Craven Cottage expansion

[DCHeather]

Friends of Bishop's Park have concerns over Craven Cottage's expansion:

CRAVEN Cottage will lose its charm if Fulham's expansion plans get the green light.

That's the view of the Friends of Bishop's Park, which has outlined a lengthy number of concerns over the Premier League football club's plan to increase the ground's capacity to 30,000 by rebuilding the Riverside stand.

The Friends believe it will detract from the historic nature of the ground, which is widely thought of as being one of the most charming in the country.

Chairwoman of the group Amanda Lloyd-Harris said: "We know the club wants to develop and we have no problem with that but we want to see a design that is in keeping with the rest of the stadium.

"It is an impressive design but it's almost three times bigger than the rest of the stadium. Do we want it to become just another soulless ground?"

The club also wants to redesign the riverside path so it runs underneath the new stand, as opposed to having to divert around the stadium as it does now.

Gates would be installed to control the flow of fans using the path on matchdays and would be closed three hours either side of kick-off, something the group thinks is not viable.

It also has concerns that the width of the Thames would have to be shortened by 11 metres to accommodate the design.

Mrs Lloyd-Harris said: "It is supposed to a public amenity so why would the public be excluded for so long?"

She added: "Additional gates on the river walk side of the park will create further damage to the park and will add to the cost of the current maintenance plan."

Other points, which have been raised in a letter to Hammersmith and Fulham Council, surround two new proposed cafes and their opening hours, concerns over lighting, an increase in traffic and further future development.

Mrs Lloyd-Harris added: "The Friends of Bishops Park feel that overall what is being proposed will have a detrimental impact on Bishops Park, the Thames River and the local amenity. If the planning Committee is minded to grant planning permission then we would expect conditions to be included that would protect the local resident’s interests."

[SoCalJoe]

Was wondering when an opposition group would finally chime in.

[jumpkutz]

Was only a matter of time, wasn't it joe?

Hopefully the club can satisfy their concerns to the satisfaction of the authorities, and this opposition will not unnecessarily delay a much needed upgrade.

[jumpkutz]

Having read the article more thoroughly, I don't understand their arguments.

Why wouldn't ANY route through the stadium along the river be preferable to going AROUND it? Ive never been there, but it seems obvious that creating a viable route for pedestrian traffic along the river instead of having to negotiate the majority of the perimeter of the ground AWAY from it would be better.

A 1972-era stand being replaced by a modern structure of ANY size would also seemingly be preferable. Is the current Riverside Stand really that "charming." Again, I've never been, but it doesn't really appear to be.

"Charm" will not keep the team in the Premier League, only results will. And the results will not continue if we don't improve the ground as needed to keep fans happy and generate adequate revenue. I seriously doubt that the plan as proposed would damage the park as much as they suggest it would. In fact, the expansion may increase attention to and draw more people to the park. Is that bad?

The same should be true for the proposed cafes. Who wouldn't want to enjoy a bite and a swig next to a park? You could walk off dessert through it afterwards.

I hope the local authorities don't allow many of these arguments to delay the project. The pros would seem to outweigh the cons...by a substantial margin.

[DCHeather]

I think the expansion plans have the Bishop's Park path closed off to pedestrian travel once the game starts. I've been to the parka couple of times, there's a path that goes along the River Thames that's open to the public. I guess this group's main beef is that this path will not be accessible at all times and will become narrowed due to the new stands?

lemme see if i can post a few pics I took during visit.

[DCHeather]

Well, I thought I had more photos of the path that is right next to Craven Cottage but these are the only two I could dig up:





And I agree the current Riverside stand is not "charming."

[Clevelandmo]

Those are nice pics. I agree the Riverside is not charming (see link below). But I do understand their point about closing the gates to the riverside walk on match days. To me it depends on whether Fulham owns that property or it's public property.

