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Fir Park


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Just a thought, but with all the talk of stadia revamps and proposed new builds - where do we stand with regards to infrastructure improvements and associated costs in the current fan ownership model? Some previous discussions have centred on player sales to balance the books, how do we subsequently finance upgrades to our stadium . . . As I say just a thought.

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I remember the stadium issue was brought up at an AGM around 2010, the club had based plans on a model like St Mirren park for a cost of £10 million, but the board did mention any potential move was a long way off.

 

Lego is much more expensive than I remember.

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Any idea of the land value? I thought House Builders would have made enquiries after the success of the Cala/Bellway developments at the College.

 

With Brexit in full swing mind you, builders aren't going to be paying over the odds for land anytime soon.

Brexit has put a bit of a dampener on things but land values in decent areas are generally holding up pretty well and in really sought after areas are steaming on. For what it's worth, if we put fir park on the market as a redevelopment site I think interest would be strong from the big housebuilders.

 

I'm out the office the majority of this week but if you're interested I could do a quick bit of digging at some point soon and see what land values are like in the area.

 

Edit: should add, I'm a chartered surveyor, not just someone who likes researching Motherwell land values in their spare time.

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There would ofcourse be demolition and some remediation costs but with the amount of houses in the immediate vicinity, a fair amount of which has been developed in the last 5-10 years (Cala, persimmon etc), you'd hope there'd not be anything too nasty in the ground to scare off any developers if the club ever looked to sell up and move.

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There would ofcourse be demolition and some remediation costs but with the amount of houses in the immediate vicinity, a fair amount of which has been developed in the last 5-10 years (Cala, persimmon etc), you'd hope there'd not be anything too nasty in the ground to scare off any developers if the club ever looked to sell up and move.

You'd hope not but the pitch may sit above shallow mine workings. Still such things aren't insurmountable.

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As I understand it Fir Park was zoned as Parks/Recreational either by Motherwell District Council or NLC back in the 90's. There was also a planning law passed that the existing designations were not allowed to change their use and it was perhaps set in stone. Therefore Fir Park can't change from that status and it would take the council to reverse their earlier decision, potentially opening the door to new or retrospective claims.

 

That would then scupper the supermarket/fancy house market quite a lot of Well fans seem to think is on the horizon.

 

Also, if we were to move for whatever reason, it's safe to say that the new stadium would borrow a lot from that of Aalesund in Norway. Club officials who visited were very impressed with the setup there.

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You would be naive to think that change of status couldn't or wouldn't happen...

Yes. From memory its zoned for green space / recreational uses in the Local Plan. Normally speaking any planning application that contradicts that would be turned down. However, this could be overturned by the Council's Planning Committee when a planning application was submitted if there were good reasons for doing so.

* Land for housing is needed

* What other recreational purpose could Fir Park serve?

* Approval would unlock further development in Ravenscraig

* Approval would help a prominent local organisation and employer

* Last but not least, rejection would not go down well with many local voters.

 

I'll be very surprised if discussions haven't already taken place with the Planners, albeit years ago. At the very worst a representation for rezoning could be made to the Council when the Local Development Plan was being reviewed.

 

Edit: by coincidence, a new Proposed Plan (a draft) will be out for consultation at the end of this month. The perfect time to submit representations on many planning issues!!

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Bearing in mind we had an architect on the board for many years, I'd like to think we've carried out the nominal task of obtaining a coal authority report to check if there is likely to be anything needing addressed. Yes, more in-depth studies can be carried out but that's a good start.

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I think, like most, I'm not averse to it in theory, but only if it's done correctly.

Am I alone in thinking that the difference between St Mirren's ground and Livi's is that the corners are filled in?

 

As highly raked a stand as possible running the length of the pitch, a terrace at one end, a reasonably sized away stand, and a double tier main stand, similar to Aalesunds (as mentioned):

Color_Line_stadion.jpg

Probably entirely pie in the sky stuff, but if you're going to do it, do it right.

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From memory about 20 years ago, I can recall seeing a plan for a new road running from the roundabout at the top of Arbles road right through Ravenscraig past Diezel park and Glen Nobel in Cleland linking onto the duel carriage way at Newmains. At the time I'm sure it was mentioned that ground next to the road and the new Motherwell college was earmarked for a new stadium.

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