East of England Showground operator adamant that speedway racing will not return to historic venue

The operators of Peterborough’s Showground look to have blocked any return to the venue for the city’s champion speedway racing team.

The top title-winning Peterborough Panthers saw their 53 year spell at the East of England Showground come to an end on Saturday with their ‘Farewell to the Showground’ meeting in front of a packed-out East of England Arena.

Now bosses of AEPG, the promoter of the Showground, have issued a statement underlining the need to clear the site as multi-million pound plans proceed for a 1,500 homes and leisure village at the 165 acres venue.

AEPG hope that by next year all planning issues will have been resolved and that sale of the land can be completed.

However, AEPG also flags up the fact that it has borne ‘significant’ costs to run and maintain the grandstand just for speedway and says this is a situation that could not continue regardless of whether it secures planning approval for its development plans.

A spokesperson for AEPG, which is the company chosen by the venue owners, the East of England Agricultural Society, to sell the land, said: “As part of the sale, the land needs to be clear of commercial operations or agreements.

"This includes the area of land the grandstand occupies and as the ownership of the land is predicted to change sometime in 2024, there is no ability to commit to a 2024 Speedway Season.

“The arrangement to run speedway at the Showground has only ever been on a season-by-season basis and there has never been long term commitment on either side to continue.

Costs would spell end of racing anyway:

It adds: “However the costs involved in running the site and maintaining the grandstand for the sole purpose of Speedway is non-viable for AEPG and EEAS as it would result in continued losses.

“Significant costs have been borne by AEPG for the last two years and previously by EEAS, the charity, and these far outweigh any viable rent increases.

"This is estimated to be 12 times the current rent per meet to cover the overhead costs involved.

“As such the decision not to renew the arrangement for running speedway meets would remain irrespective of any planning applications on the land.”

AEPG also points out that it has been in discussions with Keith Chapman at Peterborough Panthers for two years and that AEPG has ‘already agreed, at its considerable cost and resource, to extend the speedway’ tenure to include the 2023 season’.

In addition, AEPG states that the speedway use does not meet the need for the Agricultural Society, as a charitable organisation, to ensure its activities bring an income that

contributes to fulfilling its charitable aims.

AEPG submitted two outline planning applications to Peterborough City Council in August to develop the Showground.

One is to build 650 homes the other is for 850 homes and a £50 million leisure village that could include a hotel, health, retail, eating and drinking establishments, a primary school, car parking and associated open space and infrastructure.

The applications have already prompted scores of objections from residents living near the Showground.