BM latest pics..?

[bigrichiet]

http://darlingtonfootballclub.co.uk/nic ... l-meadows/

what's the building being built?

[bigrichiet]

ah, changing rooms eh..?

[bigrichiet]

doesn't look like much room behind the seated stand, so if you wanted to walk around the ground you'd have to walk in front of the people sitting. no biggie, just saying.

[bga]

Good pics. should prevent the Club having to issue any "Banning orders" on fans before the Ground even opens!

[HarrytheQuaker]

doesn't look like much room behind the seated stand, so if you wanted to walk around the ground you'd have to walk in front of the people sitting. no biggie, just saying.

I thought the same as soon as I saw the pic..

[lo36789]

I often think space behind a stand is valuable...because if people are walking around the ground during the match they will head to the place with a stand in the way.

[Darlo Since 68]

Nice to see that the perimeter fencing is going in also.

[JE93]

We're you also one of the ones who used to go for a cheeky fag behind the bike sheds when you were at school?

[Neil_Heaneys_Pace]

I do think this is going to be a nice little ground when its done. for all the problems it has i think we are going to have a decent match day experience here.

[Darlo_Pete]

When do the Council make the decision on our new grounds capacity?

[darlo reborn]

when it`s finished more than likely

[Darlo1235]

Where is the main entrance going to be?

[divas]

At the front

[onewayup]

At the front when building work is completed.

[dickdarlington]

Was at BM this evening and as well as the car park progressing behind the trees, the seats have arrived and are in place. Shame it was pitch black, so couldn't take any pictures.

[BUSHEAD]

https://www.facebook.com/darlingtonfc/p ... =3&theater

Latest pics

I'm assuming that the first row of seats doesn't count as the view will be somewhat obstructed .

[BUSHEAD]

Also looking at the seats, they look very similar to the seats / structure behind the goal at HP.

[mikkyx]

I'm assuming that the first row of seats doesn't count as the view will be somewhat obstructed .

We thought that looking at the pictures here - if you're sat down you won't be able to see over the fence!

[Magical Quakers]

Just checked and there are 290 seats in that block. That front row does look low though....

[Quakerz]

The good thing is it does look like there is a bit of room to remove those seats and replace with another block with say 10 rows rather than 6?

Obviously the next part of the development would be to increase the length of the stand which would give us around 580 seats, but what if it cannot be extended further if we ever need 1000 seats? Hopefully we could use the existing stand shell and replace the banks of seats.

That's obviously looking well into the future though.

[lo36789]

The good thing is it does look like there is a bit of room to remove those seats and replace with another block with say 10 rows rather than 6?

Could you do that? Wouldn't that need it to be considerably steeper?

There feels like room to add another 2 shells of similar size to this at the end opposite the tin shed. Would that encroach past the edge of the 6 yard box? If not then it wouldn't impede on the water pipe.

That could be another 450/500 onto the capacity in that case. It would obviously cost but actually given this was all put up for a £100k investment from the fans then potentially a realistic target.

If the stand pictured was extended as per Quakerz suggestion and met the seating requirements then a terrace at the would add even more to capacity.

There is definitely room here and there but it will be a case of squeezing things in where we can fit them.

Meeting the actual capacity requirement is the key aspect, the bit about "having potential to expand to..." is almost irrelevant. Given the room behind the Tin Shed we could just get plans drawn up to triple the size of that. We'd never be able to pay for it but can cross that bridge if needed.

[Quakerz]

Well the stand that is already there is already planned to be extended to over 500 seats which would meet the Cat A requirement for seats. We'd also need to raise the capacity up to 4,000 - probably by terracing the other end?

But I'm thinking beyond that - if we need 1,000 seats and 5,000 capacity, i'm just wondering what are the next steps we could take?

[lo36789]

I don't know if you could do some adjustments to the seating in the club house to extend the roof, rip out the seating that is there and add in a block of seats like this?

[Vodka_Vic]

The good thing is it does look like there is a bit of room to remove those seats and replace with another block with say 10 rows rather than 6?

Could you do that? Wouldn't that need it to be considerably steeper?

