Moseley’s submission of a new planning application to build a permanent stand at Billesley represents not only a significant step in the club’s post-administration history but the dawning of common sense. And not before time.
For a long while after they moved to the venue in 2005 – which came as a blessed relief following several penurious, nomadic and endangered years, some at the club harboured the slightly risible aspiration to construct a 5,000 seater stand on what is arguably local authority land.
The current planning application, which went in on July 31 and is legally bound to be heard by November, is a far more modest and, some would say, fitting proposal that, in seating terms at least, seems to be a pale shadow of the scheme which was given consent in 2010.
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That does not mean it should be sniffed at. Whilst it is not so grand in terms of ambition, it is much more in keeping with the circumstances in which Moseley exist. Combined with the existing Ramshackle Stand – which will move either to the opposite sideline or be used as a glorified windbreak at the summit of Mount Billesley, Moseley are intending to provide seating for 1,300 spectators.
But that is only one part of a scheme called the South Birmingham Sports Village, a catchy title first dreamt up many, many years ago deep within the bowels of the council, that was supposed to include West Midlands Transport, Moseley Golf and Moseley Ashfield Cricket Clubs.
Not any more, the key partnership is between the rugby club and The City of Birmingham Bowls Club, which is moving from its site in Stirchley and bringing with it some of the capital raised by the sale of their existing home.
With Moseley’s contribution that has created a workable pool to build not only the stand but changing rooms, medical and administrative space, bars, a kitchen, a clubhouse function room as well as a six lane indoor bowls facility.
This will complement the tennis centre which is already on site and the other sport played on Billesley Common which includes cricket and football.
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At this point we must not allow ourselves to be seduced by the notion that Moseley have suddenly come over all community-minded and altruistic.
There is a harsh reality behind the decision to scale down their original plans and that is the fact the remaining Section 106 money raised by the sale of The Reddings will not be available past July 2014. As rugby referee’s have come to say, after more than a decade it’s now a case of ‘Use it or lose it.’ But that money, thought to be in the region of £1 million, was never going to be enough to bring the Plan A into fruition, which is why it has taken so long for anything concrete, quite literally, to materialise.
Much of the time since 2005 has been spent trying to jump through bureaucratic hoops, first to attain planning permission for any sort of permanent structure and then to attract the necessary funding. It is safe to say no-one at the club thought it would be such an arduous and painstaking process.
In the three years since consent for the bigger stand was obtained, Moseley have been trying to extract blood from the increasingly-fossilised stone of public money. Of course, the fact the economic climate didn’t so much change as enter a new ice age in the intervening period did anything but help.
Moseley finally mothballed their grandiose pretensions when a large grant application was rejected by Sport England at the turn of the year and Plan B, which had first been kicked around in 2012, was enacted.
The current process began to move forward in April and if the planners agree work should start in January next year with the new facility open in time for the 2014-15 campaign – whichever division the first team are in.
They still intend to build the large facility on the East side of the ground but the phrase ‘contingent on funding’ will, I suspect, be a massive sticking point for some years to come. But that doesn’t mean officials haven’t done well to get this far, after all home wasn’t built in a day. Moseley have proved that.