St James' Park

[JT24]

I also do not like the ol’ Tory turned Reform supporter. Prick. 

[TheBrownBottle]

10 minutes ago, El Prontonise said:

 

Close.

 

Actually I've had 2 sandwiches today on the way down to London/Brighton which were focaccia bread with smashed avocado, tomatoes, red onion and scrambled egg.

I’m just glad you’re off to your spiritual home, with your yoghurt-knitting loony left ways.  Being able to pronounce focaccia correctly would get your head kicked in if you asked for that in The Star

[Hank Marvin]

1 hour ago, enthusiast said:

 

bought and paid for by a awful thatcherite cunt cos he gave you the metrocentre and david ginola

 

thoroughly sportswashed

 

Oh shit! Sorry to tell you mate...Craig Hope drop in the Mail...There's good news and bad news (for you)

 

 

90,000 though eh?!

 

[Fenham Mag]

Has this been posted yet? From Hopes opinion piece in DM

[Wandy]

15 minutes ago, Fenham Mag said:

Has this been posted yet? From Hopes opinion piece in DM

 

If that's where they want to put it then it would be a real squeeze to get a 65k stadium in that spot. And it would leave no room for expansion as it would be hemmed in, just like SJP currently is. Unless they are somehow going to remodel the entire park by changing the lake shape, size & location.

[Fatwax]

If they built a 65,000 seater stadium and the pumped a load of money into Leazes Park to make it a large usable and clean parkland area whilst also giving room and a clear roadmap for expansion… I’d be more than happy with that.

[cubaricho]

2 hours ago, Wandy said:

 

If that's where they want to put it then it would be a real squeeze to get a 65k stadium in that spot. And it would leave no room for expansion as it would be hemmed in, just like SJP currently is. Unless they are somehow going to remodel the entire park by changing the lake shape, size & location.

I’d imagine y’all’s park will look incredibly different in shape and scale after the new stadium goes in.  

 

 

Edited March 15 by cubaricho

[TomYam]

5 hours ago, Hank Marvin said:

 

 

What I was trying to get at is that I think there's a difference between some of the opinions people have on here, to what most people hear out in town rubbing shoulders with normal people.

 

It's weird because I don't think I'm trying to defend the indefensible - I didn't realize that there was such disdain for him on here (to be fair I'm not on that much) - But I was always of the mind that fans and people of the area respected him for what he did at the club and what he did regenerate the area with the Metro Centre and the like.

 

 

 

 

 

The trade off for the Metro Centre and regenerating that immediate area was the devastation caused to Gateshead town centre and some negative impact on Newcastle city centre (eg. the Handyside Arcade would almost certainly not have been replaced by Eldon Garden - built to compete with the shiny monster mall a few miles away). Each to their own but, for me, the negatives far outweigh the positives - but then I've always disliked out-of-town shopping malls. 

 

Not sure what else Hall has done to regenerate the area. Certainly his ownership/guardianship of Woolsington Hall has been a disgrace. 

 

His impact on sport in the area has been a mixed bag. Depending on your opinion, his appointment of KK was a stroke of genius or a last desperate roll of the dice having brought the club to its knees. Imo, both are true. Certainly, Hall and KK instigated the greatest years in Newcastle's history since the mid '50s. 

 

You won't find much fanfare for Hall amongst ice hockey fans in the area.

 

[et tu brute]

Many new jobs introduced and a revised, clean and attractive green area in (and bigger if that is right) Leazes Park, will surely cater for all sides and any objections. It's been left to basically rot for years and is currently not an attractive area of green belt. I am more than certain that the club would have already discussed their plans with many interested parties. 

[Choppy Chop Chop]

Quote

not an attractive area of green belt. 

I know a couple of Canada Geese that would disagree with you 

[et tu brute]

5 minutes ago, Choppy Chop Chop said:

I know a couple of Canada Geese that would disagree with you 

I'm sure they will be ecstatic on their new fresh and clean green belt

[Izakaya]

Newcastle city centre has a pretty miserable lack of greenery. 

 

From what I remember. Last time I was home we walked from that multi level carpark near the Metro Arena service road, past Central, up Granger St to High Bridge and saw MAYBE three trees in total. 

 

A decent size park in the city centre is desperately needed imo. 

[El Prontonise]

Just now, Izakaya said:

Newcastle city centre has a pretty miserable lack of greenery. 

 

From what I remember. Last time I was home we walked from that multi level carpark near the Metro Arena service road, past Central, up Granger St to High Bridge and saw MAYBE three trees in total. 

 

A decent size park in the city centre is desperately needed imo. 

 

Yeah, it's terrible for that.

[JT24]

Which is why I think the club will have a very hard time getting anything approved on Leazes Park. 
 

Would need a very good, and convincing, plan that they would invest in green space elsewhere. 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, JT24 said:

Which is why I think the club will have a very hard time getting anything approved on Leazes Park. 
 

