You may not have been aware in advance but there was a meeting of the Hounslow Council Planning Committee last night. Most Brentford supporters have understandably been focussing on the weekend’s game at Hull City whilst the club have playing things relatively low key (at least in public; behind the scenes I know all concerned have not relented and the hard work has been continuing) since August’s announcement about the redesign to our original plans.
There was the very public fans’ forum shortly after and then the attention has been on continuing the work of levelling the site. No doubt we’ve all seen the footage in regards to the demolition of Capital Court.
Then, last night, this appeared. Sometimes one tweet is all you need.
That’s it. No fanfare. No local news stories. Nothing on Brentford ‘official’. But it IS fantastic. Scroll up, read it again and absorb.
In a project that has seen the club having to clear more hurdles than Ed Moses, this is another landmark moment. True, it was one of our own making in looking to refine the plans after the Council (and other bodies) had already granted their initial support but there was always that worry that things might not go our way this time. Changing opinions and changing faces might alter what should, in theory, have been a decision we were all hoping for.
But no! Agreement is in place and with next season likely to be our last full campaign at Griffin Park (subject to the usual league dispensations regarding the terracing etc) expect progress to continue apace. Matthew Benham, Mark Devlin and the rest of those involved will be adding ‘hard hat and shovel’ to their Christmas present list ahead of that ceremonial ‘breaking ground photo’. That said, perhaps ‘monorail conductors costume’ is a step to far at this stage, even for Santa Claus.
I’ve no doubt official will give us all the news and next steps today. Presumably the wi-fi in the council chambers meant we couldn’t upload any celebratory GIFs etc last night. Likewise, expect online coverage to include stories along the lines of : This Brentford player remains of keen interest for Chelsea, Watford and Barcelona (as stadium progress agreed).
Good luck to them. It’s great news to wake up to . Likewise, to read last night for those of us just coming in from work.
Now, Mr. Benham. If your reading and need some shovel work, my hat size is….
Diggers have already been at work clearing the site at Lionel Road
All of which means we’ve little time / space to talk about Saturday’s opponents, Hull City. Having sacked Leonid Slutsky during the week, they have moved to immediately appoint Nigel Adkins as their new manager. There’s been no time for a caretaker to fill the void and the BBC report that Adkins will be in charge for Saturday’s game.
Can he reverse their fortunes? Can he arrest the Tigers’ slump? Or will Dean Smith’s team continue their strong run of form?
Roll on Saturday at 3pm when we find out.
Nick Bruzon
BrentfordFC 