Northern Ireland Stadium News

The Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubsand Belfast City Council are to host a debate on the national stadium issue in the Waterfront Hall on 25th January. Councillor Bob Stoker (Community & Recreation committee chairman) will be representing Belfast City Council, Gary McAllister (press officer) the Amalgamation of NISCs and Michael Smyth as an lecturer on Economics from the University of Ulster.

The Political Development has been invited to take part and the Maze Consultation Panel have been asked to nominate a representative as well to ensure a balanced panel. The Maze Consultation Panel’s chairman Edwin Poots (whose DUP party colleague Jeffrey Donaldson illustrated many politicians’ understanding of the situation perfectly when he dismissed the argument as a Belfast vs Lisburn issue and accused Northern Ireland football fans, overwhelmingly opposed to the Maze plans, of sectarianism at a council meeting in Lisburn) has already declined the invitation and the vice-chair Paul Butler (Sinn Fein) said he was unaware of any such invitation.
The Amalgamation has already made clear its opposition to the Maze plans due to a large number of different concerns through protests and press announcements and are in the process of establishing a website at NoToTheMaze.com

Although it’s being called a public debate please be aware that, because of demand, attendance is by invitation only. Invitations can be requested by emailing the Amalgamation of NISCs.

Stop the madness. Stop the white elephant. Sign the Stadium For Belfast petition.

Former Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who took the international side to Spain 82 and Mexico 86 during his time in charge, has advocated the building of a new national stadium in Belfast.

Bingham also revealed that there had been talk of moving Northern Irish football away from Windsor Park during his time in charge, and that he had had talks with ministers and they had liked the Ormeau site because it was one of the more neutral venues available. 

“I would be against the Maze, not because I dislike the Maze or anything like that. It would be better in central Belfast.”

Agree with Billy? Sign the Stadium For Belfast petition.

Belfast City Council have officially selected Ormeau Park as the site for the proposed Belfast stadium. Three interested developers have now presented detailed plans to the council, all of which are focused on the park in the south of the city.

Just as the Belfast stadium project is ploughing ahead, with world class developers (including the company behind the Emirates Stadium) presenting their ideas, concerns are being raised over the government’s commitment to the Maze project. Belfast City Council are still pursuing the NIO minister with responsibility for the Maze plans, David Hanson, in an effort to have the business plan for the Maze released. However, despite the stadium’s planned cost to the taxpayer of at least £85 million, the minister is still refusing to release the business plan.

Meanwhile, Lagan Valley politicians are worried that a new roads proposal indicates the government are not as committed to the Maze plans as it first appeared, with the proposed new A1 link road bypassing the area altogether.

Time to stop the madness. Sign the petition.

Regeneration & Renewal, the leading magazine for the UK regeneration sector, has echoed StadiumForBelfast warnings that the proposed Maze stadium could be a white elephant comparable to the ‘financially disastrous’ Millennium Dome.  While planning consultants were reluctant to talk to the magazine on the record, in private they have confirmed the serious fundamental problems that exist around the Maze stadium plans. Just one of the major flaws in the plans is the fact that the stadium will be in the “middle of nowhere” and “the local population simply cannot support the planned leisure facilities during the stadium’s quiet periods.”

In a press release from Belfast City Council, Councillor Bob Stoker called on the government to pay attention to the field experts, saying “huge investment is required in our infrastructure, hospitals and other vital areas, so why is [the government] planning to spend this amount of money on a sports stadium, especially when professionals are telling them the location goes against all the advice from professionals and current thinking in the field. [sic]”

Representatives from the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs have had meetings with senior officials from Belfast City Council recently to discuss the plans for a new national stadium in Belfast.

Following the meetings the Amalgamation issued a press release in which a spokesman indicated they were impressed by the detail and quality of some of the proposals submitted to the council, and satisfied that there was an opportunity to develop “a credible and feasible alternative to The Maze.”

Hopefully then by September the government-spun myth that there is “no plan B” can be put to rest once and for all.

The group behind the proposed City of Belfast Stadium at Ormeau Park have submitted their plans to Belfast City Council as of Tuesday. Included in the submission are plans of what the stadium would actually look like.

The councils Community & Recreation Committee will vet the responses (to the development brief issued on 5th June) and announce their preferred bidder on 21st August, a choice that must be ratified by a meeting of the full council on 1st September.

