1. Yup too many gangster movies mind you most councils are run like...

2. Not picking on Labour in particular but I don't understand when parties make statements about house building. They say we will build X number.... but it's a promise they can't keep.

Local councils and people will often fight these plans and win. The government isn't actually the one doing the building it's private companies who will only do it if they see a profit.

In short there are too many others parties involved which is why most government house building pledges fail.

Edited by Badger11 (14 Oct 2023 8.21pm)

One more point

Agree, this ship sailed many moons ago. It may be our true home, but as we haven't been based there for over 100 years, best to move on.

Incidentally, i used to live a mile or so from the Park so am well aware of the transport limitations. Once i went to a basketball game there , attended by less than 500 people. However, the traffic queues to get in were horrendous. Can you image if we upped it by 50 times.

There used to be big athletic meetings at the stadium and that was OK. I went to a few back in the 80s and I don't remember any serious traffic issues.

The bottom line is that the Nimbys will delay any project in the park for years and the cost of upgrading the local infrastructure will be enormous.

We would be better off buying up the houses behind the Arthur Waite and putting a huge stand there.
Even without purchasing houses, that stand could have a new cantilever roof that wasn't much higher than the current one and with a footprint that fitted the available space. The Whitehorse could have a suspended level over Sainsbury's.

The question is, how bigger capacity does the club need? Apart from one game, it has never had a crowd bigger than 45k as far as I can recall. 40k would probably do.

Parking has always been my biggest complaint when attending a game. Where the ground is actually located is not that important. A nice big car park for match days would be very welcome however.

It seems inevitable to me that the whole ground will be rebuilt. It is just a matter of time, money and the limitations of the local area.
I'm nearly 60, so I'd like it sooner rather than later, but ultimately, winning something would be more of a priority from a personal point of view.
The club has to grow and keep in step with other Premier League clubs. That is unavoidable. When I see so much negativity surrounding the new stand, I do wonder what is wrong with some fans.
We won't be moving elsewhere, as much as I and others might like that, and the new stand has to be seen as the next stage in our development as a club. Steve Parish will want to get this done on his watch along with our excellent academy and training facility and will probably pass the reigns over to someone else for further projects such as a Whitehorse enlargement.

If Parish only achieves our stay in this league, the stand and the academy, then he will have done more than any other chairman has. Noades did OK, Bloye was a disaster and undid all the good work done by Arthur Waite in a very short time. Jordan didn't have enough money for his ambitions, and we shouldn't even mention Goldberg.

It was dilapidated 20-30 years ago - let alone now. I get the feeling this all came up under Jordan or Goldberg.

Whenever this thread comes up I seem to laugh. Perhaps a bit unfair of me, I'm sure we'll do it eventually.

Red and Blue Army!

I used to live near CP Park and remember athletics being on a lot of the time with full attendance-parking was a bit of a strain when these events were held but manageable then, but probably not today. Also remember motor racing there which was very noisy for nearby residents. My major memory is hearing a loud explosion and running over to the park with my friend to witness what we later learnt was the “You’re only meant to blow the bloody doors off!” scene from the original Italian Job. Good memories and sad to hear of the demise of the old place…

hats off to palace, they were always gonna be louder, and hate to say it but they were impressive ALL bouncing and singing.