George Street-Bridge wrote: May 6th, 2022, 7:08 am

Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 5th, 2022, 11:04 am Access isn't a problem for anyone not just football fans. As for parking I never had a problem and if the Rodney Parade site were to be developed for another purpose the developers would doubtless develop transport infrastructure.

Let's analyse this. This news story may or may not have legs. If it does the problem I have been going on about for years is about to rear up and bite us in the arse.

If however this time it is a false alarm, what about next time? Or the time after that?

So should our response be live in denial, like George Street Bridge? Should our response be simply to imply that nothing can be done, like Colin?

Or should our response be to accept we have a problem? Admit that we at present don't have the answers? And work together as a fans owned club to find those answers?

This is a potentially crucial moment in our history. And it is possible that we face an insurmountable difficulty. But I think that unlikely. What I do think is that times of crisis can be times of opportunity. If we face up to the problem, if we work together, if we refuse to listen to those content with mediocrity then perhaps we can start being in control of our own destiny.

More grandiose word soup. Far from being in denial, I think potentially this is a thumping great opportunity to cement our position as the city's leading sports team.

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:43 am Both the Dragon's and the County rent the city's Premier stadium, as do top Football and Rugby clubs all across the UK. Why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position?

Fu Ming wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:05 am Unfortunately I do not have an answer for all the mess that Welsh rugby is in.
This has come home to roost this year with poor results from the national side.
What I will say is that Gwent and Welsh rugby has been in a slow decline over the past decade or so.
Regional rugby is of a poor standard, and as for the teams below that it is even worse, teams like Pontypool and Newport used to field 2 sides, so did many of the district sides like Croesyceliog, Cwmbran etc. Newport High School Old Boys used to field 5 sides at one time.
How is it that Dean Ryan the director of rugby at The Dragons is on a salary of over £250K?
So far this season Dragons have won one game drawn one game and lost the rest.
If he was in charge of a soccer club he would of be sacked a long time ago.
There are too many in the regional squads of 45 plus players all earning inflated wages, a 4th string Scarlets 2nd row earns £60k a year for doing nothing.
Not to mention the cost of flying to South Africa to play a couple of games.
The attendance at Dragons is woefully poor, just look at the crowd density compared to when The County play.
The salaries for the regional players are supplemented by the WRU charging high prices for the international matches.
As for Gwent rugby the WRU could not give a toss, Wales to them exists passed Cardiff to the west.

What I fear is that WRU will let it run for a while and we will see the gradual demise of Gwent rugby, what the WRU will do with RP is anyone's guess.

Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:57 am

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:43 am Both the Dragon's and the County rent the city's Premier stadium, as do top Football and Rugby clubs all across the UK. Why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position?

Who's the landlord?

Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:15 am If you read the first post of Stow Hill Sid and his link to the Times article then whatever the outcome it is clear that the Welsh Rugby Football Union are at the very least considering shafting one of the four regional teams in Wales. It won't be Cardiff. Swansea and Llanelli merging? Possible but unlikely. If one of the four regions go the likelihood is that it will be Dragons. My view is that all four regions will survive. But I'm not sure.

George Guest has in my view summed it up really well. The problem for us is insecurity. How can we develop when we could be made homeless at the whim of the WRU? And believe me if the WRU are considering scrapping the Dragons they won't think twice about terminating our licence to play at Rodney Parade if it suits them.

Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:37 am

Fu Ming wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:05 am Unfortunately I do not have an answer for all the mess that Welsh rugby is in.
This has come home to roost this year with poor results from the national side.
What I will say is that Gwent and Welsh rugby has been in a slow decline over the past decade or so.
Regional rugby is of a poor standard, and as for the teams below that it is even worse, teams like Pontypool and Newport used to field 2 sides, so did many of the district sides like Croesyceliog, Cwmbran etc. Newport High School Old Boys used to field 5 sides at one time.
How is it that Dean Ryan the director of rugby at The Dragons is on a salary of over £250K?
So far this season Dragons have won one game drawn one game and lost the rest.
If he was in charge of a soccer club he would of be sacked a long time ago.
There are too many in the regional squads of 45 plus players all earning inflated wages, a 4th string Scarlets 2nd row earns £60k a year for doing nothing.
Not to mention the cost of flying to South Africa to play a couple of games.
The attendance at Dragons is woefully poor, just look at the crowd density compared to when The County play.
The salaries for the regional players are supplemented by the WRU charging high prices for the international matches.
As for Gwent rugby the WRU could not give a toss, Wales to them exists passed Cardiff to the west.

What I fear is that WRU will let it run for a while and we will see the gradual demise of Gwent rugby, what the WRU will do with RP is anyone's guess.

I agree.

Whilst Bangitinthenet is talking utter nonsense about planning law, and is utterly clueless about why buried in his usual garbage there is one salient point, nonetheless the point exists.

Rodney Parade is only a valuable asset if it can be developed. The idea that it couldn't be used for housing or some other purpose or that transport linkd make it unfeasible for anything other than a football stadium is complete bollox.

However.

Rodney Parade is an iconic stadium. Without planning permission for development it has no great value on the open market. Now whilst Newport City Council can grant that planning permission, as I said Bangitinthenet's view that planning law prevents this is total nonsense, nonetheless Newport City Council have the power not to grant such permission to develop.

