Protesters against East of England Showground development plans are urged to show opposition
Homes and leisure village plans recommended for approval
Protesters are urged to make their voices heard at a key Peterborough City Council meeting today (October 15) that could determine the future of the East of England Showground.
The appeal comes from the Peterborough Panthers Speedway Consortium which aims to secure a future for speedway racing at the Showground in the face of plans to cover the venue with a 1,500 homes and leisure village development.
Members of the council's planning committee will decide whether to approve two outline applications for the Showground from the land promoters, AEPG.
One plan is for 650 homes on land already earmarked for housing in the council’s Local Plan.
The plan is for 850 homes, a 50 acre leisure village, to be called Cultura Place, plus a school, hotel and a care village.
The Showground, which is owned by the East of England Agricultural Society, has been home to the title winning Peterborough Panthers speedway club and track for more than 50 years but AEPG says there is no room for the track in its plans.
A spokesperson for the consortium said: “We have appealed to supporters to attend the planning committee meeting in person to show their opposition.
"We are calling on all planning committee members to refuse the applications in their current form and to refuse any application which fails to make provision for Speedway.”
A letter to councillors points out: “Since its introduction in 1970, speedway has been Peterborough’s highest quality, and second best attended spectator sport.
"In that time Peterborough Panthers teams have won their respective league championships five times and have included riders who have won the world individual speedway championship 10 times.
"In addition to its place in British Speedway’s league and cup racing competitions, the East of England Showground track was licensed to hold World Championship events and held the Under 21 World Team Cup Final in 2001.”
According to council documents, the plans have attracted a total of 1,033 responses. Some 920 are objections while 53 are in support of the applications. Further letters of support from 56 local organisations have also been received. There were four ‘neutral’ responses.
Officers are recommending that councillors approve the plans and state the ‘adverse impacts of granting planning permission would not significantly outweigh the benefits.”