The events of yesterday

[GazzaBTFC]

Heard that there was a mob at the meeting to aprove the new stadium yesterday and that Rod Moore had to have security for his protection.

 

Quite surprised there hasn't been more details on this site. Any comments?

[&yB]

I don’t intend this posting to start yet another forum discussion on the whys and wherefores of the move to Basildon, rather please treat this as the match report of what happened on Wednesday evening…

 

All I can say is as warned Basildon Council local area committee meetings are not the most exciting place to while your life away.

Wednesday’s meeting started at 7.35pm and we all left after agenda item 6 (I think) at 11.40pm, yep this seemed to go on well beyond extra time and penalties. Indeed as the photo’s in The Echo show there had been a bit of shouting outside the Towngate Centre when the BTFC Ltd/Stadia Management delegation arrived, passionate supporters will always jeer at their rivals, but it didn’t really amount to anything.

 

As the very firm Chairwoman of the Central Area Committee said to a packed council room (attendance well over 100 people) with this sort of decision some people will leave the meeting happy, some sad. The residents neighbouring GP were given the opportunity to speak (though for not as long as they’d have liked) and Mr Moore and a Stadia Management Rep were allowed to speak for the proposal. After much debate, in what was generally a well ordered meeting, firmly controlled by the Woman in Grey with some yellow cards issued to the public, but no sendings-out, the local councillors voted 6-2 in favour of granting OUTLINE planning permission for the Stadium Complex at the GP site. Which as I understand it means that The Club and Stadia management progress to the next stage of the master plan as permission for the New Lodge side of things was granted by the Billericay local area committee last week

 

Of course this won’t be the end of the discussions, detailed planning permission will need to be granted before any building work can commence, but needless to say one section of the public attending the meeting left happy, the other certainly not.

 

Roll on Alderthingy….

 

[Simon BTFC]

The next steps is that the secretary of state will decide whether to call the plans in for further examination. The final plans will also need to be drawn up and agreed before work starts.