Villa Park redevelopment

[The Fun Factory]

6 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

I'm wondering how the council have even paid for the feasibility study itself.

Unless it's being performed by Geoff from Accounts, who's now double hatting as the in-house facilities man and at the same time was asked to put the study together while he's on the train into work.

Kind of feel that what ever the outcome this is going nowhere unless central government can be convinced its a necessary project to facilitate hosting Euro28 (when we eventually get confirmed as hosts),  and there aren't enough other stadiums they can use. 

Won't this be through the transport for west midlands, not BCC? Hence Street's tweet. Perry Barr got refurbished for the Commonwealth so when 2028 is rubber-stamped surely that should green light this project?

[ender4]

2 hours ago, wishywashy said:

Bit weird to "here we go" a.. feasibility study? But nice to see something resembling progress, I guess.

Fabrizio Romana finally unmasked as Andy Street!!

[andycv]

56 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Won't this be through the transport for west midlands, not BCC? Hence Street's tweet. Perry Barr got refurbished for the Commonwealth so when 2028 is rubber-stamped surely that should green light this project?

Totally this - it is the West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for the West Midlands and the Mayor who will fund this - so BCC's issues aren't really here or there for the station expansion.

[Davkaus]

Is the club contributing in any way? If it was anything other than a football club, I imagine people might be a bit miffed about public funding to get more customers into the facilities of a very wealthy private business that will be completely wasted and underused for all but about 2 hours once a fortnight.

[andycv]

Just now, Davkaus said:

Is the club contributing in any way? If it was anything other than a football club, I imagine people might be a bit miffed about public funding to get more customers into the facilities of a very wealthy private business that will be completely wasted and underused for all but about 2 hours once a fortnight.

I expect the club may well contribute partially to this - but the Euro 2028 bid is crucial too - as the Government will have supported that and there'll be an expectation of some public sector investment to host - similar to the commonwealth games.

[MrBlack]

1 hour ago, The Fun Factory said:

Won't this be through the transport for west midlands, not BCC? Hence Street's tweet. Perry Barr got refurbished for the Commonwealth so when 2028 is rubber-stamped surely that should green light this project?

 

30 minutes ago, andycv said:

Totally this - it is the West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for the West Midlands and the Mayor who will fund this - so BCC's issues aren't really here or there for the station expansion.

Maybe , but I'm sure 10% of the WMCA's funding comes from BCC. £800m of it according to their last funding summary.

In any case, if its something they're investing in to a study of, it's logical that they'd be fairly confident it's something they then be able to fund (or get funds for from Government).

Definitely better news than no news, and sooner than I'd expected to hear anything of the sort.

[OutByEaster?]

Just as a reminder, from a planning and construction perspective, there is no link between the redevelopment of the North Stand and improvements for Witton train station.

Just as a reminder, there's no link between Birmingham City Council and the funding bodies that will provide funding for Witton train station.

 

It'd be nice, a proper bonus, if we could improve access as we develop, but we can go ahead regardless.

[Stephen_Evans]

20 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Just as a reminder, from a planning and construction perspective, there is no link between the redevelopment of the North Stand and improvements for Witton train station.

Just as a reminder, there's no link between Birmingham City Council and the funding bodies that will provide funding for Witton train station.

 

It'd be nice, a proper bonus, if we could improve access as we develop, but we can go ahead regardless.

Expect to have to repeat yourself multiple times.

[sidcow]

5 hours ago, VillaJ100 said:

Will the feasibility study conclude BCC has about 14 pence to put towards the project and cancel any improvement?

Probably.  But the majority of money will come from The Club, Central Government and The West Midlands Combined Authority I would expect hence Street talking about this, not The Council. 

[sidcow]

4 hours ago, MrBlack said:

I'm wondering how the council have even paid for the feasibility study itself.

Unless it's being performed by Geoff from Accounts, who's now double hatting as the in-house facilities man and at the same time was asked to put the study together while he's on the train into work.

Kind of feel that what ever the outcome this is going nowhere unless central government can be convinced its a necessary project to facilitate hosting Euro28 (when we eventually get confirmed as hosts),  and there aren't enough other stadiums they can use. 

Andy Street is West Midlands Combined Authority, not The Council. I think WMCA are responsible for most Transport Infrastructure, not The Council. 

[Frodo]

5 hours ago, ender4 said:

Fabrizio Romana finally unmasked as Andy Street!!

