? conference centre? frequent music concerts/events?) really would have to make enough cash to prevent the owner from continually having to shore up the finances, as clearly the Club itself is not cash generative from match day ticket revenues alone.

Commercialising democratically-controlled public green space in this way, to make a privately-owned corporate enterprise financially solvent (or a nice profit?), is completely unnacceptable on green belt land next to a nature reserve in our view. Especially when Oxford City Council don't exactly appear to be working overtime to keep OUFC in Oxford...

All in all, we think Stratfield Brake as a freely-accessible green space offers extremely good value (albeit with possible room for improvement) for the local community and wildlife alike".

Fiends - deliberate abuse or a Freudian slip?

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Fiends - deliberate abuse or a Freudian slip?

Unfortunate typo, no offence meant.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Both are vile, should be filed under fiction most of the time

I’m neither a left wing or right wing voter but have to say that the Guardian generally sticks to the facts although it will have a left wing bias whereas the Daily Mail is a right wing mouthpiece full of untruths

 

[werthersoriginal]

I’m neither a left wing or right wing voter but have to say that the Guardian generally sticks to the facts although it will have a left wing bias whereas the Daily Mail is a right wing mouthpiece full of untruths

Obviously all papers are selective in what they report. The Guardian is good at digging out corruption and untruths but my god it’s depressing- they always focus on the worst case scenario

 

[Headley]

I’m neither a left wing or right wing voter but have to say that the Guardian generally sticks to the facts although it will have a left wing bias whereas the Daily Mail is a right wing mouthpiece full of untruths

The trouble with both of them is they report everything with such a polarised view, which is often sensationalised to a point where it distorts the facts.

 

[Coffin dodger]

Obviously all papers are selective in what they report. The Guardian is good at digging out corruption and untruths but my god it’s depressing- they always focus on the worst case scenario

like most people on this forum

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

 

[SteMerritt]

I don't know why you bother reading their rants to be honest, a small pressure group with limited following who aren't looking at the facts and are just keen to spread misinformation.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

I don't know why you bother reading their rants to be honest, a small pressure group with limited following who aren't looking at the facts and are just keen to spread misinformation.

No different to this forum, just look at the rants because we haven’t signed a player in the first week of the transfer window

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

I don't know why you bother reading their rants to be honest, a small pressure group with limited following who aren't looking at the facts and are just keen to spread misinformation.

It's good to know their concerns so they can be countered.

 

[Leysboy]

I don't know why you bother reading their rants to be honest, a small pressure group with limited following who aren't looking at the facts and are just keen to spread misinformation.

They really aren’t very well informed at all are they. You only had to hear some of the comments made ie Oxford United don’t have the funds to see this project through for example.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

A more detailed post on their Facebook page that reads:

"Employment opportunities: This is being cited with irritating regularity by those arguing in favour of the stadium and commercial development at Stratfield Brake, but it seems bizarre and irrelevant to us. Our area is hardly crying out for employment opportunities. Look at Kidlington Parish Council Chair’s Report from this time last year (http://www.kidlington-pc.gov.uk/_UserFiles/Files/KPC Chairs Report June 2021.pdf) which tells us that ‘Unemployment (November 2020) is significantly lower than the England average (3.4% versus 6.5%)’. Added to this, employment opportunities for Kidlington residents are already set to increase with the Oxford North development at Pear Tree (https://www.oxfordnorth.com/), over 50% of which, will be shops, bars, restaurants and labs. OUFC Ltd seems unlikely to provide much in the way of new jobs anyway: according to its financial statements, OUFC Ltd employed an average of 146 staff members in 2021 (down from an average of 168 in 2020). Barring any mass redundancy by the Club, we assume these staff members would simply transfer across to any new stadium location – and if the Kassam site was sold off for housing, presumably any new commercial development at Stratfield Brake will simply replace jobs lost from the East Oxford site. In any case, are these much-vaunted job opportunities in response to some published important strategic job-creation objective for Kidlington, or just yet another poor excuse for green belt vandalism? We can’t help but think it’s the latter…"

 

[Scotchegg]

What they want is for someone to reply saying, "it's not just a football club, there will be shops and bars and a hotel and gym and lots and lots of things creating hundreds of jobs".

They will then come back with, "so it's going to be busy and noisy all the time? Traffic will be a nightmare. Small businesses in Kidlington will close etc etc"

Just ignore them.

 

[Berliner]

Bloody vandals, creating jobs in a recession. How dare they!

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Thought the vandals tag was a bit strong, we're keeping things polite so should they.

 

[holdsteady]

Bloody vandals, creating jobs in a recession. How dare they!

Yeah but they only have a little bit of unemployment in Kidlington, so f**k them and anyone else who would like an opportunity to better there lives, is it worth that for the hassle of a bit of traffic 25 times a year.

 

[m]

1500 years since the Vandals sacked Rome, some people really need to learn to let go.

They'll start on the Alans next.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

The vacancies created are likely to be perfect for youngsters from Kidlington who wish to gain their first experiences in the working world as well some permanent, full time roles as well I'd anticipate.

 

[unification]

It's good to know their concerns so they can be countered.

But there's little point in actually engaging with them. You could build a stadium out of timber that's fuelled by renewable energy and teleports fans from their home to the stadium with no carbon footprint and they still wouldn't be happy. Basically they want no human development there. They'd be content if you astronturfed it and removed any ecological value as long as it wasn't houses or the stadium. It would still be a literal 'green' belt to them.

Arguing with them is a waste of time and highlighting their 'concerns' to us is meaningless too. Their minds won't be changed and neither will ours (since we're all keen to move anyway). Nor do I think they're convincing others either since the have so few followers across their social media. The one or two likes they get are from the same faces. As said before, Twitter is a microcosm of the debate. They're very small fry as it is.

We don't have to convince everybody on this - just enough so that there isn't a series of gruelling legal challenges that would slow the process up. I don't expect 100% support for a new stadium. If I lived in Kidlington with no affinity to football or OUFC, I'd be concerned about parking, traffic, noise and litter and they have every right to be. Those who are presently silent and could jump either way on this issue are the people we need to convince and not some mumpsimus running a niche Twitter account on the web.

 

[Oxymoron]

The people that will move into those 4400 houses have got to work somewhere....