New Newcastle United stadium – Protestors demand referendum vote on whether goes ahead | OneFootball

An interesting one on Thursday morning, as protestors are demanding a ‘public referendum’ on a a far bigger capacity new Newcastle United stadium.

As the BBC News report (see below) states, the protests are against something that hasn’t even been announced…

However, everything does point towards the club seeing a brand new Newcastle United stadium built a couple of hundred yards away from St James’ Park, as by far the most likely preferred option when the club’s owners (eventually!) make public what they would like to do.

This would all but inevitably mean the new Newcastle United stadium to be partly/wholly built on Leazes Park/Castle Leazes land just a goal-kick away from St James’ Park.

The protestors have apparently got 28,000 people to sign a petition against a ‘Saudi super stadium’ going ahead.

The truth is that it’s not difficult to get a certain number of people to sign any petition these days, especially online, plus I reckon plenty of Frank Thomas Martins and Felicity Theresa Morleys amongst them, whether or not they have given Pennywell as their address.

If a new Newcastle United stadium idea was put forward by the club’s owners and it had the broad support of the NUFC fanbase, then if it could be decided by a ‘public referendum’ then my opinion is bring it on!!!

I don’t know how deluded and out of touch you would have to be as one of these protestors, if you honestly think an ambitious massive new Newcastle United stadium would be blocked by the people of Tyneside in a public referendum.

There are 50,000 Newcastle fans at every home match, there are over 100,000 members desperately trying to get tickets every match to join the season ticket holders inside, there were an estimated 300,000 turned out for the cup winning celebrations, there are millions of Newcastle United fans, both locally and further afield.

Any new stadium wouldn’t concrete over the entire green spaces of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The reality is that just as other major clubs have done with stadium plans and/or training facilities and so on, if NUFC did build a stadium that took up some of Leazes Park, they would then for sure be making investment in paying for a trade-off where amongst other sympathetic investment for the community overall (not just Newcastle fans), other land would be then made green space, such as the current St James’ Park

‘A petition to prevent a new football stadium for Newcastle United being built on the city’s oldest park has been presented to councillors.

More than 28,000 people have opposed rumoured plans that would see the club build on Leazes Park, next to St James’, despite NUFC not announcing the move.

Save Newcastle Wildlife campaigner Rachel Locke called on the council to hold a public referendum on the speculated proposals, and said it would be “scandalous” to sacrifice the city’s oldest public park for a “Saudi super stadium”.

The Labour-led authority refused to agree to the request and said a referendum could not be held on plans which have not been submitted. The club has been asked for a comment.

Reports have suggested the Magpies could move to a larger 65,000-seater stadium close to their existing grounds in Newcastle city centre.

St James’ Park has been the home of the club since 1892 and currently has a capacity of 52,000.

NUFC has not formally announced any plans but in December the club’s chief operations officer Brad Miller said a new stadium could more than double the revenue of their current home.

The alternative, expanding the club’s current home at St James’ Park, could prove problematic because the Leazes Terrace housing block located behind the East Stand is a listed building and protected against structural alterations.

Grade II listed Leazes Park opened in 1873, external after nearly 3,000 people signed a petition calling for working people to be granted “ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation”.

Speaking to the council as she presented the petition on Wednesday, Ms Locke said since then “millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money” has been spent on the park to make it pleasant for people and wildlife.

“There are more than 1,000 trees in the park, as well as shrubs and hedgerows, which provide food and shelter for insects and other wildlife including bats, birds and hedgehogs,” she said.

Labour councillor Dan Greenhough said the council had not received a planning application from Newcastle United to build a new stadium or redevelop their existing grounds, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The speculation around Leazes Park is exactly that – speculation,” he said.

“The coverage on the subject in the international media and wherever else is beyond our control.”

Greenhough said any application submitted by the club would be treated “no differently to anyone else”.

Colin Ferguson, who leads the city’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said the sooner there was clarity on the club’s plans the better.