Lionel Road Stadium – It’s Now or Never for Brentford

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2 Comments

Jeremy Martin on October 8, 2013 at 9:04 am

Steve, a very good appraisal, undoubtedly the process has reached the “nimby” objectors with an instant anti feeling towards the development because of a knee jerk “oh no, not football”,whilst they sit at home glued to their Sky TV coverage of the Premier League perhaps!

It intrigues me that since my childhood the Lionel Road site has largely been a dumping ground for aggregates, waste disposal skips and assorted building materials and the only worthwhile use of Lionel Road has been as a cut through to the M4 and A4.

The parade of shops from The Express pub to the station are an eyesore, the station itself has been neglected so all of these facilities will benefit from refurbishment as a consequence. When Glaxo located to Brentford a consequence was a refurbished station and four trains an hour to London from the previously two an hour.

I sincerely hope that planning is granted, the area is semi industrial and will benefit from the additional facilities. Your example of Chiswick Business Park is another case in point, I work there,it is an excellent development that has attracted global companies who operate in TV, Oil & Gas the entertainment industry and information technology, whose employees patronise the bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants along the Chiswick High Road.

As it stands Lionel Road is an eyesore, a worthwhile and community centric plan is being promoted and planning permission applied for,let’s hope that Hounslow Council recognise the value of the initiative and wholeheartedly support it.

Steve Harding on October 28, 2013 at 11:29 am

As one of those nimbys from the other side of the bridge who also is a season ticket holder at one of your west London rivals, perhaps I am not the best person to respond but I do want to try and bring a bit more balance to Steve’s summary.
Trying to cut through some of the social commentary and memories of past class differences that our own local north south divide has been responsible for, I have to ask the question of why does this wonderful new stadium has to be part of a package of such an intense commercial and residential development?
In the early days of the Lionel Road project it was all about the stadium and although there were a small number of opponents, the vast majority of people welcomed the new stadium. Perhaps rather naively they believed that funds generated from the sale and development of Griffin Park together with support from Hounslow Council and future stadium revenues would be sufficient to create a solid business plan. From someone who has not been that close to the project, it feels that the latest version of the plan has been hijacked by developers who are looking to benefit from the strong local support for the new stadium to wring out the maximum opportunity to sweat the Lionel Road asset to the benefit of their bottom line.
Perhaps I am misguided but in all that I have read and heard recently, not once I have seen a business plan or financial statement that shows the revenues from the residential and commercial developments being used 100% to the benefit of Brentford FC. And that makes me concerned that along with all of the other development along the A4 and Kew Bridge Road/High Street corridor, profit is being put before the real interests of either the Club or local residents on either side of the Thames.
As someone who has family living in Brentford and had a family member who was a professional with the Bees many years ago, I absolutely see the need for a new stadium. But as with everything that is football, the supporters become emotional when it comes to the interests of their Club and sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture. Putting match days to one side, can anyone who travels through this part of town every day not be concerned that yet another 900+ homes within the proposed 12 blocks is going to add to the already long queues of cars and busses trying to move around the area?
Never mind about the sewage system being under additional strain and poor old Mogden Works yet again overflowing, how will the local schools cope? Like many boys, my son has to travel to a Hounslow school every day, a journey that will undoubtedly take longer if this development goes ahead. But he is lucky in that he has a school place, a luxury that, going by the level of over subscription his school faces every year, will only get worse unless the Lionel Road development is fully thought through and measures the true impact on all local facilities and infrastructure.
So to be clear Steve, I would love to see a new stadium that the Bees can be proud of but at what price? If it is this or nothing then I would suggest that it is a very high price to pay to retain a local club. But I would also caution against the obvious passion and commitment of the Bees fans being used as a lever to benefit the commercial interests of the businesses involved in the scheme. Let’s have some financial clarity and then everyone can see who the real winners and losers will be and be clear if this is the only option for the future.