A thread for Norman Baker

[Baron Pepperpot]

I see you're getting a little stick over this, so please excuse me, I'm not wanting to add to it - you thought there were better locations for the new ground, and you are not alone in that. Can I just check though (and I appreciate it's not my business if you'd rather not say), when we had the chance to vote Yes or No for the ground at Falmer, what did you vote?

"Yes" because there were no other options and I wanted the club to have hope in the future. It was Falmer or no hope.

 

[The Birdman]

Drinking in Lewes after the game - every pub I went in (John Harvey, Snowdrop, Gardeners, Lansdown) was full of (well behaved, friendly) Wolves fans - seemed to be there for the day or maybe even the weekend, staying in hotels, eating locally, obviously boosting the town's economy.

Has that prat Baker ever said anything about the benefit the Amex has brought to his constituency, given how vehemently he opposed the whole scheme? He should be bloody thanking us.[

/if we make the premiership they will make even more money. All business need these boosts.

 

[Triggaaar]

"Yes" because there were no other options and I wanted the club to have hope in the future. It was Falmer or no hope.

Indeed it was, and I suspect if you'd said you didn't think it was a good move, you didn't support it, but you voted 'yes' because there was no other choice, people would understand (how could they not). There are other places I'd have preferred to have the ground, they just didn't seem to be an option. As it is, I think it's working well. It looks nice there (a nice piece of architecture amongst some real crap), it's got a station right next to the ground, and it's next to a large A road.

 

[happypig]

Let's not forget Baker's opposition to dualling of the A27 between Polegate and Lewes. How many more serious accidents will we see before the bumptious prat admits that a decent road is needed?

 

[jackcgull]

Let's not forget Baker's opposition to dualling of the A27 between Polegate and Lewes. How many more serious accidents will we see before the bumptious prat admits that a decent road is needed?

bumptious is a great word

 

[Leighgull]

Baker always looks a bit seedy to me. I reckon he doesn't wash his hands after he has a piss.

And picks his nose and eats it.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

In fairness, Kevo, people are entitled to their opinions. At the time there was almost a fascist style whip going around that suggested people had no right to be opposed.

I opposed the building of the ground at Falmer and felt that it should be elsewhere (Waterhall was my preference although it was a no-goer). I still don't think it was the right place, although I support the club nonetheless.

My point is that it is a democracy, and he is entitled to reflect the views of his constituents, however wrong others regarded them.

At the risk of being unpopular I didn't have a problem with Baker objecting to the stadium BUT he used lies to object.

> He claimed it was possible to walk to Sheepcote Valley in an impossible time.
> He supported the use of a fake photo.
> He supported Falmer Parish Council who held opposition meetings in secret.
> He strongly implied corruption by officials in the process.
> He supported dodgy statement after dodgy statement by LDC.
> He failed to acknowledge that a majority of his constituents either weren't bothered about the stadium or supported it.
> He supported the dragging out of the process in the hope that the club went bust.

Object by all means - that's a democratic right - but to twist the process and lie like he did, well, I rate the guy just behind Archer as an enemy of the club. Hopefully he'll get thrashed in 2015.

 

[Rugrat]

"Yes" because there were no other options and I wanted the club to have hope in the future. It was Falmer or no hope.

Indeed it was, and I suspect if you'd said you didn't think it was a good move, you didn't support it, but you voted 'yes' because there was no other choice, people would understand (how could they not). There are other places I'd have preferred to have the ground, they just didn't seem to be an option. As it is, I think it's working well. It looks nice there (a nice piece of architecture amongst some real crap), it's got a station right next to the ground, and it's next to a large A road.

I think that's how the vast majority felt, preferred it elsewhere, more central and/or more accessible but it wasn't going to happen. In that respect Falmer was perfect otherwise we'd likely still be at Withdean, in L1/L2 (Gus wouldn't have come maybe nor some of the players) and spunking more money into failed efforts to find a location that was never going to get approved

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Drinking in Lewes after the game - every pub I went in (John Harvey, Snowdrop, Gardeners, Lansdown) was full of (well behaved, friendly) Wolves fans - seemed to be there for the day or maybe even the weekend, staying in hotels, eating locally, obviously boosting the town's economy.

Has that prat Baker ever said anything about the benefit the Amex has brought to his constituency, given how vehemently he opposed the whole scheme? He should be bloody thanking us.[

/if we make the premiership they will make even more money. All business need these boosts.

Can someone please explain how the local economy - not the club - will make more if we're in the premiership. I'm not saying they won't, but it's not immediately obvious why. The ground capacity won't go up, so there won't be more people, the average premiership supporter is not richer than a championship one, so I don't see that they'll spend more money, so what am I missing ? All the extra tv money, prem money ec. is for the club, obviously some of that goes back into the local economy indirectly

 

[Beach Hut]

His opinion is not even on the agenda now, we got what we wanted so not even open to debate

 

[Beach Hut]

Can someone please explain how the local economy - not the club - will make more if we're in the premiership. I'm not saying they won't, but it's not immediately obvious why. The ground capacity won't go up, so there won't be more people, the average premiership supporter is not richer than a championship one, so I don't see that they'll spend more money, so what am I missing ? All the extra tv money, prem money ec. is for the club, obviously some of that goes back into the local economy indirectly

I'll have go:

If and a big if we are promoted we will attract better players on higher salaries living in the area who will spend more in the local economy. As for us (Shoreham people) when the Academy is built I would expect many players living in our area so the likes of the Galleria etc will see a nice extra bunce arriving on their doorstep.

