Wisbech Town FC Forum

Posted: 19 July 2010 at 19:35 | IP Logged

yep its nice to be quoted by him  to such a high powered readership!!!!

Mr Elsworthy, the cut and paste king of the journalistic world, it would be nice if you and your lousy newspaper could actually be bothered to do something to help the football club progress rather than try and skewer every avenue the club explores to try and make it a viable business for the long term future.

As for the whingers complaining about noise, i live with a vibrant sports and social club directly at the end of my garden and accept (as do my neighbours)that a little bit of late noise may occur (once a week usually)to allow the facillity to exist, a facillity that runs saturday senior football, under7 - under16 youth football, cricket teams and a host of other sports including bloody Whist!!!. If people want to participate in these activities where do you suggest they do it and how do you propose the venues that host these activities exist / suvive.

Kevin Roberts

Posted: 19 July 2010 at 19:55 | IP Logged

To be fair to Mr Elworthy, he did meet with me whilst i was chairman of the supporters club and he did agree to hold a bingo to raise funds for us, As we no have a new chairman, i hope mr Elworthy will still uphold his promise?

John, you can i trust remember the meeting we had at the crown hotel in Outwell? 

Posted: 19 July 2010 at 21:43 | IP Logged

The licensing committee of King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council have today granted us a licence to serve alcohol at The Tom Wood's Beer Fenland Stadium until 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday nights and 12.30am on Friday and Saturday nights.  No alcohol will be served before midday on any day.

This is separate from the planning variation which is currrently being sought.  That is to do with the actual times that the building can be operated during.

Posted: 20 July 2010 at 11:18 | IP Logged

Thank you for your reply, John.  I’m sure that you have put many forum members mind’s at rest regarding your stance on this issue.

As you will have noted above, the licensing committee have granted us a licence to serve alcohol until 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday and 12.30am on Friday and Saturday nights.  The application to vary the planning condition has been amended to fit more closely with these times. 

My main gripe is that the people objecting seem to be doing so out of fear that the club will in some way ruin their quality of life – that having the football club close (or in some cases, not so close) to their doorsteps means they have only misery and despair to look forward to.  Many speak of Wisbech’s “drink problem” and anti-social behaviour as if it they are unique to the town and in some way guaranteed to occur.

I know it is an overused phrase, but this appears to be NIMBYism in its purest form.  I suspect several people are only objecting because someone else told them the new ground was a bad idea and filled their heads with horror stories, effectively scaremongering the local populace into action.  Fear is a powerful weapon after all.  I think you are absolutely correct when you say that the democratic process should be transparent and everyone has a right to voice their concerns when it regards their local neighbourhood.  But those concerns should be based in fact and not fiction.  Nightclubs, drinking clubs, I’m surprised someone didn’t suggest we were opening a lap dancing club!  There will be no difference to the activities which used to take place at Fenland Park.  The only difference will be the much nicer surroundings.

Your advice is to engage with the critics, but I know that the last time a representative from the club met with the objectors, he likened it to Daniel in the Lion’s Den.  Having said that, I’m sure if representatives of the local residents wanted to meet and have a tour of the facilities, I’m sure that could be arranged.

Posted: 20 July 2010 at 14:02 | IP Logged

I have read and reread Jobsworthy's post but there is nothing in there at all where he has anything to say positive about the club, it is the usual drivel. The Standard can criticise all it wants but how about some praise for once for all the efforts going on and hard work that everyone is putting in, but I am sure that is too much to ask.

The Sports coverage in the Standard has always been rubbish and I had first hand experience of this many years ago. Websites are meant to keep people updated. We beat Deeping last Friday with new players I have seen nothing on the website about this and we are meant to be the Premier club in the area. All I can see on the website is Twatter ! !.

We are not alone , the week before last the Fenland cricket update was put on the website FIVE days after the matches were played but they missed off a report on the Premier club in the area Wisbech 1st XI ! ! ! ! With being the Copy & Paste experts they could have got all the information from the League website within 24 hours of the matches being played.

Respect has to be earned and until the Standard gives a balanced view of what is going on at the Club, the Standard will have no respect.

Posted: 20 July 2010 at 19:12 | IP Logged

Crikey Greengrass, we agree on something at last ! ! ! !

Posted: 21 July 2010 at 18:17 | IP Logged

On a factual note there has been NO decision about the extension of licensing hours. West Norfolk Council has extended the consultation period to Friday July 23rd for comments.

In respect of planning, that application for a variation of conditions has been moved back to August 6th.

Both are so that residents have an opportunity to air their views. Both applications may also have to go to the appropriate committee for a determination.

My point, taken up today in lengthy conversations with officials at West Norfolk Council, is that the licensing process has not been transparent. It is ridiculous and quite honestly does not need restating this paper's support for ALL sport in Fenland and, yes, especially Wisbech Town. But as you will see from this article in this week's paper, we believe the club ought to have insisted the advertisement for extending the hours to have appeared in either our paper our the Citizen. I'm relaxed about their choice.

However to place the advertisement (a public notice) in the Lynn News may have fulfilled the legalistic requirements of the law but not the morality involved. Its akin to Wetherspoons wanting to open a lap dancing club in the middle of Cambridge and then choosing the Cambs Times in which to place the advert (on the basis we sell 6 copies at W H Smiths in the city centre).

This will be my last post on this forum about this issue. It is NOT for this paper or any other come to that to influence a democratically arrived at decision, whatever that decision may be. For those who can't wait till Friday or prefer not to click the Standard website, here's this week's Voice of the Fens.

THE resolution of whether or not Wisbech Town FC can extend the opening hours of their newly built clubhouse on the Lynn Road is yet to be decided, despite the precipitous and incorrect assertions on the club’s website.

Whatever the outcome we really must take issue with West Norfolk Council over the process by which the proposed extension of licensing hours was publicised for public scrutiny and comment.

The council insists the onus was on the club to satisfy the legal requirements for the proposals to be advertised both on the premises and in a newspaper “which circulates in the area”.

Which is fine and two papers, including our own, circulate within the area covered by the new stadium.

Therefore it came as a surprise that the extension of hours was advertised not in either of the two Wisbech papers but in the Lynn News and Advertiser which neither purports to cover Wisbech but has a handful of sales in the town for those inclined to catch up with news from Kings Lynn and West Norfolk.

Whilst the lawyers who placed the advertisement may have stayed within the technical requirements of the law, we do not accept they stayed within the spirit of the law.

West Norfolk Council has now extended both the consultation for the licensing extension and for a variation of planning conditions and that should be sufficient to allow residents to scrutinise the proposals.

We offer no comment on the merit of the club’s case or those of the residents who oppose the application.

But it is the duty of both the council and the club to ensure that the debate is both fair and transparent and we hope it will now be so.

Posted: 21 July 2010 at 18:46 | IP Logged

Another really positive post for the Club from Jobsworthy . He says he will make no further comment on the subject, that will be until he can find something to Copy & Paste on it.