Fifteenpointmax

I don't intend to get into public debates which in the end, serve no purpose, so I'll just say this and then step back from the discussion. I have no interest in 'arguments' you are having with others on this forum but you constantly try to undermine the efforts of the Save Coventry Speedway campaign group, initially under the alias of Speedibee and now adonis. I have not 'berated you for things you have not said', but referred to two specific things you did say, namely, that we've 'appointed ourselves as saviours of the realm' and saying we are (or I am) 'always on local radio giving people false hope'. Why do you have to do it? To the best of my knowledge, I've never met you, so can't imagine why you have to be so nasty. Your reply to Dave Rowe's offer to discuss things with you, says so much about you and demonstrates an inexplicable and cowardly (anonymity) bitterness. I don't know Simon, whether your Son knows you post all this stuff but I can't imagine he'd be proud of you if he did. In contrast, I know, whether we are eventually successful or not in our campaign (no false hope), I will be proud of the fact that we've done our best, we've got off our backsides and had a go and that we could not have done more.

I'm not a regular on this forum and indeed, this being only my third post, it has to be approved by a moderator. Though I previously registered under the name of FifteenPointMax, let me make it clear my name is Jeff Davies. I was advised by others about comments being posted about the Save Coventry Speedway group, particularly from one or two individuals including Simon, sorry 'adonis'. He previously posted under another name and appears for some unknown reason to decry everything we do in our efforts to Save Coventry Speedway. He says we've 'appointed ourselves as saviours of the realm' and implies we (or me) 'are always on local radio giving people false hope'. Well, let me address a few of Simon's points: We are simply doing our very best to see speedway and stock cars return to Brandon. We have no 'axe to grind' with anyone. We've refused to be drawn into public debates about any of the individuals involved. We believe we've acted throughout with honesty and integrity and will continue to do so. We've said all along, we don't know if our efforts will be successful but if we're not successful, it won't be through lack of trying. That's hardly giving people false hope is it? With regard to being on local radio - yes, I've personally been on local radio many times talking about Brandon and our fight to save it. We've been on BBC Midlands Today (twice) and ITV Central News. We've twice delivered letters to 1000 local residents in Brandon and Binley Woods. We made a presentation to supporters and local residents in Brandon Club, updating them on the status. We created an electronic newsletter, which several hundred people subscribed to, as a means of updating people of progress. It's called communication Simon. And it keeps the issue of Brandon Stadium, so dear to so many of us, in the public spotlight. And just in case you're not familiar with other things we've been doing, here's a brief summary. We've: Had had a total of 7 meetings with Members of Parliament, one of which was in Westminster. Submitted a very professional 80 page document to Rugby Council in response to Brandon Estates' planning application, exposing numerous misleading, inaccurate and blatant untruths in their application. Submitted a similar document to Rugby Council regarding the Local Plan. Created a document called the 'History of Brandon Stadium' which we've had printed and circulated to the members of the Planning Committee Spoken at the Local Plan Public Hearing and accompanied the Government Inspector on a site visit to the stadium. Escalated the plight into the national press with a full page article in the Mail on Sunday as well as a feature in the Times on Line. Co-ordinated opposition to the redevelopment resulting in an unprecedented 1800 people sending in letters of objection to the proposal. Managed to get 11 Members of Parliament / Lords to sign a letter 'urging Rugby Council to reject the planning application and actively work towards a return of the sports to the stadium' Met with Sport England to get their support for the stadium to remain as a sports stadium Met with the Local Enterprise Partnership Met with the leader of Coventry Council and his team Met (several times) with the leader of Rugby Council Met with the BSPA and the ACU Got more than 100 skilled tradesmen / women as well as many local businesses to support a rebuild of the stadium should it fall back into the hands of a party who wants to reinstate the sports Got Greg Hancock, Barry Briggs and Frankie Wainman Jnr to produce videos in support of the campaign to save the iconic stadium Met numerous times with the Principle Planning Officer dealing with the planning application, as well as the Head of Growth and Investment at Rugby Council Staged an exhibition at the Brandon Hall Hotel (to counter a Brandon Estates exhibition on the same day) Had a double stand at Motofest to highlight the fight to save Brandon to 150,000 visitors Communicated with parties that are interested in taking on the stadium in the event of Brandon Estates choosing at some point to 'offload it' So, those are some, but by no means all, of the things we've been doing. We've been honest with people. We've tried to keep people informed. We've most certainly not given people false hope. With regard to Mr Horton running National League at Leicester, look at our website and read the messages of support we've posted regarding the venture. We've not said anything negative about it at all. If it's successful, all well and good. If it fails, it's because supporters, for whatever reason, choose not to go. It may interest people to know, I sent text messages to the Bees team manager (Martyn) and to Mick, wishing them all the best prior to first meeting of the season. Running at Leicester whilst at the same time campaigning to save Brandon is not incompatible. One final point. Please take note of what the Government Inspector said in his report following the public hearing of the Local Plan. He agreed with the argument we put forward at that hearing, that Rugby Council Policy did not adequately protect sporting stadiums like Brandon. As a result of that, Rugby Council are in the process of revising their policies which will make it more difficult for the developers to get planning permission. And further more, if they did get planning permission either locally, or on appeal, something called Paragraph 74 would apply, requiring an alternative venue of equal or better standard, to be in place. So that was a huge positive for our campaign. Will all this effort achieve anything? Will we get back to Brandon? Time will tell. But we've got off our backsides and had a go. It disappoints me therefore, that people like you Simon, sit at your keyboards and knock us for trying.