There feels like room to add another 2 shells of similar size to this at the end opposite the tin shed. Would that encroach past the edge of the 6 yard box? If not then it wouldn't impede on the water pipe.

That could be another 450/500 onto the capacity in that case. It would obviously cost but actually given this was all put up for a £100k investment from the fans then potentially a realistic target.

If the stand pictured was extended as per Quakerz suggestion and met the seating requirements then a terrace at the would add even more to capacity.

There is definitely room here and there but it will be a case of squeezing things in where we can fit them.

Meeting the actual capacity requirement is the key aspect, the bit about "having potential to expand to..." is almost irrelevant. Given the room behind the Tin Shed we could just get plans drawn up to triple the size of that. We'd never be able to pay for it but can cross that bridge if needed.

Unfortunately lo, when showing the potential to increase you have to show the FA a detailed business plan as to how this could be achieved, so we would have to show how we could pay for it.l

[lo36789]

Unfortunately lo, when showing the potential to increase you have to show the FA a detailed business plan as to how this could be achieved, so we would have to show how we could pay for it.

Since when? It just says the ground must have the potential to achieve. There is absolutely nothing in the ground grading document that says you must have a business plan in place to develop the ground. It won't take that long to jot down "obtain finance via loans, fundraising and commercial revenue streams and grants". There is no expectation on a club to have a plan for something that might not happen for 25 years - because whatever the 'plan' was will be entirely irrelevant.

Do you think every year each club with a sub 5,000 capacity in the conference is asked to provide a copy of their business plan to pay for an increase to 5,000. Not a chance.

[Magical Quakers]

Another pic of the ground, this time from above:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwR00NmXgAIk29N.jpg

Taken from Tori Gill on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Tweeter_Tori/status ... 5920738304

[Magical Quakers]

Also, can anyone describe where the pipe runs through on this picture?

[bga]

Another pic of the ground, this time from above:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwR00NmXgAIk29N.jpg

Taken from Tori Gill on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Tweeter_Tori/status ... 5920738304

Does Tori own a helicopter because that could help dry out the pitch when the inevitable winter rain comes!?

[Vodka_Vic]

Unfortunately lo, when showing the potential to increase you have to show the FA a detailed business plan as to how this could be achieved, so we would have to show how we could pay for it.

Since when? It just says the ground must have the potential to achieve. There is absolutely nothing in the ground grading document that says you must have a business plan in place to develop the ground. It won't take that long to jot down "obtain finance via loans, fundraising and commercial revenue streams and grants". There is no expectation on a club to have a plan for something that might not happen for 25 years - because whatever the 'plan' was will be entirely irrelevant.

Do you think every year each club with a sub 5,000 capacity in the conference is asked to provide a copy of their business plan to pay for an increase to 5,000. Not a chance.

I don't know how to copy a post from another thread, but if you look on page 2 near the bottom of the 'Blackwell Meadows Capacity' thread, I have put a post with a quote from the FA ground grading website where it states this. Go back and have a look at it.

This is where I got it from
http://www.thefa.com/Leagues/NationalLe ... uly08.ashx

[Magical Quakers]

1.3 Capacity

The stadium must have a minimum capacity of 4,000 spectators, including the seated spectators, as certified by the local authority or calculated by a competent person, in accordance with the “Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds”, (Green Guide) current edition at the time of inspection, with the potential to achieve a capacity of 5,000 in the future. The Football Association and the Football Conference reserve the right to appoint a suitably qualified person to review and, if found necessary, amend the capacity figure.

Final planning permission together with a business strategy plan with realistic timescales must be available to achieve the 5,000 capacity.

It depends on what level of detail is acceptable to satisfy the FA that there is a 'business strategy plan'. I assume the board know what this is (from talking to other clubs). It can't be that hard.

It is more the need to have a 'final planning permission' but again how complete does that need to be. How much does that cost to get drawings done and plans submitted? You would assume we went through the worst of that this time around and there are probably grants available that may cover it.

Affording to actually do it is where I think it will take lots more effort and fundraising, not the planning.