Fernandes calls for new talks with Cargiant
Tony Fernandes says he wants to resurrect talks with Cargiant owner Geoff Warren over the proposed Old Oak regeneration.
QPR’s Malaysian owners, fronted by Fernandes, have long coveted a Canary Wharf-style redevelopment of the area that would include a stadium for the club.
Cargiant currently own 47 acres of the site in question and talks with Rangers ended without the two parties reaching an agreement over the way forward.
“Some guy wants all the cake. I’m saying ‘Let’s put our heads together and make a bigger cake’.”
Tony Fernandes
Warren has since launched his own plans for the area, insisting a stadium is not viable, while seeking a new site for the car supermarket.
But Fernandes is keen for discussions to reopen – and has claimed that the Greater London Authority could snub both sets of proposals unless the rival camps come together.
“It’s been portrayed that it’s them against us. That’s not the way business runs,” Fernandes said.
“There’s X land. It could be ‘You do this bit, I do this bit.’ There are many ways of skinning a cat. Life’s too short – let’s find a situation where everyone wins.”
Rangers chairman Fernandes also claims Warren has changed his position “360 degrees” and that Cargiant’s plans for the area in a sense represent a victory for the club.
He said: “Cargiant has changed their position. One minute they didn’t want to develop it and weren’t interested in moving, wanted to stay there because it was crucial to their development, and now they’re property developers.
“The important thing is he wants to move out. He supports it [the regeneration]. Everyone there says it’s going to happen – big step forward.
“People in the end will see commonsense. If I take a hard stand and he takes a hard stand, in the end no one will get it – the GLA will do something else.
“It’s a matter of sharing out the cake. Some guy wants all the cake. I’m saying ‘Let’s put our heads together and make a bigger cake’.
“But it should be coordinated. We want the whole area to look good and feel good.
“If we go and do our own thing and they do their own thing we would end up with a bastardised development – which I don’t think the GLA will allow.”
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