Kevin Ward is in talks with Newport City Council. The reason being that having concluded that the present situation regarding rent is unsustainable the only option available is for Newport County to reach an agreement with the Dragons and the City Council which will allow County to be a stakeholder in Rodney Parade. Unless this is done it is my belief that the game is up.

Over the past 30 years any number of people have been directors of Newport County. Most did their best in very difficult circumstances. However in my view for the first time in those 30 years County have a director who understands that without sorting out the stadium problem Newport County can never hope to be as successful as we should be. In short Kevin has the good sense to see what is needed, the connections to know who to approach and the balls to try.

I don't know if he will succeed, I am not even sure that he can succeed. After all he will not only have to raise a stake, he will need also to persuade Newport City Council that the money they will need to spend to create a fit for purpose stadium in Newport city centre is taxpayers money well spent. And if he can achieve that he will then need to persuade Dragons it is in their best interest to allow County in.

But whether he succeeds or not he is right and I hope he gets the support he needs.

Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

WRU will decline any approach

Spytty Stadium awaits the return of a former tenant, this time as an owner/part owner.

County get a permanent home.
Council disposes of a liability asset.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:Kevin Ward is in talks with Newport City Council. The reason being that having concluded that the present situation regarding rent is unsustainable the only option available is for Newport County to reach an agreement with the Dragons and the City Council which will allow County to be a stakeholder in Rodney Parade. Unless this is done it is my belief that the game is up.

Over the past 30 years any number of people have been directors of Newport County. Most did their best in very difficult circumstances. However in my view for the first time in those 30 years County have a director who understands that without sorting out the stadium problem Newport County can never hope to be as successful as we should be. In short Kevin has the good sense to see what is needed, the connections to know who to approach and the balls to try.

I don't know if he will succeed, I am not even sure that he can succeed. After all he will not only have to raise a stake, he will need also to persuade Newport City Council that the money they will need to spend to create a fit for purpose stadium in Newport city centre is taxpayers money well spent. And if he can achieve that he will then need to persuade Dragons it is in their best interest to allow County in.

But whether he succeeds or not he is right and I hope he gets the support he needs.

To be fair, it’s the club in talks with the council, not me. That’s been the case for some time, long before I was elected to the board. Those negotiations have been, and continue to be, led by Gavin who has built a good relationship with the council CEO. I’ve been able to extend those talks to the political leadership of the council, which is where I have good contacts. Like most things in life, success will come from everyone working together. That’s what we are trying to do as a board.

Just to put one other issue to bed - I’ve got absolutely no interest in becoming chairman. I’ve seen the time commitment that goes with it and I wouldn’t be able to match it.

whoareya wrote:Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

I’m not employed by the council. Never have been. Cheers.

Kevin Ward wrote:

whoareya wrote:Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

I’m not employed by the council. Never have been. Cheers.

I thought you had a role with Newport Live -a not for profit vehicle set up by Newport City council to manage it's leisure facilities, including Spytty Stadium?

Kevin Ward wrote:

whoareya wrote:Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

I’m not employed by the council. Never have been. Cheers.

I thought you had a role with Newport Live -a not for profit vehicle set up by Newport City council to manage it's leisure facilities, including Spytty Stadium?

whoareya wrote:Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

WRU will decline any approach

Spytty Stadium awaits the return of a former tenant, this time as an owner/part owner.

County get a permanent home.
Council disposes of a liability asset.

I'd like to see us, if worst comes to worst, having the chance to buy Newport Stadium outright, paying for it over a number of years. I very much doubt we'll have the money to buy it in one go.
What we need to consider, is whether Newport Stadium is even available to us as a PLAYING venue, should we need it. Is it up to League standard, and if not, what work is required, and how much will it cost, who will pay for it, and ultimately how much rent they'd want for using it.
I hope that Transport links to Newport Stadium will be part of the discussion, because the bus service that we had before was dreadful.
In a way, exciting times ahead, interesting times, but what we cannot do is leave it linger. It needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. First thing to check is whether we'd even be allowed back at Newport Stadium to PLAY at?..... has anyone even asked that question to start with?......

whoareya wrote:

Kevin Ward wrote:

whoareya wrote:Employee talking to employer.

Whoever would have thought it.

I’m not employed by the council. Never have been. Cheers.

I thought you had a role with Newport Live -a not for profit vehicle set up by Newport City council to manage it's leisure facilities, including Spytty Stadium?

Newport Live is a company and registered charity entirely separate from the council. I am a board member and trustee. This is a voluntary, unpaid position. I’m not an employee of the council or Newport Live.