Newport County and the Dragons need to make common cause. They need to be lobbying the council. They need to be getting the people of Newport on board. Rodney Parade the stadium where New Zealand and South Africa were defeated. Is the city of Newport to lose such a huge part of our history. Why not sell of the transporter bridge for scrap metal whilst we're at it? Is Newport to be a city devoid of first class sport? Those are the arguments that should be used to ensure that the Council don't carry out another act of civic vandalism.

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:43 am Both the Dragon's and the County rent the city's Premier stadium, as do top Football and Rugby clubs all across the UK. Why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position?

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 11:27 am

Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:37 am

Fu Ming wrote: May 6th, 2022, 10:05 am Unfortunately I do not have an answer for all the mess that Welsh rugby is in.
This has come home to roost this year with poor results from the national side.
What I will say is that Gwent and Welsh rugby has been in a slow decline over the past decade or so.
Regional rugby is of a poor standard, and as for the teams below that it is even worse, teams like Pontypool and Newport used to field 2 sides, so did many of the district sides like Croesyceliog, Cwmbran etc. Newport High School Old Boys used to field 5 sides at one time.
How is it that Dean Ryan the director of rugby at The Dragons is on a salary of over £250K?
So far this season Dragons have won one game drawn one game and lost the rest.
If he was in charge of a soccer club he would of be sacked a long time ago.
There are too many in the regional squads of 45 plus players all earning inflated wages, a 4th string Scarlets 2nd row earns £60k a year for doing nothing.
Not to mention the cost of flying to South Africa to play a couple of games.
The attendance at Dragons is woefully poor, just look at the crowd density compared to when The County play.
The salaries for the regional players are supplemented by the WRU charging high prices for the international matches.
As for Gwent rugby the WRU could not give a toss, Wales to them exists passed Cardiff to the west.

What I fear is that WRU will let it run for a while and we will see the gradual demise of Gwent rugby, what the WRU will do with RP is anyone's guess.

I agree.

Whilst Bangitinthenet is talking utter nonsense about planning law, and is utterly clueless about why buried in his usual garbage there is one salient point, nonetheless the point exists.

Rodney Parade is only a valuable asset if it can be developed. The idea that it couldn't be used for housing or some other purpose or that transport linkd make it unfeasible for anything other than a football stadium is complete bollox.

However.

Rodney Parade is an iconic stadium. Without planning permission for development it has no great value on the open market. Now whilst Newport City Council can grant that planning permission, as I said Bangitinthenet's view that planning law prevents this is total nonsense, nonetheless Newport City Council have the power not to grant such permission to develop.

Newport County and the Dragons need to make common cause. They need to be lobbying the council. They need to be getting the people of Newport on board. Rodney Parade the stadium where New Zealand and South Africa were defeated. Is the city of Newport to lose such a huge part of our history. Why not sell of the transporter bridge for scrap metal whilst we're at it? Is Newport to be a city devoid of first class sport? Those are the arguments that should be used to ensure that the Council don't carry out another act of civic vandalism.

Planning law changed significantly when the unitary authorities came in, because before there were two bodies, the local council (Newport) and the County Council (Monmouthshire) who would have competing agendas and thus planning was a mess.
Now planning has to follow a structure. It has to be demonstrated that there is a need for construction, and no local requirement for what is to be demolished. Also there has to be suitable access to the local roads, and suitable parking for residential. More than two bedrooms equals an additional car space for each further bedroom.

The Council will need to see proposals for a new stadium with better access, better parking etc before they will consider altering the current designated use for the site on the unitary development plan. Rodney Parade is designated for sports use on the plan.
All of these things put together, the plot value is not great enough to viable. As I said, that is why developers are not interested in the cabbage patch, let alone the stadium. That is the simple fact of the matter.

pembsexile wrote: May 6th, 2022, 11:54 am

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:43 am Both the Dragon's and the County rent the city's Premier stadium, as do top Football and Rugby clubs all across the UK. Why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position?

I am sure that the Dragons and some at the WRU would disagree, but all things considered, in the current Newport sporting climate, it is pretty safe to say that we (County) are the premier sporting club in Newport.

The question is, ‘how do we cement our position as the premier sports club in Newport’, not ‘why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position’.

Surely, everyone with common sense regarding the County want us to a position whereby we don’t have to fret year on year about where we will be playing this beloved game of ours in the not too distant future. To get to that (cemented) position, whether it be by rental or ownership, (and that is a slightly different argument), takes a lot of goodwill from all agencies. Something that appears to be lacking in spades at the moment. I don’t have the answer, just opinions and ideas, nothing more, nothing less.

pembsexile wrote: May 6th, 2022, 11:54 am

Bangitintrnet wrote: May 6th, 2022, 9:43 am Both the Dragon's and the County rent the city's Premier stadium, as do top Football and Rugby clubs all across the UK. Why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position?

I am sure that the Dragons and some at the WRU would disagree, but all things considered, in the current Newport sporting climate, it is pretty safe to say that we (County) are the premier sporting club in Newport.

The question is, ‘how do we cement our position as the premier sports club in Newport’, not ‘why is it uniquely a problem for us if we did cement our position’.

Surely, everyone with common sense regarding the County want us to a position whereby we don’t have to fret year on year about where we will be playing this beloved game of ours in the not too distant future. To get to that (cemented) position, whether it be by rental or ownership, (and that is a slightly different argument), takes a lot of goodwill from all agencies. Something that appears to be lacking in spades at the moment. I don’t have the answer, just opinions and ideas, nothing more, nothing less.