It's like an episode of Scooby-doo

[The Fun Factory]

4 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Just as a reminder, from a planning and construction perspective, there is no link between the redevelopment of the North Stand and improvements for Witton train station.

Just as a reminder, there's no link between Birmingham City Council and the funding bodies that will provide funding for Witton train station.

 

It'd be nice, a proper bonus, if we could improve access as we develop, but we can go ahead regardless.

Also, the planning permission granted last year was not on the proviso that the station had to be redeveloped, though Villa has been clearly pushing for this.

It is up to the owners, Villa, and the relevant local authorities not to f**k this up and to avoid the second biggest city in the country without any host euro 28 games. 

Edit- that is what has already been said, sorry.

Edited September 13, 2023 by The Fun Factory

[MrBlack]

Yes, North stand is not dependent on the station. But what about going further beyond that? I didn't think the next phase was approved and might be dependent on Witton.  It would be nice to future proof ourselves in any case.

Between the warehouse,  the terrace view, and whatever else they plan in other stands by way of post match entertainment, it could mean it's less of a factor anyway in the future. Maybe we can demonstrate a reduced peak train demand after matches that means we don't need it at all?

[cyrusr]

Is there any update about the Holte Suite yet? I know it's not been open for home games so far but cannot see anything about the Palace game. Heard on the grapevine that it is going to hospitality which would be disappointing. 

[OutByEaster?]

1 hour ago, cyrusr said:

Is there any update about the Holte Suite yet? I know it's not been open for home games so far but cannot see anything about the Palace game. Heard on the grapevine that it is going to hospitality which would be disappointing. 

There was rumour a couple of weeks back on twitter that it might be open for the Brighton game, but just a whisper and I've seen nothing since.

What it opens as is anyone's guess - I'd love to think the club will have learned some lessons from the Terrace View.

 

[cyrusr]

18 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

There was rumour a couple of weeks back on twitter that it might be open for the Brighton game, but just a whisper and I've seen nothing since.

What it opens as is anyone's guess - I'd love to think the club will have learned some lessons from the Terrace View.

 

Thanks and hope so too. Would be good to get some proper communication from the club but if they are reviewing the position that maybe the reason for radio silence. 

[brommy]

4 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Between the warehouse,  the terrace view, and whatever else they plan in other stands by way of post match entertainment, it could mean it's less of a factor anyway in the future. Maybe we can demonstrate a reduced peak train demand after matches that means we don't need it at all?

The logistics at Witton station during sell outs at Villa Park are already seen as undesirable or even unacceptable. Increasing capacity by 7401 will only make matters worse and won't be mitigated much by a couple of thousand fans choosing to use the hospitality for an hour after the match.

The station improvement isn't essential to the expansion but it won't be a good look for Birmingham and it's pretence towards environmental impact and care of it's residents if the main public transport option fails to cope, leading to gridlock during a flagship event such as Euro 28.

[tomsky_11]

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

There was rumour a couple of weeks back on twitter that it might be open for the Brighton game, but just a whisper and I've seen nothing since.

What it opens as is anyone's guess - I'd love to think the club will have learned some lessons from the Terrace View.

 

Another question for Saturday's meeting, perhaps?

[MrBlack]

4 hours ago, brommy said:

The logistics at Witton station during sell outs at Villa Park are already seen as undesirable or even unacceptable. Increasing capacity by 7401 will only make matters worse and won't be mitigated much by a couple of thousand fans choosing to use the hospitality for an hour after the match.

The station improvement isn't essential to the expansion but it won't be a good look for Birmingham and it's pretence towards environmental impact and care of it's residents if the main public transport option fails to cope, leading to gridlock during a flagship event such as Euro 28.

Aston has the same issue and whilst the railway capacity is there, the staff and trains aren't. So they could easily fix that before a multi million pound reinvention of Witton. 

Hopefully hosting the euros  and the need for a second City stadium means both see the improvements that are already needed on a match day!

My point is more that the respective authorities will find any reason to avoid spending money on them, and the leadership at villa will do everything to mitigate that risk so that we still get selected as a host stadium and still get the necessary permission to extend our capacity in the future. I'm sure our owners are still very much on the ball with this either way

[Kingman]

Anyone know what's happening with the Holte suite? 

Plenty rumours around yesterday that its being converted to permanent hospitality so season ticket holders will no longer have access once its renovated. 

Is this true?