Kevin Ward wrote:

Stan A. Einstein wrote:Kevin Ward is in talks with Newport City Council. The reason being that having concluded that the present situation regarding rent is unsustainable the only option available is for Newport County to reach an agreement with the Dragons and the City Council which will allow County to be a stakeholder in Rodney Parade. Unless this is done it is my belief that the game is up.

Over the past 30 years any number of people have been directors of Newport County. Most did their best in very difficult circumstances. However in my view for the first time in those 30 years County have a director who understands that without sorting out the stadium problem Newport County can never hope to be as successful as we should be. In short Kevin has the good sense to see what is needed, the connections to know who to approach and the balls to try.

I don't know if he will succeed, I am not even sure that he can succeed. After all he will not only have to raise a stake, he will need also to persuade Newport City Council that the money they will need to spend to create a fit for purpose stadium in Newport city centre is taxpayers money well spent. And if he can achieve that he will then need to persuade Dragons it is in their best interest to allow County in.

But whether he succeeds or not he is right and I hope he gets the support he needs.

To be fair, it’s the club in talks with the council, not me. That’s been the case for some time, long before I was elected to the board. Those negotiations have been, and continue to be, led by Gavin who has built a good relationship with the council CEO. I’ve been able to extend those talks to the political leadership of the council, which is where I have good contacts. Like most things in life, success will come from everyone working together. That’s what we are trying to do as a board.

Just to put one other issue to bed - I’ve got absolutely no interest in becoming chairman. I’ve seen the time commitment that goes with it and I wouldn’t be able to match it.

That reply will confuse the hell out of stan as anything that even remotely praises Gavin will not compute with stan lol

Kevin Ward wrote:

whoareya wrote:

Kevin Ward wrote:
Newport Live is a company and registered charity entirely separate from the council. I am a board member and trustee. This is a voluntary, unpaid position. I’m not an employee of the council or Newport Live.

I disagree, its not entirely seperate - the Council set up Newport Live to operate it's leisure assets. Call it a Hold Co or a Special Purpose Vehicle if you like, but the assets it manages were transferred ftom the Council.

As a trustee, you are overseeing the management of assets that are effectively owned by the city.

Isn't that why you declared an interest in Newport Live discussions as recorded in the last meeting minutes?

Kevin is not an employee of the council he has his own media company

[quote="whoareya"I disagree, its not entirely seperate - the Council set up Newport Live to operate it's leisure assets. Call it a Hold Co or a Special Purpose Vehicle if you like, but the assets it manages were transferred ftom the Council.

As a trustee, you are overseeing the management of assets that are effectively owned by the city.

Isn't that why you declared an interest in Newport Live discussions as recorded in the last meeting minutes?[/quote]

Newport Live was, indeed, set up by the council but it is a standalone not-for-profit-distribution leisure trust and limited company and is separate from the council. Obviously, the council pays NL to manage its facilities (NL has a 25-year lease on all the facilities) but NL takes its own business decisions with the aim, as the council's management fee reduces each year, of eventually becoming entirely independent. A good explanation of leisure trusts and how they work is in this article https://www.theguardian.com/social-ente ... save-money For instance, there is nothing to stop Newport Live expanding to operate facilities outside Newport if its board of directors felt that was the right strategy to pursue.
In terms of declaring an interest, of course I did. Likewise, I declare an interest in Newport Live board meetings if Newport County matters are being discussed and the same for the other voluntary board memberships I have with Newport City Homes and the drugs charity Kaleidoscope.
The point I was really making - and it's an important one - was that I am not, as you'd suggested, employed by the council.
Cheers.

Thanks, but I don't need referencing to leisure trusts - I accept that you are not an employee in the most rigid of senses ie a bona fida PAYE employee, but you have confirmed my other point that the City Council pays NL to manage it's assets via a 25 year lease, after which the lease may be extended, re-tendered - or the assets can revert to council management? So you are a Board member and trustee of NL which in turn is linked and answerable to Newport City Council.

whoareya wrote:Thanks, but I don't need referencing to leisure trusts - I accept that you are not an employee in the most rigid of senses ie a bona fida PAYE employee, but you have confirmed my other point that the City Council pays NL to manage it's assets via a 25 year lease, after which the lease may be extended, re-tendered - or the assets can revert to council management. So you are a Board member and trustee of NL which in turn is linked and answerable to Newport City Council.

Which miles away from your original post which said that Kevin ward was an employee talking to his employer

Thanks, but Kevin is clearly quite able to answer for himself.

What is all this paranoia setting in - I've not said it's a negative thing - I'm optimistic that when the County's Rodney Parade lease expires, Kevin and NL with be instrumental in getting the club a permanent home at the Spytty Stadium.

Which were the other points in my original post......