Are we moving to new stadium at odsal (now with Poll)

It's pretty much the same area as Valley Parade?

 

This sums up the whole of inner city bradford

 

Fair comment, I'm pointing out why it will never happen. The siting of Rotherhams ground is fairly close to the town centre, similar to say where the Forster Square development is. With Valley Parade being worth little in terms of land value, any development would require most of the cost to be funded from outside sources. For anything like this to work you have to have the appetite for it to succeed and a costing plan to go with it. In an ideal world the Bulls would be in Super League and would share new facilities, cutting down on the cost of running two stadiums.

 

Our owner is worth 150m though.

Stuggling to see the benefit of him owning the club if I am honest.

The likes of Luton are building new stadiums.

We still train at a school ground. If no to a new stadium then at least look at a training ground.

 

Exactly, I think the same. We will be in VP unless some share can be arranged but neither club can afford it or seem to have long term plans. Outside funding would be the key, think in an ideal world we have the Huddersfield payment setup at the time of a 40:40:20 split between Kirklees council, Town & Giants. Not sure if that's changed since. But I cant see Bradford council footing that much towards, or City or Bulls having enough in them to afford a share either.

 

Something like Headingley would be nice. Went to see England v Jamaica Rugby League their the changes are excellent. Good views from the stands with a good concourse selling traditional match day grub and ale also street food.
Been many times to Headingley for the Cricket or just a walk round, bus or train from the centre no problem . Unfortunately we dont have this in Bradford or a council that would back it.
Maybe as been mentioned the old Morrison Supermarket and Oustler Market would be the best we could do for developing but it needs Council and local backing.

 

You are talking here about a very specific area of child protection - ie protection from paedophile grooming gangs. That has undoubtedly been a serious failure of the system for decades. When I was a rookie social worker in the 1980s I had a 13 year old girl on my caseload who was being pimped by these gangs and it was clear that there wasn't the political will or buy in from the police to stop it. I've no doubt it's still happening locally and now the problem is not the previous blind eye turning but lack of resources due to relentless cuts in police and social care funding. There is now the will but not the way.

But in my previous post I wasn't referring to the grooming gangs. They are a real but very small part of the child protection issues. The vast majority of sexual and physical abuse is perpetrated by family members. Add to that the neglect issues caused by poverty, ignorance, parental drug addiction etc and you have a much bigger picture that dwarfs the grooming gangs problem.
Britain used to have some of the best child protection services in the world and Bradford's was no exception. Bradford used to attract social workers from neighbouring authorities because it's pay, employment conditions and working practices were so good.
Unfortunately, two exceptional and atypical cases - Victoria Climbie and Baby P - created a national moral panic which lowered the threshold of intervention and has made the whole system ridiculously over risk averse. So we are now bringing many more kids into care than we used to. The system can't cope and it's not good for many of those kids. Add in the savage funding cuts - disproportionately high in poor northern authorities like Bradford - and you have a perfect storm. Child Protection - always a tough gig - has now become so stressful that it's very difficult to recruit and retain staff. Most CP teams in Bradford are understaffed and full of inexperienced young rookies fresh out of college. Most of them leave for other types of social work, or to other local authorities who pay better, the first chance they get.
In these appalling circumstances it would be scandalous for Bradford Council to commit huge capital resources for niche sporting interests, unless it could get immediate and significant return on its investment to fund other public services, which clearly wouldn't be the case.

 

I guess it would need all parties involved to want to buy in to the concept first and foremost. I remember when Huddersfield moved to what was called Kirklees stadium, we visited it a few times as part of our construction course. They sold Leeds road off to developers for what was the site of the new B & Q. If i recall it began as a three sided stadium and cost 16 million and was built by MacAlpine. i think they got 4 million for their old ground. By coincidence i was parked nearby yesterday for work, It still looks a modern innovative design, as it was at the time, not like some of the horrible box type grounds that were built afterwards. Walking distance from the city centre as well, has been used for other things like semi finals and concerts.
I personally would love to see something like it in Bradford, my worry is there is just no justification for it. The Bulls are all but finished in what is a declining spectator sport and City have a facility that for the foreseeable future and for some time beyond fulfils their needs. Long term it probably doesn't help either club but since when has Bradford ever had any long term future at anything?

 

I was being a little facetious Steve. I understand the difficulties faced by social services, having seen first hand over the last 18 months or so how twisted and vile society can be i'm not sure any amount of money could stop what happens but it would certainly help. My sympathy goes out to any social worker morally trying to make a difference, i would need serious counselling seeing what they see on a daily basis.

 

It might "look nice" but it's killed all atmosphere it ever had.
Plus Headingley has now moved to the corporate world, everything & anything is corporate these days.

 

Yeah possibly agree there Rhinos South Stand was pretty atmospheric. Being a Cougars fan though I would be supporting the away team or just a neutral.
I just can’t see City moving would be an improvement if the council improved the area and tidied it up.

 

That’s why Bradford needs someone with a bit of vision to overcome the scepticism of its population. The government is committed to investing in the north and Bradford is bidding for the Capital of culture award. A new stadium encompassing different sports with leisure and retail offerings would be a great asset to Bradford and would attract private sponsorship.

 

Modernize the ground through a complete refurbishment. Maybe add escalators and those electric ticket scanners/turnstiles. A retractable roof, heated pitch and a real tunnel for the players to walk out of. Improve the food and drink on offer and add more seating inside, with heating too. The toilets could be modernized too but you get the point.

The only thing we would need to do is replace the TL Dallas stand with a Mosque and the Saudis would be more than willing to fund it. We don't use the stand anyway.

 

It's not that bad

 

I agree. Been to the cricket a few times since the redevelopment and it really is a souless place compared to what it was. All steel and plastic seats and that new pavilion is an absolute monstrosity. Used to like Headingley rugby ground as it was one of the last of the old style sports grounds around here but that too has lost much of its atmosphere. Having said that I hate our ground as well. Ridiculously lobsided and very, very tired now after years of poor maintenance .

 

I actually don’t mind sharing a ground. It makes financial sense, for a teams at our level and with our level of support, to consider it.

...and (punctuation aside) I was not asking for immediate change. I was suggesting that the club needs to be considering if VP is the best location 5, 10, 15 years down the line. We need to be considering and reviewing options now.

Many believe that the emotional ties to VP trump all other considerations. Although I can understand that I am less inclined to this and believe that if a move is commercially beneficial it should be fully considered.

 

It's a shithole yes. Particularly that top area of town full of odd concrete buildings mostly closed down. So it needs improving and this could be it.

Think about the decent bits we have in town. Alhambra, City Square and Odeon when it's done is impressive. The new Broadway is impressive. The traditional town centre streets are fine if there was more shops. You've got that awful area at the top starting pretty much with Kirkgate Market right up to the Hamme Strasse (minus North Parade of course beardy types).

If all that area was demolished for a brilliant complex of stadium, training, 3g pitches, gym, retail outlets, hotels etc that could be decent too.

Yes it takes vision but the council have n some despite what people say. The cycle track is seriously impressive. I've been to lots of cities that have nothing near that. That's innovative. Bradford people are so downtrodden though that they're beaten before it begins. 'It'll never happen, it'll never happen' etc.

 

You are not building a stadium at the top of Westgate. Stop this madness now. Bloody teachers.

 

It'll never happen.