Stadium fan ownership

[Chrisjb66]

Dave,
CO has ZERO prospect of making a profit if ever he got his hands on Plainmoor.
Furthermore, I agree with the proposition that the council would never sell the land.

[Dave]

Totally agree, don't believe Torbay Council would sell the land either.

Don't think we can let naivety get the better of us however, CO is a property developer.

[Taelee73]

For about the 100th time, the rumour is that Spires secondary school will get the use of the ground. They then give up their more lucrative sea view sports pitches for housing.
Not saying it's worth millions, but much more than Plainmoor.

[The deluder]

It does make you wonder why a secondary school would won’t a dilapidated non league ground.

[Taelee73]

Dilapidated?

The whole ground has been redeveloped in the last 30 odd years. Bristows Bench is 10 years old and cost what, £2 million? Deluded, do you even know what facilities are beneath that stand, probably not. Spires already use some of those facilities.

As I said, just a rumour. But more feasible than building over Plainmoor.

[Dave]

This is the problem though, because of a total lack of real time communication from the ownership and local board as to their plans for the future of TUFC, then you will get internet forums and social media full of 'rumour' and 'speculation' I've add a lot of content on this thread, that are nothing but suggestions of what could happen, not will happen, in support of fan ownership of Plainmoor, which I doubt sadly will ever happen.

For a start I, we all know what the original plan was regards the ground, Spires etc, but that original plan is already dead, the site proposed by Rivera stadium Ltd for the new ground at the Willows is no longer available, cornered recently George Edwards admitted they were still trying to identify a site for a new ground.

So where in Torquay, Torbay even Teignbridge is a suitable site to build a ground capable of sustaining, hosting EFL/NLP football ? That isn't already prone to storms or flooding. If there was such a site, sure they'd have already found it, so does this identify a problem.

From presumption comes naivety, we presume a developer would want to build houses, we presume a developer would want o build flats, we presume CO couldn't make a profit on building on Plainmoor, easy saying it, demonstrate how he couldn't, we presume building on Plainmoor wouldn't be as feasible as other sites, demonstrate how this the case.

One massive growth market in commercial property right now is, multi occupancy office space, with the digital age we live in, many companies to keep their costs down by working on a hybrid basis, part from home part from office, companies tend to rent desk space as and when they need it, so who's to say a developer wouldn't want to build an office suite, again this a suggestion of what could happen.

And please don't come back with oh but planning permission, can point towards two apartment blocks built in Newton Abbot who's unchanged plans went through after several rejections, don't come back with covenants, both removable and or transferable, yes I know and agree Torbay council has no wish to sell Plainmoor, for how long ?

As fanbase we need to be on our guard , until such time as our clubs reveals firm plans otherwise.

[happytorq]

It does make you wonder why a secondary school would won’t a dilapidated non league ground.

it's not "dilapidated". It's not Wembley Stadium, but it's a perfectly serviceable lower league ground. It would do fine in League 2. there are gaps in non-matchday revenue of course, but that's the case at most League 2 clubs. Any new ground would need to plug those gaps to help profit even on the 330+ days of the year that nothing is happening football-wise, but I don't think that becomes necessary until the club is in a higher division. If anything, the club might have better luck with increasing revenue by building a decent training area that it owns and can then rent out to the community *before* any grand attempt at "New Plainmoor"

[culmstockgull]

Regardless of the whatever happens to plainmoor discussion one thing that has been forgotten, when Bristows was built, Devon CC through their education department put in many hundreds of thousand of pounds for use of the ground floor as a tech unit at the school and use of the gym when the team were not using it, will it ever get paid back, was it a gift.unless we have get a mole on DCC who could access the paperwork we will never know.

[Cheddargull]

If anything, the club might have better luck with increasing revenue by building a decent training area that it owns and can then rent out to the community *before* any grand attempt at "New Plainmoor"

I actually think this is a more feasible alternative to a new stadium. It would presumably be lower cost and less likely to come up against nimby opposition from people objecting to living next to a football stadium. Also building it 'out of town' shouldn't present any problem if it has adequate car parking. One thing I like about Plainmoor is the nearby pubs which you wouldn't get if a new stadium was situated on the outskirts of Torbay/Teignbridge.

[Cheddargull]

Dilapidated?

The whole ground has been redeveloped in the last 30 odd years. Bristows Bench is 10 years old and cost what, £2 million? Deluded, do you even know what facilities are beneath that stand, probably not. Spires already use some of those facilities.

As I said, just a rumour. But more feasible than building over Plainmoor.

It may not be dilapidated now but if was given to the Spires Academy it would soon become that. I can't see Torbay Council or the school forking out to demolish the stands just so the kids don't have to hike up to Quinta to play rounders.

[Admiral]

The only thing that is certain is that CO will never build a new ground

[TorquayUntied]

Totally agree, don't believe Torbay Council would sell the land either.

Don't think we can let naivety get the better of us however, CO is a property developer.

Owners of Manchester City are Oil Barons

They brought the club so they dig for oil.

Ahhh of course.

I get it now and their plan long term now.

Plainmoor is valueless and he doesn't even own it.

Get over it by now.

[Taelee73]

Culmstock, yes that's what I meant, Spires use the facilities and already have a stake in the ground. This has led to friction between the two at times.

Chedder, knock the Stands down? Why need to, I wouldn't have thought an unused Pop and Away end would require extensive annual maintanace. I'd imagine somewhere down the line they'd be incorporated into new facilties for the school.

Torquay Boys Grammar did a similar thing, Torbay council used to store their grounds maintenance equipment in a large depot on site, when they moved on, that building remained and has since been converted into classrooms.

Spires playing fields are far more lucrative than Plainmoor, no demolition required, sea views etc. Plus Spires would then have a self contained site, which seen as a priority in today's world. Knowing who's on site, that no undesirables are loitering, better than a trek to the fields huh.

Anyhow, who knows. It's never been said what's going to happen, just seems more likely to me, I also believe that the idea has been discussed.

[Stoneybroke]

Can someone help please.
Where exactly is Spires playing fields with sea views ?
When I went to school there ....then known as Homelands, we had to trek up to Windmill Hill for our games lessons!
Is that the same place?

[Gull in black]

Back to school days … before Westlands when Westhill and Homelands were separate, Westhill had Windmill Hill and Homelands Quinta. Quinta is the prime housing site