I'm not a regular on this forum and indeed, this being only my third post, it has to be approved by a moderator. Though I previously registered under the name of FifteenPointMax, let me make it clear my name is Jeff Davies. I was advised by others about comments being posted about the Save Coventry Speedway group, particularly from one or two individuals including Simon, sorry 'adonis'. He previously posted under another name and appears for some unknown reason to decry everything we do in our efforts to Save Coventry Speedway. He says we've 'appointed ourselves as saviours of the realm' and implies we (or me) 'are always on local radio giving people false hope'. Well, let me address a few of Simon's points: We are simply doing our very best to see speedway and stock cars return to Brandon. We have no 'axe to grind' with anyone. We've refused to be drawn into public debates about any of the individuals involved. We believe we've acted throughout with honesty and integrity and will continue to do so. We've said all along, we don't know if our efforts will be successful but if we're not successful, it won't be through lack of trying. That's hardly giving people false hope is it? With regard to being on local radio - yes, I've personally been on local radio many times talking about Brandon and our fight to save it. We've been on BBC Midlands Today (twice) and ITV Central News. We've twice delivered letters to 1000 local residents in Brandon and Binley Woods. We made a presentation to supporters and local residents in Brandon Club, updating them on the status. We created an electronic newsletter, which several hundred people subscribed to, as a means of updating people of progress. It's called communication Simon. And it keeps the issue of Brandon Stadium, so dear to so many of us, in the public spotlight. And just in case you're not familiar with other things we've been doing, here's a brief summary. We've: Had had a total of 7 meetings with Members of Parliament, one of which was in Westminster. Submitted a very professional 80 page document to Rugby Council in response to Brandon Estates' planning application, exposing numerous misleading, inaccurate and blatant untruths in their application. Submitted a similar document to Rugby Council regarding the Local Plan. Created a document called the 'History of Brandon Stadium' which we've had printed and circulated to the members of the Planning Committee Spoken at the Local Plan Public Hearing and accompanied the Government Inspector on a site visit to the stadium. Escalated the plight into the national press with a full page article in the Mail on Sunday as well as a feature in the Times on Line. Co-ordinated opposition to the redevelopment resulting in an unprecedented 1800 people sending in letters of objection to the proposal. Managed to get 11 Members of Parliament / Lords to sign a letter 'urging Rugby Council to reject the planning application and actively work towards a return of the sports to the stadium' Met with Sport England to get their support for the stadium to remain as a sports stadium Met with the Local Enterprise Partnership Met with the leader of Coventry Council and his team Met (several times) with the leader of Rugby Council Met with the BSPA and the ACU Got more than 100 skilled tradesmen / women as well as many local businesses to support a rebuild of the stadium should it fall back into the hands of a party who wants to reinstate the sports Got Greg Hancock, Barry Briggs and Frankie Wainman Jnr to produce videos in support of the campaign to save the iconic stadium Met numerous times with the Principle Planning Officer dealing with the planning application, as well as the Head of Growth and Investment at Rugby Council Staged an exhibition at the Brandon Hall Hotel (to counter a Brandon Estates exhibition on the same day) Communicated with parties that are interested in taking on the stadium in the event of Brandon Estates choosing at some point to 'offload it' So, those are some, but by no means all, of the things we've been doing. We've been honest with people. We've tried to keep people informed. We've most certainly not given people false hope. With regard to Mr Horton running National League at Leicester, look at our website and read the messages of support we've posted regarding the venture. We've not said anything negative about it at all. If it's successful, all well and good. If it fails, it's because supporters, for whatever reason, choose not to go. It will have no bearing on what we are doing. Running at Leicester whilst at the same time campaigning to save Brandon is not incompatible. One final point. Please take note of what the Government Inspector said in his report following the public hearing of the Local Plan. He agreed with the argument we put forward at that hearing, that Rugby Council Policy did not adequately protect sporting stadiums like Brandon. As a result of that, Rugby Council are in the process of revising their policies which will make it more difficult for the developers to get planning permission. And further more, if they did get planning permission either locally, or on appeal, something called Paragraph 74 would apply, requiring an alternative venue of equal or better standard, to be in place. So that was a huge positive for our campaign. Will all this effort achieve anything? Will we get back to Brandon? Time will tell. But we've got off our backsides and had a go. It disappoints me therefore, that people like you Simon, sit at your keyboards and knock us for trying.

