John Mac
Member
John Mac's Statement
I've split out John Mac's statement and subsequent replies from the original thread to make it easier to find. The original thread is here: https://griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14713 - Banana
As a BFC board member and the "Bees United representative", I will try and answer some of the questions being raised on the GPG as I am extremely concerned that some fans may not fully understand the current situation. I will be as honest as I can, but you will have to understand that I am unable to divulge information which may be considered confidential at the present time. I would also like to point out that occasionally the club will issue statements on behalf of the board which may not have been discussed in a board meeting. This is perfectly in order as long as they do not breach company policy.
First of all I would like to make it absolutely clear that there is not one member of the board who wants the club to play at Kingston next season. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that I think it unlikely we will be moving to Kingston, but the situation is difficult and dependent on a number of factors. To stay at Griffin Park the board must be confident the club will have sufficient cash available to pay all the bills for the next 18 months or so. Bees United will be able to chip in with a loan of about £200K, but we'd like to be able to offer significantly more. The standing orders we receive from fans really are going to make a difference, but we have less than 500 people donating in this way. That's not meant to be a criticism, but if we could double the numbers contributing I would be confident enough to say we will definitely be playing at GP for quite a while.
The simple fact is that if the club is unable to raise the necessary cash it needs to run the business it may be forced into administration. Altonwood would like to hand over control to Bees United as soon as possible but unfortunately we'd be no better off. The Supporters' Trust is not in a position to raise huge sums of money, for exactly the same reason the current board can't. Bees United could only raise cash on Brentford FC's primary asset - Griffin Park! Borrowings always have to be secured against an asset, and the market value of ours is no more than £7M at present, so there is little prospect of raising any additional money against it whilst it retains a value at that level. I'm not going to explain the alternatives because everybody knows them as they're the sole cause of the current disagreements between BIAS and Ron Noades, but quite frankly if Bees United owned the club they would have to follow a similar path to the current board. Not a popular decision by any means, but if all other avenues have been explored, and it secures the club's immediate future then there would seem to be little choice.
The objective would be to keep the club in business until a new stadium is ready, and Bees United believes there is a strong case for securing Lionel Road if it is part of a regeneration and transport scheme. The regeneration is the stadium and its enabling development, and the transport scheme is the monorail, and the associated proposals for creating a transport hub at the site. Both are separate projects, but together they make a compelling case for developing the site for the benefit of the community. The area earmarked for a waste transfer station is on the west side of Lionel Road, and outside the triangle of land for sale. It is not critical to the Bees United plans for a stadium, although we'd like to include it as part of the stadium complex if we can.
The site also has the ability to increase the value of Griffin Park for two reasons, one is affordable housing (the percentage could be reduced, and then transferred to Lionel Road) and the other is the UDP which designates the pitch as green space which must be retained. Creating new green space in the local area may allow a degree of relaxation of the UDP and a greater density of housing. So, more houses with fewer of them designated as affordable will significantly increase the value of Griffin Park, meaning there is more cash to invest in the stadium project.
When the Bees United plans were first presented to the full board they were supportive of the scheme, but subsequently formed the impression that the project was wholly dependent on gaining approval for the construction of a monorail, which could take several years. Ron tried to put this point across in his programme notes, but unfortunately didn't quite get it right, and most people thought he was suggesting the whole scheme was unworkable because of the time it would take to complete.
This was a misunderstanding, and I can assure you all that the board is now right behind the proposals for building a stadium at Lionel Road. The problem is we don't know how long it will take before the Strategic Rail Authority make a decision on the sale of the land, and it's quite possible it may be sold anyway. However, not only are the supporters and the club committed to the site, Hounslow Council are as well, and they would be willing to help Bees United negotiate with a new owner for acquisition of the land if we had to. Obviously it will make things more difficult if the site is sold, but hopefully today's extremely important meeting between Hounslow Council and the Strategic Rail Authority will delay the proposed sale, and be the start of a process which keeps Brentford in Brentford!
