Scott Duxbury said proposals could be 'fundamental' to its future

4:47pm Thursday 8th November 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter

Watford FC’s chief executive has said the Watford Health Campus project could have huge benefits for the club.

Scott Duxbury said proposals, which will see the land behind Vicarage Road developed with a new hospital and 600 new homes, could be "fundamental" to Watford FC’s future business plan.

He said: "Potentially it could be fundamental. Effectively, the town centre of Watford would shift towards the football club.

"The front of the stadium would effectively flip. We might be able to have on-site car parking for the first time.

"It could be huge for the club and we are making sure we are in the discussions, we are party to all the relevant decision making and as and when the development occurs and the various phases are implemented, you can rest assured the club will be in prime position to take advantage.

"The potential of that development is not lost upon us and could be really beneficial for the football club."

Mr Duxbury’s comments come in the run-up to the final decision over the health campus project being made in December by Watford Borough Council’s cabinet.

In the summer the construction company Kier was appointed to draw up plans for the huge scheme.

The project had been hit with controversy after it emerged in spring that the 100-year-old Farm Terrace Allotments, which had been protected in the original plans, may need to be built on.

Watford’s elected mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, who sits on the cabinet, welcomed Mr Duxbury’s comments.

She said: "I am delighted that the new management of the football club see the value of the project. I would have been bitterly disappointed if they hadn’t but they are an enlightened group of people."

Comments(21)

RayLadd says...
5:03pm Thu 8 Nov 12

"Enlightened" now means agreeing with Dotty, for their own benefit of course.

What are the reasons the councilors are so "enlightened" as to want to build on Farm Terrace allotments? Is it the same broad reason?

This thing stinks, as does the council on this matter.

We are all in favour of a better hospital, but allowing over-development is a high price to pay, particularly if it is not necessary.

How do we get an investigation into the shenanigans going on behind the scenes? The Liberals in council seem pretty secretive about their deals - what have they got to hide?

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Andrew1963 says...
5:09pm Thu 8 Nov 12

Not sure the town centre would move towards the health campus, as in effect the main retail centre and office area will not be affected by the scheme. It certainly offers the prospect of greater accessibility with on site parking and the nearby hospital station on the Croxley Rail Link. Road congestion during the critical hour before and after the match could be an issue if too much car parking is encouraged on the health campus, as the access road from Dalton way will only be a single carriageway road. Most spectators who are not walking back to a car will still gravitate towards the high street. It certainly will hem in the stadium with the prospect of the club providing conference facilities to support the health campus. An issue that raises its head is the future use of the original (listed) workhouse buildings next dooor and the factory/retail units between the Hornets and Occupation Road. these will surely follow on as a redevelopment opportunity.

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WWOGAS says...
7:29pm Thu 8 Nov 12

It became apparent at last nights Allotments Meeting held at the Park Inn that the Watford Football Club will benefit greatly at the expense of the Farm Terrace Allotments community.The proposed hospital multi-storey car park will be available for use by the football fans - imagine the additional congestion for hospital visitors. The decision on the future of the allotments will be made, at the WBC Cabinet meeting on 3rd December, by the Mayor and four Portfolio holders - all Liberal Democrats. How is it that such a momentous decision, for US TO LOSE FOREVER THIS PUBLIC SPACE, is made by these people?

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QUINNPT says...
9:39pm Thu 8 Nov 12

While I agree the council needs to be more open and transparent.......bu
t which council of any colour is?.
If you don't like them vote for the other lot......we will be no better off.
However whose to say that all the car park spaces in the multi-storey will be used for the football club??
There will be restrictions, and people forget that the relief road will need to be built yet from Stephenson Way??
Also trouble is with this country there are too many Nimbi's.
At least on the continent they just get on and build things.
Behind the club and the Hospital is a dump and needs to be developed and yes it will be sad to see the demise of Attolments. However, the Council should look at other disused land that could be converted eg down by Hunton Bridge (though belongs to three Rivers/Hertsmere) as an alternative. Times have changed and unfortunately we are a congested area.
We do not have a green and pleasent land anymore, only a concrete one.

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TRT says...
10:50pm Thu 8 Nov 12

We are a congested area. Yes. So why make it worse? The "relief" road will not be available for general use btw. It is for hospital access only. There are backhand dealings going on, I'd lay money on it.

