The Don Valley Stadium was built for the World Student Games hosted by Sheffield in 1991. The stadium is one of the top sports stadiums in the UK and provides much-needed training facilities for young athletes, including Jess Ennis. In a cynical move to create anti-government feeling, Sheffield Council has announced that in view of government cuts, it can no longer afford to keep the stadium open. The loss of these facilities would be a major blow to UK athletics and I ask you all to sign this e-petition in an attempt to reverse the council's decision.
https://submissions.epetitions.direc...etitions/44288
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
An absolute travesty this place is being closed.
As well as athletics, there's been Football rugby and even summer gigs (U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers among others).
To take this action on the back of Ennis' triumphant 2012 is just ridiculous. It should have been showpieced.
Hopefully it will be saved/bought. Not a huge fan of the place myself but would be a real killer to that area.
Signed the petition,
Sheffield council has a history of wasting billions of pounds on projects that the whole of South Yorkshires tax payers have to pay for, the super tram is one example and IMHO the student games were another, however the facility is one of a kind and knowing Sheffield councils track record (no pun) on blowing money, 5 years from now they will be telling us that building a new stadium is essential for the cities development and the whole sorry cycle will start again, i have no love for or faith in Sheffield City Council and never have had.
I heard a good interview with the SIV top bod on Radio Sheffield a while back. He was saying that for every £1 they take in admissions etc at Don Valley, it costs them £25 to run it. This was compared to every quid they take at Ponds Forge requiring 50p to run (the numbers probably aren't exact but the order of magnitude is).Originally Posted by senwar
The problem is that so few events use it that it just drains money to keep going. Their answer is of course to shut the place rather than try to maximise the use of it...
signed....am a big athletics fan.
Think that's a key point - this should be used a hell of a lot more.
Those numbers/magnitude are ridiculous though.
+1,000,000!
Spot on. Ultimately the good folk of Sheffield get the council they deserve, and until they hold their councillors to account, nothing will change.
Does this also take into account that Sheffield City Council flattened a swimming pool with olympic size diving pool and re-located it to the current Ponds Forge site, a distance of about 300 metres, a pool that had been open only approx 12 years?
The council has an impecable record regarding its inability to organise a drink in a brewery.
The councillor responsible for the WSG is Peter Price and he lives about 200 metres from me. He genuinely has the interests of Sheffield at heart but he is seriously deluded on how to achieve it. When it's not your money, you can spend it with impunity.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
seen both U2 and The Chilli Peppers her amongst others not to mention use its gym facilities once in a while. cant believe this is closing. petition signed.
Sheffield council would lose money running a brothel on an oil rig. Idiots.
So many local people! I have to agree with the brothel description. I watch millions get wasted every day by the council and their approach to dealing with things. They try to run the council as a business, but have complete fools running the show. To top it off, the last thing I ever see in the decision making process, is what's best for the city. As proud as I am though of the stadium, I can see the logic of closing it if it's being massively underused and a drain on resources. I do feel sorry for all those people who do benefit though from it. Sometimes, the best things don't always make economic sense.
The sad fact is that the stadium needs money spent on it but with no prospect of any sort of regular events to be held there no-one wants to do so. It is run by a private company who get a degree of funding from the council - the council are being forced to save money everywhere so can't give any more money to run it.
The last regular sporting events held there have been Sheffield Eagles matches, but they seem to be playing all future fixtures at bramall lane now so with them gone and Rotherham installed in their new ground there's nothing on the horizon.
I don't know what they will do with it really. It's not a particularly valuable area for land and is surrounded by light industry / shipping / distribution and the remnants of a Steel industry so not an attractive area for commercial or residential. The HS2 rail link is due to have a station close by, but that's still some time away.
Apparently part of the problem is that the events they have been hosting have low or free ticket prices so there's no real revenue - its a great venue for athletic meets and amateur/student games, but people don't pay 35 quid a ticket for that.
Tis a shame, but I can't help feeling it would have happened five years ago had Rotherham not fell out with Millmoor.
I signed the petition, although I've never been to the Don valley stadium, I did work on a display at the Don valley bowl in November, it would be a shame to see it go, may be a change in management may see it run more effectively and more profitable.
