Peterborough Panthers consortium saves Showground shale in honour of fans who have had ashes scattered on track

A section of historic shale has been rescued from the Peterborough Showground in honour of speedway fans who have had their ashes scattered on the track.

The Peterborough Panthers speedway team face being evicted from their home at the showground, after proposals to build a new housing development were announced, leaving fans devastated.

More than 1,000 objections have been lodged against an outline planning application from the East of England Agricultural Society’s agents AEPG to transform the 165-acre Showground site into a 1,650 home development, including a 220-bedroom hotel and a leisure village.

The move has hit some fans harder than others – with a number of families choosing to scatter the remains of their loved ones at the home of the Panthers, such was their devotion to their sport.

A consortium has been set up to try and save the team, and after being contacted by fans impacted, the team made the move to save the shale.

A spokesperson for the consortium said: “The consortium has had a number of upset relatives contact them regarding their loved ones ashes being removed from the track along with all the track surface.

"This was something the consortium was not expecting to happen and can see no reason why this is needed to be done as no building work will take place on the track for a number of years, if it ever does.

"In preparation in case this scenario arose, members of the consortium removed a small amount of the track surface at the final meeting on October 7th with the intention of scattering this on any track that Peterborough Panthers may compete on in the future.”

This weekend, a ‘Save our Speedway’ rally will be held in Peterborough’s Cathedral Square. The event will take place from noon on Saturday (November 18).

Consortium spokesman Carl Johnson said: “We will have bikes on display and riders will be in attendance and we urge as many people as possible to turn up and show their support, even if they don’t go to the speedway, but don’t think speedway should be lost to the city.

“Peterborough shouldn’t want to lose a major sporting attraction, a sport that brings visitors to the city and provides income for our local businesses."