From TDC - all the news on Hartsdown redevelopment

[Guest]

10/05/2004 - MARGATE FOOTBALL CLUB UPDATE

Senior Council representatives met with the Nationwide Conference League Board, at the request of Margate Football Club project team yesterday for an update on the club’s position with their development plans at Hartsdown Road.

24/02/2004 - LATEST ON MARGATE FOOTBALL CLUB

Thanet Council has met with representatives of potential funders to discuss the future of Margate Football Club (Friday 20 February).

10/02/2004 - REMATCH FOR THE CLUB

Margate Football Club have today (Tuesday 10 February) introduced their new investors to Thanet District Council.

29/01/2004 - CONFERENCE SPEAKS OUT ON MARGATE

Thanet Council met today (Thursday 29 January) with the Chief Executive of the Nationwide Conference League to clarify the options for the future of Margate Football Club.

19/12/2003 - MARGATE FOOTBALL CLUB SCORES OWN GOAL

Margate Football Club's failure to meet a series of deadlines in relation to the redevelopment of Hartsdown Park has called into question the viability of the project.

03/11/2003 - HARTSDOWN PROJECT PLAN SUBMITTED

A detailed project plan for the redevelopment of Hartsdown park has been submitted by Margate Football Club to Thanet Council.

17/10/2003 - COUNCIL THROWS MARGATE FC A LIFELINE

Thanet Council¡¦s Cabinet last night reaffirmed their support for Margate Football Club (Thursday 16 October), agreeing that work could continue at Hartsdown Park, if a series of deadlines were met over the next few weeks.

17/04/2003 - GREEN LIGHT FOR FOOTBALL STADIUM PLANS

Plans to build a new stadium for Margate Football Club were yesterday (Wednesday 16 April) approved by Thanet Council.

03/04/2003 - FOOTBALL CLUB PLANS CONSIDERED BY COMMITTEE

Plans to build a new stadium for Margate Football Club could be ratified within the next ten days, following a meeting of Thanet Council’s Planning Committee last night (Wednesday 2 April).

06/12/2002 - FOOTBALL PLANS APPROVED BY COUNCIL

Amended plans to expand and develop Margate Football Club were approved last night (Thursday 5 December) at a packed meeting of Thanet Council.

12/11/2002 - FULL COUNCIL TO DEBATE FOOTBALL PLANS

Thanet Council’s Planning Committee have recommended that the plans for Margate Football Club’s expansion should be rejected at next month’s full Council (5 December).

 

[Nolan]

More crap from Harold

[Guest]

please explain your point.

[Guest]

We want news not history

[Guest]

I fail to see how Harold's post can be described as 'crap'. I would prefer to use the phrase 'recorded fact'. We as MFC fans seem to be stuck in a simile of the film 'Groundhog Day'.

 

All that remains to be ascertained is - is Nolan suffering from delusional tendencies? Could he be described as an 'I am in the know, I know more than you, your opinion is irrelevant, and by the way I am a complete and utter t**t'?

 

In the words of that Geordie bloke from Big Brother - "You Decide".

[Guest]

Thank you for some support from the last poster.

 

History gives some guidance to the future.

 

We have had many false dawns and (sorry!) I do not think we will be playing at Hartsdown at Xmas.

 

I would love to be wrong.

[michael]

Of course we wont be playing there at Christmas.

 

 

However, whilst disappointing, the club is still surviving (i think) and we hopefuly can get through the season and retain our status in the conference(sounds familiar from this time last year).

 

I think some questions do need to be asked of the club leadership as to why the impression was given to supporters (and i suspect shareholders)that we could be back at HDP at Xmas.

 

Having said that, we have to be realistic and in terms of leadership ,we have no alternative ,so with continued amazement as to how things can be run so 'apparently' mediocrely;i continue to wish club all the best ;and really hope that i am completely wrong in my post above and we will be back at HDP this Chrismas.

 

Equally, if everyone is doing a fantastic job, then tell us what is being done.For heavens sake MFC, cultivate and nuture our support.