I was sorry to hear the decision. As a former middle-distance runner and long-time athletics fan it's not what I wanted to hear. I`ve been to rugby league matches there too and, whilst not ideal, the ground was better than a lot. I guess it doesn`t generate sufficient revenue and it's become something of a white elephant. Modern stadia are designed to generate several income streams and I`m assuming Don Valley can`t do this.
After all the bluster and hot air surrounding the Olympics last year I`d like to think that funding could be found from elsewhere to support this facility. I can see it's failings and shortcomings but it's sacrilege to let it go.
It's ironic that there was a major outcry when the stadium was built for the World Student Games which (allegedly) cost Sheffield a lot of money.
Paul
A couple of old articles about the Student Games debt:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-14134973
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/...-pay-1-3193430
Announced today!
Plans to redevelop the site of Don Valley Stadium as a £40m "sports and wellbeing park" have been announced.
The Sheffield venue, where Olympic champion Jessica Ennis trains, is to be closed as part of council budget cuts.
The plans include venues for rugby and gymnastics but not athletics, which will move to the smaller Woodbourn Road stadium.
No details of how the proposed development would be funded have been revealed.
Former sports minister Richard Caborn described it as the "biggest Olympic legacy project outside of London".
Having worked very closely toe DVS I know how proud the locals feel about the stadium what a waste to demolish such a usefull stadium I do hope this is sorted in favor of keeping it.
paul.
Didnt take 5 years for the council to start again with a replacement project, South Yorkshire Council Tax payers should be spitting feathers!
I can only reply with quotes about Mr Caborn.Announced today!
Plans to redevelop the site of Don Valley Stadium as a £40m "sports and wellbeing park" have been announced.
The Sheffield venue, where Olympic champion Jessica Ennis trains, is to be closed as part of council budget cuts.
The plans include venues for rugby and gymnastics but not athletics, which will move to the smaller Woodbourn Road stadium.
No details of how the proposed development would be funded have been revealed.
Former sports minister Richard Caborn described it as the "biggest Olympic legacy project outside of London".
Adam Ingram, the former Armed Forces minister, and Richard Caborn, the former trade minister, met a fake lobbying company to discuss work they could do after they stand down as MPs at the general election, it has emerged.
Mr Ingram, the MP for East Kilbride, is understood to have cited work he does for a defence firm in Libya as evidence of his experience in the field of business. He already makes up to £170,000 a year from consultancy work and non-executive directorships while also drawing his MP's salary of £63,291.
One of his five outside jobs includes providing consultancy services to Argus Libya UK LLP, a firm that explores commercial opportunities in Colonel Gaddafi's country. Mr Ingram also makes up to £55,000 advising Electronic Data Services Ltd, a Ministry of Defence contractor; about £50,000 from SignPoint Secure Ltd, and up to £25,000 from Argus Scotland Ltd.
Mr Caborn is thought to have told the fake firm, created as part of a sting operation by Channel 4's Dispatches, that he preferred to work for niche nuclear companies who paid him much more money than big nuclear firms.
The MP for Sheffield Central is a director of Nuclear Management Partners and a consultant to AMEC, a construction firm in the nuclear industry. The former sports minister is also a consultant to the Fitness Industry Association. Both former ministers deny any wrongdoing.EddieI don't do 'jollies' says angry Caborn.
Europe Intelligence Wire
| July 15, 2006 | Copyright
(From The Star (Sheffield))
SHEFFIELD MP Richard Caborn has defended controversial trips to the World Cup costing thousands of pounds of taxpayers money.
The Sports Minister, who represents Sheffield Central, came under fire from Sheffield's Lib Dem leader Paul Scriven for spending GBP14,000 on five journeys to England matches in Germany - but today he said the trips included meetings with officials from football's world and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA.
He said the money also paid for his private secretary and press secretary to go with him, and covered a trip to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela for an interview with the former president about his support for London's successful 2012 Olympics bid. ...
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
If i could only get over the total revulsion and shame of being a total criminal, i could perhaps become a politician.
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