Also think of Profile sponsorship at BHAFC - I reckon enough players buy their attire their to pay for that easily.

 

[Brighton TID]

Let's not forget Baker's opposition to dualling of the A27 between Polegate and Lewes. How many more serious accidents will we see before the bumptious prat admits that a decent road is needed?

Yes this. One of the most dangerous pieces of road in Britain, and also a really important link to the east, remains nothing more than a glorified country road. Stevie Wonder has more foresight

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Can someone please explain how the local economy - not the club - will make more if we're in the premiership. I'm not saying they won't, but it's not immediately obvious why. The ground capacity won't go up, so there won't be more people, the average premiership supporter is not richer than a championship one, so I don't see that they'll spend more money, so what am I missing ? All the extra tv money, prem money ec. is for the club, obviously some of that goes back into the local economy indirectly

Capacity will be reached far more often in the top tier

 

[Vatican Citys No.2 Keeper]

Hopefully i can give a specific answer to the OP.

As it happens, last year for my university final major project -which focused on the campaign for the stadium- I interviewed Mr Baker along with Martin Perry, Tim Carder & Melanie Cutress (to get a balance of views on the subject).

When I asked him about any benefits to the Lewes economy, his view was that whilst it benefited business for pub landlords, other businesses may have seen a downturn in trade on match days due to many residents avoiding the town centre on match days due to the perception - wrongly in his opinion - of fans coming to Lewes and causing trouble.

Also, if anyone is interested in reading the full project articles & interview transcripts with the four interviewees, Tim Carder and the Historians Society have a copy of my work!

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I'll have go:

If and a big if we are promoted we will attract better players on higher salaries living in the area who will spend more in the local economy. As for us (Shoreham people) when the Academy is built I would expect many players living in our area so the likes of the Galleria etc will see a nice extra bunce arriving on their doorstep.

Also think of Profile sponsorship at BHAFC - I reckon enough players buy their attire their to pay for that easily.

That's ok, but the academy is being built anyway, regardless of premiership. The salaries, yes, will add to local business, but nothing like the 60m quoted above. We'll sell more shirts etc, fair enough - it's fantasic to see so many already around Shoreham on a match day.

 

[kevo]

That's ok, but the academy is being built anyway, regardless of premiership. The salaries, yes, will add to local business, but nothing like the 60m quoted above. We'll sell more shirts etc, fair enough - it's fantasic to see so many already around Shoreham on a match day.

Plus the fact that we will far more often sell out the away seats. The 2,000 Wolves fans who spent their money locally on Saturday would be repeated for most home games.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

All the suggested locations were imperfect. Falmer was the least bad of those that were actually deliverable. Of course we all love it now it's here (except maybe while queuing for the park and ride buses in the rain after losing to West Ham), and it will be even better once the rail service can be upgraded, but somewhere the Albion didn't have to provide all that free public transport to would have been preferable.

 

[kevo]

Hopefully i can give a specific answer to the OP.

As it happens, last year for my university final major project -which focused on the campaign for the stadium- I interviewed Mr Baker along with Martin Perry, Tim Carder & Melanie Cutress (to get a balance of views on the subject).

When I asked him about any benefits to the Lewes economy, his view was that whilst it benefited business for pub landlords, other businesses may have seen a downturn in trade on match days due to many residents avoiding the town centre on match days due to the perception - wrongly in his opinion - of fans coming to Lewes and causing trouble.

Also, if anyone is interested in reading the full project articles & interview transcripts with the four interviewees, Tim Carder and the Historians Society have a copy of my work!

Interesting. I don't know if there have been any problems caused by away fans in Lewes (I did see a bit of a scuffle between Albion and Palace fans outside the station on Mar 17) - but I tend to think the away supporters who 'make a weekend of it', come down and stay locally, seem to be the well-behaved types and unlikely to smash up the town centre or intimidate local residents!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I'll have go:

If and a big if we are promoted we will attract better players on higher salaries living in the area who will spend more in the local economy. As for us (Shoreham people) when the Academy is built I would expect many players living in our area so the likes of the Galleria etc will see a nice extra bunce arriving on their doorstep.

Also think of Profile sponsorship at BHAFC - I reckon enough players buy their attire their to pay for that easily.

Spanish students are spending money locally, Spanish players are frequenting local tapas bars.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Can someone please explain how the local economy - not the club - will make more if we're in the premiership. I'm not saying they won't, but it's not immediately obvious why. The ground capacity won't go up, so there won't be more people, the average premiership supporter is not richer than a championship one, so I don't see that they'll spend more money, so what am I missing ? All the extra tv money, prem money ec. is for the club, obviously some of that goes back into the local economy indirectly

As I queued up in a bank in Mendoza in 2006 gazing at a tv screen fixed to the ceiling to entertain customers, I was quite taken aback that it was Premier League football I was watching. The Premier League is the biggest in the world, it's everywhere. Thus in this new globalised world, Brighton & Hove will be on the world map. There will be more holiday makers coming here, more companies investing or moving here, more conferences, more stag-do/hen nights. This has happened in Swansea but we'll see a much bigger effect as Brighton is a much better place. 60m is a conservative estimate of the financial benefit to the city of us going up in my opinion.