 

 

[Guest]

No chance by xmas but next August is likely. Just hope the club can pay the wages till then cos 200 gates tops at Ashford will hardly pay three players wages let alo the rest. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[margateshot]

Both the club and council had a meeting last week which we were told about. Both parties stated that they were positive and mr moules stated that he believed that margate will be back by Christmas. As nothing else has happened since to disprove this why the negative vibes. The construction company made a statement several months ago about the amount of time needed to complete. The ground will not be completed by xmas but may well be fit to host football.

 

The disturbing point was why the council withdrew the 125 year lease in negotiations last time. This has now been the main stumbling block as the backers withdrew their funding as there was no agreement. What difference did withdrawing the lease make apart from guaranteeing that the project would be put back so Heads of Terms would have to be re signed, delaying things even further. Without planning permission from the council the club could not move forward anyway, so the lease is irrelevant. I have tried to remain impartial when writing on this Forum,listening to both parties, but it appears that the council were intent on Margate being thrown out of the main conference, as things have moved forward once this happened. Mr Ezekial had already made comments about this before it happened.

[Edinburgh Exile]

Thanks for the positive outlook Margateshot.

 

Can you help me with one thing though, from this distance I have never understood why TDC, or just Sandy Ezekial, wanted us thrown out of the Conference. Was it so that they could move us to a smaller site and build on HDP or was there some other reason ?

[Cookie]

As I understand it and as I read it the heads of terms ARE about the lease and if we still HAD the lease then these heads of terms wouldnt come into it. (Please correct me if I have that wrong). So the lease IS relevant!! By the way exactly what has moved forward? I dont see anything new to last year except to be self-relegated. Yes this is what the council wanted and when I saw EZEKIEL in person he was more or less agreeing that that was the way forward but his lack of action since then has been such that there just hasnt been a forward move at all. Just the same old crappy word games with no intention from the council to sign anything. Have us demoted then take us apart bit by bit. Interesting to read in the local about EZEKIELS rudeness lately, and together with their mis-managements and being a "weak" council, that in our case they are doing just that. Mis-managing the situation. Their chief executive is the guy who is pulling the strings I think anyway so EZEKIEL is just the puppet.

Am desperately afraid that we have no road left to go down but the one we are on is the one the council wish us to take and thats the slow backward road slowly but surely slipping into obscurity. I too hope I'm wrong too but thats my personal impression of things as they stand.

[margateshot]

Cookie

 

You have misinterpreted what I meant. Yes the Heads of terms are all about the lease. That is why I question why it was withdrawn. The only thing to come out of it is that it delayed the build. Margate could not move without the councils permission even if the lease was there and so why withdraw it? The only reason to do so is to delay the project further.

[Guest]

As an Exile just spoken to my in laws and have been told that Thanet Council have come out very badly with the Local Authority Audit.

This report will be evidence against the Chief Executive AND dear Sandy in their handling of the Hartsdown Park situation.

 

Just a side issue about the covenant on the area. This has been known about for the last 30 years, and was used when I was on the board in the late 70's by and against the Council then.

[Guest]

Has far as i understood,from the MISA meeting attended by KP and Cookie. once the heads of terms are signed, August the 5th,hopefully,it will take 10 to 12 weeks to prepare before stadium construction can begin. Hopefully that would see construction begining in the middle of October (Not the best time of year to lay a pitch). On the time scales given it would see us back in Hartsdown in late January(hoping)or more likly Febuary. If my understanding of the timing is wrong it would be nice if someone from the club would contradict me.

[Cookie]

Got yer margate shot.See your point.Just to add that at that meeting EZEKIEL also said that work could start on the ground. . no problem and if I am right that was before the lease was taken away and even otherwise it would be o.k. still to start on the ground in even the smallest way so this is where I get on the clubs back and ask why they havent done SOMETHING to get it started. Anything would have done.Suppose its all down to the diggers in their eyes and they might want it it all done in one fell swoop. Would like to have seen SOME movement in reality terms apart from the words that keep coming out.

[Guest]

I think someone has to pay for it Cookie, which means the 'investors need to be on boardfirst, and they won't come on board until they know they can go for the bigger scheme ;meaning they can afford to shell out on the ground knowing they will get a return from the other aspects of the scheme.

Thats my take anyway.

[Cookie]

I was talking in terms of the CLUB doing something not the investors. Only takes a few guys to get together and do something and it could have been arranged by the club in the meantime.