merse btpir wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 17:35
The Mayor of Torbay is Gordon Oliver Neal; it was Bye, Bye to Nick at the last election..........he's still a councillor though
Not quite: it was actually "hello" to Bye at the last election as he rejoined the council after four years 'out'.
We will be returning to the 'old' ways in two years, when the council loses its directly elected mayor and reverts to the old leader-run style. If this godforsaken saga continues, whoever suggested we might be relying on Nick Bye a couple of posts back might well be correct: my money's on him to be the leader of the council (the current Tory group leader is too divisive, even for them) come May 2017.
What a bloody mess local politics is in as well. God help us and social care and whatever else they control, keeping up with all this seems like a full time pastime.
merse btpir wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 18:19
You sum it up well SenorDingDong; the old guard Establishment have merely re-incarnated themselves within the new system but reactionary old Torbay is going back to the old system soon.......and they reckon the Jurassic Coast ends just along the shoreline!
Exactly Merse, rather than the Mayoral system bringing in new blood and outside thinking, with the kind of business thinking that is desperately needed, the old political class of Torbay captured the Mayoral system and got their own people in there. Leading to some obscure disputes whereby the leader of the Tory councillors fell out with the Tory mayor. The local population of Torbay who vote for Tory and Lib Dem without much thinking then bafflingly continued to vote for Tory mayoral candidates rather than independents who might have been a fresh breath of air - the fact that Nick Bye got so many votes as an independent was somewhat amazing to me. The Tories having captured the system, then dismantled it via a concerted campaign within the local media, blaming all of Torbay's woes upon the system - along with the long NIMBYs who always complain about any kind of change, and now they've got their way and the Bay is soon to be back in the control of local councillors, a large % of whom would struggle to run a piss up in a brewery.
These are the people that Torquay United is relying upon in part to save it. God help us.
SenorDingDong wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 19:17
Exactly Merse, rather than the Mayoral system bringing in new blood and outside thinking, with the kind of business thinking that is desperately needed, the old political class of Torbay captured the Mayoral system and got their own people in there. Leading to some obscure disputes whereby the leader of the Tory councillors fell out with the Tory mayor. The local population of Torbay who vote for Tory and Lib Dem without much thinking then bafflingly continued to vote for Tory mayoral candidates rather than independents who might have been a fresh breath of air - the fact that Nick Bye got so many votes as an independent was somewhat amazing to me. The Tories having captured the system, then dismantled it via a concerted campaign within the local media, blaming all of Torbay's woes upon the system - along with the long NIMBYs who always complain about any kind of change, and now they've got their way and the Bay is soon to be back in the control of local councillors, a large % of whom would struggle to run a piss up in a brewery.
These are the people that Torquay United is relying upon in part to save it. God help us.
Yesterday I wrote several emails to local politicians.
I have received supportive replies from Adrian Sanders and Ian Doggett (my local councillors), Julian Parrott and Steve Darling (as head of the Liberal Democrat group). I have not heard back yet from Kevin Foster although his last reply on the subject of the lease was very positive and well informed.
I also wrote the Gordon Oliver the mayor, have not heard back yet and don't expect to. However I registered my concerns with him and feel better for it!
Whether we stay up or not I feel that without Plainmoor all is lost. These local politicians have an influence on what happens with the lease and it is worth making our feelings known to them. Even if, like Gordon Oliver, they are already in GI's pocket, they can be made aware of the strength of feeling out there.
A mate of mine suggested as a protest we boycott the first 15 mins of the Chester game. Any takers?
I've said this before but if you move to another area out of town it will be difficult to survive Torquay are struggling now so it's not going to get easier.
It's a shame the club did not invest in flats built one end of the ground they would then have had a steady income. If we move it will be no better. :B
Soupdragon wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 18:55Not quite: it was actually "hello" to Bye at the last election as he rejoined the council after four years 'out'..
I meant that he lost the mayoralty at the last mayoral election ~ he was dropped by the Tories after he "washed dirty linen in public", the local conservative association said.
Yorkieandy wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 12:27
The new Scarborough ground at Weaponness isn't in difficulty.
I stand corrected on that one Yorkieandy. I see that the complex is not only a Leisure Sports Village but also a regeneration project with two state of the art educational campuses for Coventry University Scarborough Campus and Scarborough University Technical College. I have to say Scarborough have not raised the bar on the stadium ground capacity being roughly the size of the Bristow Bench. Just hope they don't get Man Utd at home in the FA cup next season. Nonetheless, at least they have a ground with I expect an affordable rent. So a bright future for them I hope and who knows from little acorns ....
Zippy wrote: 25 Mar 2017, 18:51
I we are still afloat next season then yes I think a new stadium is what we need to stay financially viable, we cannot stay as we are at plainmoor. just look at other small clubs that have moved and doubled their crowds and have other things that go on at their grounds, i.e. Shrewsbury, Doncaster, Barnet,
All 3 of those teams are in the League. We're looking at being in regional football next year. Plainmoor will suffice for Torquay United until such time as we are stable in League 2 (and let's face it, who knows when that could happen). At some point, yes, the club might need a new facility, but that time is not now, especially when we're in a battle for our very survival as a club.
I could even understand the move to a new ground if we were in the upper echelons of the National Conference, challenging for at least a play off spot and getting 3,500 each week - if nothing else as a signal to the local area that we're serious about improving the standing of the club. But GI have done absolutely nothing to suggest that they have anything in mind other than a quick buck.
merse btpir wrote: 26 Mar 2017, 21:33
I meant that he lost the mayoralty at the last mayoral election ~ he was dropped by the Tories after he "washed dirty linen in public", the local conservative association said.
Again, not quite. He didn't stand for mayor at the last mayoral election (in 2015). The Tory candidate was Gordon Oliver, the incumbent who had been elected as a Tory mayor four years previously (2011). Nick Bye stood only as a councillor for Wellswood in 2015, which he won.
Nick Bye was never 'dropped' by the Tories; he's remained one ever since he defected from the Lib Dems. In the mayoral election of 2011, Bye stood for mayor as an independent, running the Tory candidate into a second round 'vote-off'. I think it shocked the local Tories just how much support Bye had as an independent, and they have now ruled that if you are a Tory member, you cannot stand as anything other than that in any local election. Fair enough... They 'punished' him a bit by not selecting him for this or that for a few years, but why would the Tories get rid of one of their most prominent local politicians? One of the most recognised faces in local politics? In fact, I can't think of anyone else with as high a local recognition factor; you'd find eight out of ten people probably couldn't pick Mayor Oliver out of a line-up.
And here endeth the pr for Nick Bye. It's not like he pays me.