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Andrew1963 says...
11:02pm Thu 8 Nov 12

TRT wrote:
We are a congested area. Yes. So why make it worse? The "relief" road will not be available for general use btw. It is for hospital access only. There are backhand dealings going on, I'd lay money on it.
Are you sure, as the road will be public highway howwillthey stop other users apart from those going to the hospital?

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MJ1 says...
11:32pm Thu 8 Nov 12

It's unlikely that The Chief Executive of Watford FC would have made this statement out of the blue. There is a coded assault on the green space of Farm Terrace allotments. The public are being softened up by vested interests - whether it be Watford FC, Watford Council, the Hospital Trust and the Property developer - all of whom will profit and make profits by sacrificing Farm Terrace allotments. Who is standing up for the ordinary people of West Watford who do not want 600 homes built of their allotments and bringing even more congestion to their narrow residential streets? The minority Labour councillors are suporting the residents but the Lib Dem Mayor is seemingly intent on lining the pockets of the property developers.

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Roy Stockdill says...
11:51pm Thu 8 Nov 12

>Scott Duxbury said proposals, which will see the land behind Vicarage Road developed with a new hospital and 600 new homes, could be "fundamental" to Watford FC’s future business plan.

>He said: "Potentially it could be fundamental. Effectively, the town centre of Watford would shift towards the football club.>

So that is all that Watford now comes down to, i.e. a bunch of moronic cretins (and their supporters) running round a field and occasionally managing to get a ball in between a pair of upright goal posts?

And THAT is thought important in the overall context of a town's development in the 21st century?

Has no-one ever thought of telling Watford FC that they are of no consequence whatsoever in the overall context and that they are simply a bunch of arrogant nobodies?

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Roy Stockdill says...
12:10am Fri 9 Nov 12

I might add that Watford Football Club do NOT represent the town of Watford, Hertfordshire, in any way whatsoever, especially as the current squad appears to be largely composed of a bunch of mercenaries from elsewhere, particularly Italy, who seem to represent the second team of an obscure Italian outfit.

What on earth do this bunch of interlopers and foreigners have to do with Watford? Answers on a postcard.....

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TRT says...
12:47am Fri 9 Nov 12

Simple. No through route in the plans. It's all on the website.

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LSC says...
1:28am Fri 9 Nov 12

I think I turned over two pages at once way back.
Watford needs 600 extra homes in this developement alone? And there are plenty more around. Did Scammel, Sun Printers and Benskins re-open and are hiring staff?

Where are these extra people going to work?

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Andrew1963 says...
12:18pm Fri 9 Nov 12

TRT wrote:
Simple. No through route in the plans. It's all on the website.
Ok it is a dead end with no connection to either Vicarage road or Ascot road (can you wriggle through the hospital and get onto Willow Lane? - But the hospital will be jostling alongside another 600 flats (in addition to the 100 already behind the football stadium) and lots of offices - possibly a supermarket - so they will all use the road to get elsewhere, putting pressure on Wiggenhall Road and beyond. I thought you were implying it would be like a private drive with the only destination the hospital.

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Callisto9000 says...
1:13pm Fri 9 Nov 12

Whilst it is a shame to lose the allotments, the facility is chronically under used. Around a third of the plots are vacant. Plus the rest of the unused land behind there. The health campus needs to happen to retain the viability of the hospital and create access in that area of Watford. This has been on the cards for years (that's why there's the funny bend on the one way system!) Just like the Croxley rail link, this needed to happen yesterday.

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garston tony says...
1:57pm Fri 9 Nov 12

I've actually nothing against the project but seeing as the 'enlightened' people at the club are not backing the project due to the improved health benefits to those that will be using it i.e. patients (which is surely the number one consideration no in a health campus?) then it’s a bit of a hollow thing.

It would be like the contractor who is going to build the campus backing it on the basis they are going to make millions of pounds of profit, totally the wrong motivation for the backing.

What do the health professionals think of the plans? If you tell me that the majority of nurses and doctors at the hospital back the plans then i'll take some notice

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Roy Stockdill says...
2:25pm Fri 9 Nov 12

Population of Watford postcode area, including Croxley Green, Bushey, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley, Carpenders Park and South Oxhey - 120,960 (2001 census).

Average attendance at Watford FC home matches in 2011/12 - 12,704, fifth lowest in the Championship.

The statistics show the relative unimportance of the club in this matter which, as Tony points out, is all about improving health services for Watford.

