TBH, that photo doesn't do it justice, it' worse in reality. It's not just uneven from side to side but all the terracing is sloping. So even when you are just stood still it's not even level.

Is Arsenic a further problem with the Northstand Vasty?

Yes, some of the concrete on the terracing does look bad, and not too long ago, missed a step, and took a little tumble.



No harm done to terracing though

Apparently not, the soil underneath is not toxic, just unstable - bit of an urban myth it would seen.

Oh right, it was mentioned regularly during the SWAG days, cheers Vasty

Just saying it as I see it. Granted, the "pretext" bit is a bit speculative. But the change in levels has been there for years. What I believe you may be suggesting is that the Council surveyors have identified some cavities below the legacy concrete surface hence the viability or providing an over slab now being in question, owing to a failed substrate. Therefore the suspended option was developed at a reduced area to maintain cost targets. If so, that would make sense, and I agree with you.

MC told me the material was akin to "slag" (or similar to the stuff that came out of mines) so not necessarily evil material per ce, but I got the impression that the Project Manager and Engineer didn't really want to uncover a great deal of it, hence the original plan to over cast the existing terrace.

So why did you say you didn't agree? Baffled.



Anyway lets move on and I'me sure we all accept that the upper terracing is horrendous and would have been closed by some councils years ago.

How I understand it, yes it is permanent. Pilings are driven down to ground level and concreted in place. These act as the foundations for the new superstructure. Effectively the new terracing is not supported or even attached to the old terrace banking. You could in truth dig up the old stuff and take it away, however that is expensive so leaving it in place is the better solution.All the crush barriers are also being replaced

as they need to be attached to the new steel framework.



Others may explain it better than I can.

Going back a long time before the flats were there that was slag,with a slope with steps of concrete .The North end of the ground was built on slag as well .

It's little to do with what it is but rather the cost of removing it. That is a huge amount of material to shift off site and then find a landfill site. So yes they don't want to really do anything with it. The mound is stable and not toxic in general terms and won't move but it's not right for laying fresh old style cast concrete using forms.



It would be far better if it were just a flat piece of ground like the south end. The best thing to do with the North stand is to get it fit for purpose and extend its life. The real area where we have true potential to expand is the south end, It's ripe for a no nonsense standing terrace with facilities underneath. Could easily hold 3-4000 standing as it's a big area. If I were planning the stadium after tidying up the west terrace I'd concentrate on the south and leave the north alone. However until we are pushing the 8,000 capacity what's the point.

Funny you should mention the south area. I was only thinking the very same last night. It’s an ideal site for a 3/4000 stand as you say which is basic with a concourse under and a couple of bars. In fact it probably only needs to be a 2000 - 3000 max one. It would be a bonus if you could have a couple of boxes in there for match days but probably not essential.



I’d personally consider leaving the west stand if as you say it’s structurally sound and look at getting the south done. That said you may lose some match day income from the boxes as they’d have to go.



There was talk in the past about us partnering with a football team.



Could this potentially allow access to funding to further develop facilities. I’m not sure if this is still an option or which local club may be interested. We had a brief connection with Leeds reserves and Emley. I wonder if it’s worth re-establishing some links or at least exploring it.