Hopefully this effort is no big deal. They say they are for the stadium expansion so hopefully they are only intending to negotiate to get the best possible outcome for all. Why not right. If you're not 100% crazy about the design.

http://stadiumporn.com/craven-cottage-fulham-football-club-england/

[SoCalJoe]

http://stadiumporn.com/craven-cottage-fulham-football-club-england/[/quote]


Couldn't they come up with something better than 'stadiumporn.com'?? I can hear my wife tonight asking me what I was doing on the site, 'I swear babe, it's about Craven Cottage's expansion'

As pointed out, let's hope it's more about getting the club to add a few extra things for the local populace that could care less about football.

[jumpkutz]

Seems like something should be happening with this by now. Anybody heard or seen anything?

[SCFulhamFan]

Politics. Hold your breathe. Passed the first gauntlet. Now needs a majority in the boros.

[SCFulhamFan]

And by the way walking down the path Heather posted isn't a red carpet, but I had my jaw open the whole way. To be walking into the grounds of your club with the other Whites then beat Wolfsburg after their fans were ribbing you on the tube 2-1 with both BZ and Duff scoring in front of you.... priceless

[DCHeather]

http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham ... -31478207/?

Fulham set to learn fate of ground application

THE FULHAM Supporters' Trust have called on Hammersmith & Fulham Council to approve the club's application to renovate the Riverside Stand and increase the capacity of Craven Cottage to 30,000.

The planning applications committee sits tonight (Thursday 26) to decide on the submission.


Craven Cottage has been Fulham Football Club's historic home since 1898 and the club returned home in 2003 after a two-year exile at Loftus Road.

Since then, the Council has approved two applications to increase the capacity of the stadium. The council have also previously stated that they would work with all three local Premier League clubs to ensure they remained in the borough.


The returning chairman of the Fulham Supporters' Trust, Tom Greatrex MP, said: 'We welcome Fulham Football Club's clear commitment to a permanent stay at Craven Cottage.

"During Fulham's unprecedented run of success in both domestic and European football over the past three years, the Cottage has been full to capacity.

"The new stand will be bring tangible benefits for local residents, including a new Riverside walk linking the ground with Bishop's Park, and will help with crowd management on matchdays.

"Given that these proposals have the strong support of local residents, and that having the club in Hammersmith & Fulham contributes £35m to the local economy every year, we believe both residential and sporting interests would be best served by approving the application."

[SCFulhamFan]

Hopefully this goes through!

[MisterF]

Seems the stadium plans are a go. GREAT news for the future of the club!!!

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2012/July/StadiumAnnouncement.aspx#.UBGzQ94SjD4.twitter

Fulham Football Club granted planning permission

Fulham Football Club is delighted to announce that, following a planning hearing at London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham this evening, the Club’s plans to redevelop the Riverside Stand at its Craven Cottage Stadium have been approved.

The plans include extensive refurbishment to the Riverside Stand of the Club’s historic Craven Cottage home to increase the ground’s capacity to 30,000, and enhance the matchday facilities for fans. A major benefit to the community will be the opening of the riverside walk from Putney to Hammersmith for the first time in recent history.

Alistair Mackintosh, CEO of Fulham Football Club said:

‘This is extremely exciting news and we are all delighted with this outcome. Craven Cottage is synonymous with Fulham F.C and it is vital that the Club is given every opportunity to develop the facilities available to ensure that it can continue to prosper and compete, and remain at its home for the long term. I am confident that an increased capacity and major improvements to the facilities can help us deliver the Chairman’s vision of long term growth and self sustainability for this football club.’

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Leader, said:

“Craven Cottage is the historic home of Fulham Football Club and this modest expansion, which will be carried out in a sensitive and sensible way, will allow the club to remain competitive in the top tier of English football while removing the existing, rather ugly, Riverside Stand. Our residents will also enjoy a series of community benefits such as an opened up river walk and improvements at Bishops Park.

“We are the only borough in Britain to be the home to three top-flight football clubs and we are keen to work with all of them to get the best deal for our residents.”

[jumpkutz]

Yay! Vitrual Moet fer e'erbody!