I would also like to add that Bees United are fully committed to keeping Brentford FC at Griffin Park, if at all possible, until we have a new stadium site.
As a BFC board member and the "Bees United representative", I will try and answer some of the questions being raised on the GPG as I am extremely concerned that some fans may not fully understand the current situation. I will be as honest as I can, but you will have to understand that I am unable to divulge information which may be considered confidential at the present time. I would also like to point out that occasionally the club will issue statements on behalf of the board which may not have been discussed in a board meeting. This is perfectly in order as long as they do not breach company policy.
First of all I would like to make it absolutely clear that there is not one member of the board who wants the club to play at Kingston next season. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that I think it unlikely we will be moving to Kingston, but the situation is difficult and dependent on a number of factors. To stay at Griffin Park the board must be confident the club will have sufficient cash available to pay all the bills for the next 18 months or so. Bees United will be able to chip in with a loan of about £200K, but we'd like to be able to offer significantly more. The standing orders we receive from fans really are going to make a difference, but we have less than 500 people donating in this way. That's not meant to be a criticism, but if we could double the numbers contributing I would be confident enough to say we will definitely be playing at GP for quite a while.
The simple fact is that if the club is unable to raise the necessary cash it needs to run the business it may be forced into administration. Altonwood would like to hand over control to Bees United as soon as possible but unfortunately we'd be no better off. The Supporters' Trust is not in a position to raise huge sums of money, for exactly the same reason the current board can't. Bees United could only raise cash on Brentford FC's primary asset - Griffin Park! Borrowings always have to be secured against an asset, and the market value of ours is no more than £7M at present, so there is little prospect of raising any additional money against it whilst it retains a value at that level. I'm not going to explain the alternatives because everybody knows them as they're the sole cause of the current disagreements between BIAS and Ron Noades, but quite frankly if Bees United owned the club they would have to follow a similar path to the current board. Not a popular decision by any means, but if all other avenues have been explored, and it secures the club's immediate future then there would seem to be little choice.
The objective would be to keep the club in business until a new stadium is ready, and Bees United believes there is a strong case for securing Lionel Road if it is part of a regeneration and transport scheme. The regeneration is the stadium and its enabling development, and the transport scheme is the monorail, and the associated proposals for creating a transport hub at the site. Both are separate projects, but together they make a compelling case for developing the site for the benefit of the community. The area earmarked for a waste transfer station is on the west side of Lionel Road, and outside the triangle of land for sale. It is not critical to the Bees United plans for a stadium, although we'd like to include it as part of the stadium complex if we can.
The site also has the ability to increase the value of Griffin Park for two reasons, one is affordable housing (the percentage could be reduced, and then transferred to Lionel Road) and the other is the UDP which designates the pitch as green space which must be retained. Creating new green space in the local area may allow a degree of relaxation of the UDP and a greater density of housing. So, more houses with fewer of them designated as affordable will significantly increase the value of Griffin Park, meaning there is more cash to invest in the stadium project.
When the Bees United plans were first presented to the full board they were supportive of the scheme, but subsequently formed the impression that the project was wholly dependent on gaining approval for the construction of a monorail, which could take several years. Ron tried to put this point across in his programme notes, but unfortunately didn't quite get it right, and most people thought he was suggesting the whole scheme was unworkable because of the time it would take to complete.
This was a misunderstanding, and I can assure you all that the board is now right behind the proposals for building a stadium at Lionel Road. The problem is we don't know how long it will take before the Strategic Rail Authority make a decision on the sale of the land, and it's quite possible it may be sold anyway. However, not only are the supporters and the club committed to the site, Hounslow Council are as well, and they would be willing to help Bees United negotiate with a new owner for acquisition of the land if we had to. Obviously it will make things more difficult if the site is sold, but hopefully today's extremely important meeting between Hounslow Council and the Strategic Rail Authority will delay the proposed sale, and be the start of a process which keeps Brentford in Brentford!
I would also like to add that Bees United are fully committed to keeping Brentford FC at Griffin Park, if at all possible, until we have a new stadium site.
Last edited by a moderator:
