Bad news

[Chris]

My Dad just saw Alan Harding and apparently the school got the decision on the ground, but can't do anything for two-months until the council talk to Martyn Deaner and Alan Thorne.

 

I'm sure Mr Sliski can expand further...

[GarySTFC]

That's the first of several hoops they've passed then. There's plenty more still to go.

 

Would like to hear what happened in the meeting as I couldn't attend personally.

[Ian]

There was a single page notice handed out to those who attended (not that the decision was pre-determined, or anything) stating the exact position.

 

I decided to stay outside so wasn't at the meeting although I understand what Chris has stated is correct that the school have been allocated the land and in the two month period that follows they will "try"" and find a solution to the problems with the Club.

 

"Try" and find a solution is slightly easier for them to get out of than the statement in the Scrutiny Committee document which stated that the offer of land was "conditional upon any conflict between the proposal and the Council's desire to facilitate Slough Town Football Club being resolved". The land has now been allocated yet the conflict still exists.

 

The Council keep saying that they are doing this and doing that to try and help but to date we've seen the sum total of nothing. As such, I'm now treating anything that they say with as much credibility as anything from Thorne or Deaner.

 

IS A FUTURE FOR OUR FOOTBALL CLUB TOO MUCH TO ASK?

 

[Guest]

So the council have decided on a school that the majority of the residents do not want and the supporters of STFC do not want. This is why we vote a council in so that they look after the interests of all the people within the borough but I wonder how many of the residents within the borough will send their children to this school. Have they actually carried out a survey to answer this question. If so perhaps they would be good enough to give us details of numbers of pupils who will be attending this school. When you consider that on average 400 people attend the football ground when STFC are playing and the majority of these are from within the Slough area then the councils answer to the above question should be quite interesting as I have stated already that they are their to represent the views of the residents of Slough. One other question for the council - why has the Arbour Vale School site not been allocated if they are that keen to have another school in Slough as this would then mean that not only can STFC continue to play in Slough but also they can have another school as well. Both parties get what they want. I await a reply from those elected to represent and to carry out duties which should be first and formost to the benefit of the residents of Slough.

[Dominic]

I was embaraced and i thought it was a discrace reagarding the amount of Wexham and Borderside residents that bothered to turn up today.They moan and wine about the school but when it matters they are no where to be seen. I know for a fact there were plenty of other so called Slough fans that could of come today,what a surprise they didn't show.

 

As for those slimey councilers that were talking crap in the meeting and to our faces before hand,they dont care about the club,they just want to please the right people so they will get re- elected,we know they are all crooke anyway.

 

2 months to get the community behind us,obviously it will be harder that we all thought,i felt we all thought we were getting somewhere with the protests and flyers,yes it was good too see quite alot of people at the town hall today,however i was expecting a few more,or is there only 7 people in wexham??

 

At this moment in time i feel the club has been cheated and used,by the council,and that fat counciler hasd the cheek to say the council arn't to blame for anything, admitidly some responsibility shoild be accepted by deaner and thorne's.

 

We'l see what are next plan of action is after Thursdays meeting involving the residents commitie and Chris S and Mike L.

 

Well done to everyone who took time off to protest,make banners and hand out flyers.

 

A very angry Ambassador!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Tonight was only the first of many stages---a sort of agreement in principle. Before a school is built there will be further meetings to ascertain the need for a school, and to approve detailed plans.The school could fail for either of these reasons, but by then it may be too late for us. Outside of the meeting, one of the councillors stated that other possibilities were being considered, but did not give ant further details.

[GarySTFC]

Let's just sit down and review for a second. All the people I've spoken to about our situation where I work have basically said to me, 'What's the point in protesting when the majority of the council are Sikh's anyway?' Is this true? If so, they're hardly going to deny the school are they? If this is not the case, then I retract the above and I'm not intending the above to be racist, but merely a fact.

 

If it is true though regarding the government, the council members are hardly likely to turn the school down even in the later stages as the government will be pushing for it and providing a lot of funding, and not forgetting, they already have £6 million lined up to help the building of the school.

 

Also, if what Rob Anderson said last week is true and it is more of a government decision and that they are pushing it through, what hopes do we have?

 

Most disappointing though was the overall turnout of fans and residents. The poor turnout from both sides didn't help the cause, although you get the feeling we could have had thousands of people outside and it wouldn't have made a difference.

 

I'm increasingly disappointed by the council's continuing failure to deliver their promises. Mr Anderson continues to state he's got something up his sleeve to benefit us, well now is the time to play that card Rob, let's stopp p1ssing the football club about and do something constructive. You've been promising for the last three weeks, is there any chance of you actually delivering?

 

I would like to know what, if anything, Tony Haines did last night to resresent his constituents who favour the football club's proposal over the school. Was he present and did he back our plans?

 

While I am having a rant, and this is much easier to say with hindsight, why has it taken so long for, ok a small band of Slough fans, to pull our finger out and try and do something? We could do with a few more High St. flyer distributions with fixture lists and £1 off admission vouchers for the summer games when people are more likely to come along and watch us, although while Martyn Deaner is in charge, I don't think there is much point going back to watch while he continues to screw the club over just like he's trying to do at the moment.

[Guest]

Gary---your work colleagues are wrong. I estimate that 7 of Slough's 41 councillors are Sikhs. You can check this out at Slough.gov.uk ---click on councillors.

 

Given the amount of C of E schools, and Catholic schools in Slough, it is hardly suprising that the Sikh community also want a school---they probably greatly outnumber the amount of Catholics in Slough. I think that this is the point the councillors made---the government is supporting faith schools generally, and you can't pick and choose which faiths to support. However any plans still have to go through planning permission---thats where the fine detail of the plan is looked at. I would guess that most children attending a Sikh school would be driven to school (quite a demand from outside of Slough as well). The potential for severe traffic problems (much , much, worse than anything caused by football) is obvious, and would only be considered at the planning stage. The education sub committee also has to agree there is the need for another school in the area (why spend £6 million on a new school if it means another school will lose its pupils and close). There's a long way to go yet.

[BFR]

Dom, to be honest I'm surprised at your embarassment. Yes the numbers there were not huge but it was the biggest turn out of the three weeks and to expect somebody to turn up from reading one of the flyers is unreasonable. Maybe we could have had more Rebels there but we were there, we made our presence felt and at the end of the day that is what a protest about. A protest in itself cannot sway the powers that be (see anti-war march before recent Iraq conflict)

In terms of talking about representation, the Sikh Community is significantly larger in Slough than the fanbase of the football club and the members of the Residents Association. Not only that but they are a strong community within themselves who are well organised and politically minded. I tend to agree with Gary about the fact it has taken too long for we as fans to get organised. There were local elections only very recently and could have been used as part of our campaign. It would not have taken a lot of effort to ask the supporters which ward they live in a few months ago as they came in through the turnstiles and then had an independent stand in the area where election would be most successful. To have even one voice inside the town hall could have been hugely beneficial and Anderson and co would have to have taken the Supporters a lot more seriously.

Anyway, nothing is over just yet. From most of the fans I've spoken to, nobody expected our protests to have any immediate impact. And should it come to be that the school is built on the land then rather than sit around feeling sorry for ourselves we should challenge all of that negativity into the Supporters Trust and keep Slough Town alive.

 

Having re-read what I have just said, I thought I should make it clear that over the issue of the local elections and having a Rebel stand, before I get some snidey comment about why didn't I stand and do something about it myself, I am not a resident of Slough and have not lived within the borough for seven years.

[BFR]

Forgot to say cheers to the Dagenham and Wycombe fans who came along to show their support

[Uncle Urchin]

Uncle Urchin for Mayor.....?..... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[BFR]

Only in storytime!

[Martin]

How many of the C of E or Catholic schools in the Slough area are single faith? Just wondering.

 

It is my understanding that the Arbor Vale site has to be used for a school or hospital. This can be easily checked with the land registry. So what is happening to that site?

[Ian]

I have to admit to feeling far more angry than I know I should be given the decision they made was always going to happen.

 

The land in question will never get allocated to the football club. Even if we manage to stop the school through the planning process the Council will not then agree to give it to the club if we've scuppered the plans they are so keen to drive through. Like BFR says, let's channel the energies into getting the Trust up and running as see what that brings.

 

Heads up everyone, Slough Town needs us now more than ever.