The main hurdle remaining is that the project will require planning permission from the Department of the Environment to go ahead, and some are worried that life could be made difficult for the Belfast stadium backers due to the government’s support for the rival Maze plans.

Paul Durnien, head of Durnien.com, the main company behind the project, reiterated that the City of Belfast stadium would be built at no cost to the taxpayer and that the proposed complex, incorporating a grayhound track, a community-based sports/recreation centre, swimming pool, training facilities and a sports-medical centre, would not occupy any of the parkland currently used by the local community. He also said that pending the approval necessary (including the council’s and the DoE’s), the stadium project would definitely go ahead.

Belfast City Council today issued a detailed development brief to the 7 developers that expressed interest in the council’s proposals for a new stadium in the city (which will be funded at no cost to the ratepayer, unlike the government’s Maze Plans which will cost the taxpayer millions). The brief covers all aspects of the stadium from planning, design, development, funding, construction to operation, promotion and ongoing management. The council have set a deadline of 25th July for responses.

THe NIO are a step ahead, having released their ‘masterplan’ last week, and are currently at the stage of running a competition for the design of the stadium itself. However the NIO need to attract anything up to £300 million in investment for their project, which includes many peripheral facilities around the stadium. However, the council are still of the firm belief that a Belfast stadium is viable and their deadline illustrates that they are determined to push ahead with their plans and disprove the myth propagated by the NIO that the Maze is the only viable option.

The Council’s Bob Stoker, chair of the Community and Recreation Committee said “we have included a stipulation in the brief that the stadium should be funded at no cost to the council. That is vital at a time when ratepayers face bills of three times more than they currently pay…. the vast majority of sports fans in Northern Ireland would prefer a stadium in Belfast, which is accessible by public transport and is close to other night-time entertainment venues and hotels. There is a gathering momentum behind siting a multi-sports stadium in Belfast”

The NIO need to realise that the stadium must be brought closer to the people. Build it in Belfast 

The NIO is to launch what it calls its masterplan for the Maze site today, despite ongoing misgivings from the majority of football and many GAA fans. The BBC report claims the final decision could be anything up to 18 months away, and even suggested that the delay might be a sign of problems that could still derail the project. Here’s hoping.

The NIO are to pitch the plan to members of the GAA, IRFU and IFA as well as politicians from the four main parties. Rumours are circulating on the internet that the NIO has put undue pressure on the sporting bodies in a combination of what can only be described as verging on bribery and/or blackmail. The bodies may already have given up but the fans haven’t.

Nothing has changed in the last year. Out-of-town stadia are still proving unworkable and costly all over the world.

We continue to urge the NIO to do the right thing - Build it in Belfast! Register your support now.

The Amalgamation of Official NISCs is currently embarking on a ‘roadshow’, taking their arguments on the National Stadium debate to various locations throughout the country. The presentation is set to be given to NISCs and local Councils in the coming weeks - a successful presentation has already been made to Ards Borough Council’s External Relations and Planning Committee.

The next in the series of these events will be held as follows: The Royal Hotel, Cookstown at 8pm on Wednesday 26th April. Portstewart FC, Portstewart at 8pm on Wednesday 3rd May. These events are open to the public and admission is free, so why not come along and take part in the national stadium debate.

Meetings are also planned with Carrick Borough Council on Mon 15th May, Lisburn City Council (who stand to gain the most from the Maze proposals) on Mon 5th June and Ballymena Borough Council on Mon 12th June.

Today it was revealed that no less than 7 proposals have been put forward to build a new Northern Irish stadium in Belfast, and in their business comment column, the Irish News claimed the NIO’s plans for a Maze stadium were simply ‘wrong’.  While the government are quite happy to waste £85 million of taxpayers money on a white elephant at the Maze, here are private enterprises willing to put their own money where their mouth is and make the investment themselves because they know a stadium in Belfast will work.

South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said any new stadium must be “easily accessible, close to transport links and integrated into a commercial centre - the Maze site offers none of these crucial components.”

At the start of the month, Belfast City Council said it would press on with plans for a Belfast stadium, regardless of whether or not the government went ahead with its proposals for the Maze site.
The 7 proposals are supposedly all connected to the three remaining candidate sites: Maysfield Leisure Centre, Ormeau Park and the North Foreshore of Belfast Lough, and are in response to a request for ‘detailed plans’ from Belfast City Council in January.