It's Jeff here and I'm sure I speak for the dreamers too. There is nothing inevitable about Brandon Estates getting planning permission just because they have drawn up a scheme showing 137 houses on the site of Brandon Stadium. There is major opposition to it, not only from speedway and stock car fans but the vast majority of local residents too. They bought a viable, operational sports stadium in 2013 and are making what is an outrageous speculative bid to demolish it and build houses for huge profit. They should not be allowed to do it. So we will dream on. We will fight it at the forthcoming Local Plan Public Examination. Don't give up - that's exactly what Brandon Estates want you to do.

So, let me first introduce myself, as this is my first (and probably last) post on this forum. I am Jeff Davies, one of the 'dreamers' referred to above. I don't normally go on this forum, simply because, whilst there are many rational people that make posts and engage in sensible discussion, unfortunately there are too many moronic idiots like 'Speedibee' who spout absolute rubbish and bring the forum into disrepute. As someone who is in full knowledge of facts, I can tell you, you haven't got a clue what went on, is going on or likely to happen in the future. So let me ask you Simon, sorry, Speedibee, why do you find it necessary to ridicule the efforts of the Save Coventry Speedway group who are trying their very best to bring about the return of both speedway and stock car racing to the area, to enable fans of the sports, particularly young kids, to enjoy? In common with other members of the group, I have spent an unbelievable amount of time in the last seven or so months, in meetings with numerous official bodies including both Rugby and Coventry Councils as well as the local Member of Parliament, sent / received hundreds of emails and spent what seems to be half of my waking hours on the 'phone. All in an effort to find a solution to what is a very complex problem which you have no understanding of. You ask, already knowing the answer, who is 'promoting' the challenge match at Leicester. Well Speedibee, I can tell you that I have personally arranged the series of challenge matches. I have had to agree a budget with the promoter at each club, negotiate pay rates with the riders, draw up contracts for each rider / each meeting and frankly, it's a time consuming, difficult and thankless task. But I've done it to keep the name of Coventry Bees going and to give the supporters a chance to see 'their' team. Yet you seem to get some perverse pleasure in ridiculing these efforts. Why? Amongst your other nasty posts, you refer to us as "a gaggle of empty pocketed disappointed supporters, led by a couple of dreamers" (I've corrected your spelling mistakes). Well, not that it's any of your business or has any real relevance but one of the 'gaggle' is a millionaire and a second one a multi-millionaire. Reading through your posts on the Coventry situation, your comments are not 'tongue in cheek, they're not 'banter', they are really nasty, negative, offensive comments and are completely uncalled for. Whilst I'm not here to defend Mr Sandhu, your frequent derogatory remarks aimed at him in many of your posts, smack of racism. Your identity is known, revealed independently to me by dozens of people who know you. Interestingly, on Facebook, where your identity is there for all to see, you are a 'different' person. I had thought about revealing your identity on here but I want to spare your speedway riding son any embarrassment as he may not realise his father is a vile, pathetic, sad excuse for a man, hiding behind anonymity. One final thought and appeal to the administrators of this forum. This forum could be very credible and attract many more sensible and rational people to engage in proper debate if anonymity that attracts sad people like 'Speedibee' was not allowed. It's just a thought!

I rarely look at the comments on this forum as I don't like the anonymity of it all. If people have something to say, then at least be prepared to reveal who you are. And I have never written anything on here. Until today that is. So with regard to anonymity, I reveal myself to be Jeff Davies, lifelong speedway supporter and photographer at Coventry for the last 33 years. It is an incredibly sad day for me, for the fans loyal of Coventry and speedway in general. It's an even worse day for 7 riders, 5 of whom are British, including the British Champion. Whilst I do not know everything that has gone on, having been involved in discussions about Coventry for the last three months, having spent literally hundreds of hours on the 'phone to all parties and having attended numerous meetings, I have a very good insight as to why we are where we are. The BSPA are a much maligned organisation. They come in for lots of criticism, occasionally justified but more often not. They do a thankless task. I can categorically say (as I put on twitter earlier today), the BSPA did everything possible to bring Coventry to the tapes in March. They bent over backwards. They were under immense pressure to publish fixtures, not just for the UK, but to fit in with international fixtures too. Clubs were unable to sell season tickets because they didn't know how many fixtures would be in the calendar. The list of complications brought about by the Coventry situation was endless. Yet still they afforded the club time to find a solution. They should, in my opinion, be exempt from criticism. To all of you on this forum, who are pointing the finger of blame at Mr Horton, Brandon Estates and Mr Sandhu - I can understand that. Like me, you are very upset and very angry. However ill informed your comments are, you want someone to blame. I get that. I obviously have my own opinion on that which I'm not going to share on here. I believe in the next two weeks, the facts will be revealed. The truth regarding the club's demise will come out. Then you'll be in a position to make a more informed opinion. I'd be surprised if it didn't coincide with mine. Finally, though we're at our lowest ebb right now, together with a handful of determined and influential people, we will battle on to make sure this iconic club with its long and proud history will re-emerge and the fighting Bee will be back to fight another day.