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TRT says...
10:15am Sat 10 Nov 12

The road will only improve access for things that are not there yet. So the only gain from the status quo will be a small reduction in the current hospital traffic. Not total reduction. The fc's statement is totally self-serving. I suppose the parking may assist other activities of the club but it certainly cannot form any extension to its core business, ie football matches.

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Roy Stockdill says...
11:17am Sat 10 Nov 12

>The fc's statement is totally self-serving<

Of course it is. The fatuous statements of football club directors and executives always are! Somebody should tell them that there are far more important things in life than football, like homes and hospitals.

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garston tony says...
9:00am Mon 12 Nov 12

Roy you've shot yourself in the foot with those figures, an activity that 1 in 10 of the local population regularly participates in is rather significant. Probably only beaten by the Harlequin centre and the 'café' quarter and a far larger proportion of people going to those areas are going to be from outside the local area.

But yes grand scheme of things as much as being a football supporter can be good for the health, the needs of a football club are not as important as the needs of a hospital

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Roy Stockdill says...
9:54am Mon 12 Nov 12

Tony, being a football supporter may be good for the health of the supporters themselves but it doesn't do a lot for those who have to suffer their crude and yobbish behaviour.

I would draw your attention to a superb piece of writing on the back page of the sports section of yesterday's Mail on Sunday by Patrick Collins, their chief sports writer. Under the headline "Why do we put up with these obscenities just because it's football?" he reports on the behaviour of a gang of Chelsea fans on a train from Swansea to Paddington who appalled and terrorised normal, civilised people, who were forced to share the same carriage, with their foul language and offensive, drunken chanting.

Collins went on to depict football followers more generally as crass and offensive and indulging in malignant malice. Just as I did, he hoped the splendid example of the civilised crowds at the London Olympics might have rubbed off on football but, of course, it didn't. He describes football fans as indulging in "charmless arrogance which inspires moronic delusion". And he ended his piece with: "We take a game, a beautiful, much-loved game, and reduce it to an anti-social charade, fit for cider-swilling dolts."

He is right, of course. Football is shot through with insufferable arrogance and run by ignorant people who think nothing else matters. The statement by the chief executive of Watford FC is symbolic of this arrogance. When you have supposed educated, intelligent people at the top running things, is it any wonder that the moronic scum at the bottom believe than can get away with anything?

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garston tony says...
2:11pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Roy not all football supporters are yobs, its only a small percentage of football 'fans' who cause trouble and give a bad name to the rest of us.

Can football do many things better, yes of course it can and it does have a bloated sense of its self importance (for once not saying that about you!). But the reason there is foul language and anti social behaviour in football is because it exists in society as a whole, so hows about someone writing an article condemning that behaviour on our high street? Hows about massive media focus on that problem as a whole?

Nothing makes me cringe quite like hearing adults unable to speak a sentence without using half a dozen swear words, its bad enough when you hear kids bleeping and bleeping but adults should know better. I can understand it when used as an exclamation of pain or even surprise/anguish but its just pathetic and illiterate when used in every day speak. I think media has a lot to do with it, why do so many comedians - some who can be genuinely funny - resort to needless swearing. They often claim its for effect, but they just say it because they know its 'naughty' and that just makes them childish.

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Roy Stockdill says...
3:08pm Mon 12 Nov 12

Well, Tony, I agree that it's a minority - but an appallingly loud and offensive one - that gives football a bad name.

However, Patrick Collins was making the point, and so do I, that we didn't get any of that during the Olympics. The crowds at the athletics, cycling, swimming, rowing, sailing, etc events were very loud in their support of Team GB but there was no foul language, no unpleasant chants, and they were as generous in their support of competitors from other nations whose excellence they recognised.

You don't get riotous behaviour from cricket fans, rugby union fans, tennis fans or rugby league fans, which is just as much a working class game as football.

It seems to be only football that attracts the worst and lowest elements in society (and Collins also made the point, which I didn't mention earlier, that the Chelsea fans he was writing about were not youths but mainly middle-aged men). Don't you think it's the tribal nature of football supporters that brings out the worst of their natures which they demonstrate in the hatred of anyone who supports a different team to theirs, which is in itself an indication of how immature and childish they are?

Possibly cricket, tennis, cycling, rugby fans, etc, are from a somewhat better class of background than those football morons who appear to stem from the detritus of the gutters.

But I agree that grown adults who cannot string a sentence together without half a dozen expletives, especially within the hearing of women, are pathetic and I too find it offensive. Yes, maybe comedians are to blame for some of it.

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