Would need a very good, and convincing, plan that they would invest in green space elsewhere. 

They should be offering up the current SJP and where the stack is to new parkland. 

[El Prontonise]

2 minutes ago, JT24 said:

Which is why I think the club will have a very hard time getting anything approved on Leazes Park. 
 

Would need a very good, and convincing, plan that they would invest in green space elsewhere. 

 

I think they'll need to offer SJP and other land back to get leazes park as @TheBrownBottle says.

 

I'm in favour of building at leazes park but it has to be strict criteria etc.

[JT24]

Just now, El Prontonise said:

 

I think they'll need to offer SJP and other land back to get leazes park as @TheBrownBottle says.

 

I'm in favour of building at leazes park but it has to be strict criteria etc.

I’m the same.
 

Wonder if they could also offer the land the training ground is on if they decide to move to Gosforth Park/Woolsington. 

[Izakaya]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

They should be offering up the current SJP and where the stack is to new parkland. 

At the bare minimum. 

if I was the council I'd be pushing for a full renovation of Leazes Park, 10,000 new city trees and maybe a full new Urban Park in the city centre.  

[JT24]

1 minute ago, Izakaya said:

At the bare minimum. 

if I was the council I'd be pushing for a full renovation of Leazes Park, 10,000 new city trees and maybe a full new Urban Park in the city centre.  

Realistically, where is the land for a new park in the city centre?

[El Prontonise]

4 minutes ago, JT24 said:

Realistically, where is the land for a new park in the city centre?

 

There's not land available, but these new developments should include plazas at least with green spaces as a minimum.

[JT24]

Aye definitely. 
 

10k new trees on the town moor though. All for that. 

[ponsaelius]

33 minutes ago, Izakaya said:

Newcastle city centre has a pretty miserable lack of greenery. 

 

From what I remember. Last time I was home we walked from that multi level carpark near the Metro Arena service road, past Central, up Granger St to High Bridge and saw MAYBE three trees in total. 

 

A decent size park in the city centre is desperately needed imo. 

 

You're not wrong, probably only Old Eldon Square as a genuine city centre green space of any function for people to occupy. And recent public realm projects have had a distinct lack of tree planting because the local highways authority doesn't really want to take on their long term maintenance. There's much uglier towns and cities than Newcastle architecturally in the country that are however much greener, or have at least made recent interventions in the right direction.

 

Exhibition Park and Leazes Park are great assets, but they're peripheral and underutilised if you're talking strictly about the urban core. One of the things that could really sell a new stadium development on Castle Leazes/LP was if there was a significant extension of the park where the current ground is. 

 

For what it's worth if they did pursue the stadium on the park in the suggested location, then mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements are going to obligate an enormous amount of new planting anyway to offset it because that part of the park has lots of mature trees (will need to replace them 10 fold with young trees). BNG is an absolute nightmare for viability of a lot of sites as it's a blunt instrument that looks only at ecological merit in quantifiable terms - but shouldn't be much of an issue for our owners financially. It's just where they end up that's the question. Hopefully can be delivered entirely in the city rather than in a habitat bank somewhere. 

 

 

Edited March 15 by ponsaelius

[Tsunami]

The Council own both Leazes Park and the land the current ground is on. Get PIF to build a new ground on what is basically Grade 2 shit hole of a park, championed by a minority of busy bodies and regenerate the land SJP currently sits on and you’d have a marvellous place. 
 

A new green space, a spectacular ground, jobs and opportunity. It’s a complete no brainer. 

[JT24]

17 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

The Council own both Leazes Park and the land the current ground is on. Get PIF to build a new ground on what is basically Grade 2 shit hole of a park, championed by a minority of busy bodies and regenerate the land SJP currently sits on and you’d have a marvellous place. 
 

A new green space, a spectacular ground, jobs and opportunity. It’s a complete no brainer. 

Could be huge potential for opening up Leazes Terrace as well, get it fronting onto a brand new park. Everybody wins. 

[ponsaelius]

LP isn't a 'shithole', it's the oldest park in the city and a great piece of Victorian recreation + placemaking, that has a lot of heritage value. Hence why it is Grade II listed. It also has thousands of mature trees in a city we're acknowledging lacks in greenery. It's been underfunded and mismanaged though, like so much in this country that is only for public benefit.

 

I'd have significant doubts that any new build park extension will be able to replicate the same value tbh, because so many new urban green spaces are a bit shit. Plus it would be a long time before it grew in and matured. But I'd remain hopeful it could be achieved, and whatever the outcome it could definitely improve the setting of Leazes Terrace and become a very well used thoroughfare. 

 

I still think given everything it'll be far easier to build primarily on Castle Leazes, particularly in terms of footprint needed for the stadium itself (looking mainly at the space between the lake and Barrack Road), and that will end up being the actual location as in the 90s plan. But I'm sure we'll see soon enough.