Doug Nicolson looks at the “what might have beens” during a time of rapid expansion in our sport.

 

The Nearly Tracks

The success of the second division inspired a frantic search for new tracks, speedway’s version of the Klondike Gold Rush. However, even then getting planning approval was easier said than done and we’ll look at some which got close to fruition while others were just a pipe dream.

 

Accrington

An unnamed site had been considered in 1965 but had been discounted as it was believed that planning permission would be hard to obtain, being in the middle of a heavily built up residential area. It is not clear whether this was Peel Park, where Accrington Stanley had played before their storied demise in 1962 or the Crown Ground, later to be used by the revived club. Either way, a certain Mr Mellors of Oldham seemed confident of overcoming these difficulties a few years later. Oh and Mike Parker’s Nelson was just seven miles away! Don’t you just love an optimist! Unsurprisingly nothing more was heard of this scheme.

 

Ayr

When the Taylors, the promoters at Berwick, applied for a licence for Newtongrange,  a about fifteen miles south of Edinburgh and about fifty miles from Coatbridge,  Ian Hoskins,  the Monarchs promoter  was most upset, considering it posed a threat to his Coatbridge track. However Hoskins too was also looking for a potential second division track at Ayr, a similar distance from Coatbridge as Newtongrange. It had briefly staged racing in 1937. Presumably this wasn’t seen as being a threat to Coatbridge’s well being. His application was unsuccessful mainly due to Ayr General Hospital, being barely 100 yards away.

Planning permission was granted for racing at the Whittlets dog track on the northeast periphery of the town about eight years later, but nothing ever came of it, and there seems no prospect of the sport ever returning to the “Honest Toun”

 

Barry

After being unable to obtain permission to run two nights a week at Newport, Mike Parker turned his attention to nearby Barry. He was certainly keen, possibly desperate, to secure planning approval, offering to rent the Southern League side’s stadium for three years, pay a percentage of the gate receipts to the council, level off the car park and ensure the track was still suitable for school athletics. Despite these major concessions his application was refused by a whopping 17-4 majority.  Ideas about staging speedway at Cardiffs Taff’s Well greyhound track fell at the first hurdle when there was insufficient room to house a track.

 

Bath

Exeter promoters Mawdsley and Lansdale reached agreement with Bath FC to stage racing at Twerton Park. The considerable and costly excavation work required wasn’t considered a problem but the local planning committee wasn’t in favour and it awaited a decision from the full council. After some prevarication the council flatly turned down a proposed two year trial period and, with the promotion already heavily involved in the expense of a protracted legal appeal over Rochester, they decided to leave the matter in limbo. After the Rochester appeal was refused, there was never any chance of the Bath case being revisited.

 

Bristol

Bristol was a name that often cropped up in rumours and speculation. However there was some smoke, if not fire, when Trevor Redmond applied to build a sports stadium at Yanley Lane on the city boundary. It was essentially a natural earth bowl and the stadium would be hidden from the main road so no one was likely to complain about noise. The council was quite supportive but the bid failed due to the lack of suitable access roads which led the planning committee to say that, regretfully, they couldn’t support the application. The search continued for some time until Eastville the home of Bristol Rovers was secured in the mid 1970s, but it too would end in tears.

 

Coatbridge

Ian Hoskins hoped to stage challenge meetings on Sundays at Coatbridge, mainly against teams who had ridden at Berwick the night before, but getting permission for the “sabbath” in Scotland proved problematic. It had been considered at Cowdenbeath a few years earlier, but the BSPA referred the decision to the Scottish ACU, who, possibly to their relief, never had to adjudicate on the matter, as the Lions had folded. Hoskins seemed to have got agreement for his Sunday meetings, only for the local MP to take the matter up with the Secretary of State for Scotland. At this protest, the local authority withdrew their consent. Interestingly, the Secretary of State would later reply that, unlike England and Wales, there was no law on Sunday observance in Scotland. The matter was certainly a political hot potato.

 

Colchester

This never got off the ground with Maurie Littlechild sadly concluding that developing a new stadium in a green field site would be far too costly and that adapting existing stadia would be a better option….. if only one could be found.

 

Gateshead

Some noise tests were carried out in 1967 but it is not clear who was behind them. About four miles from Newcastle’s Brough Park, Mike Parker would have had something to say about this – unless he was behind them. Gateshead FC were struggling badly and presumably would have been easy to deal with but vandalism and a grandstand fire ended any prospect of it being taken any further.

 

Gloucester

Plans to introduce speedway at Gloucester City FC’s Horton Road ground were initially turned down, despite the football club’s plea that their new stadium would lie empty all summer. Following numerous representations from the public, the council reversed their original decision, but when the South West Hospital Board revealed plans to build a new hospital right next to the stadium, it killed the project completely.

 

Leeds

Mike Parker made a couple of abortive attempts to open at the dog track adjacent to Leeds United’s Elland Road in both 1962 and 1970 but was twice rebuffed by the local council, and turned his attention to  joint venture with Les Whaley at Bradford.

Workington promoter Jeff Brownhut also sniffed around in the Leeds area looking at Hunslet stadium but with a similar lack of success.

 

Maidstone

Allied Promotions application for Maidstone’s London Road ground was refused on grounds of noise, traffic congestion and insufficient parking. The promoters offered to build a 15 foot high acoustical screening wall, agreed not to play music and would run a shuttle bus from the municipal car park about a mile away. Sadly, despite a petition of nearly 1500 signatures in support, the Ministry of Housing dismissed their application..

The trotting track at Detling just outside Maidstone was also briefly under consideration. Although less than five miles from Maidstone, it was considered to be “too far out in the wilds”.

 

Nottingham

Former rider Steve Collins submitted an application to SCB after reaching agreement with The White City management. This looked like being a “goer” when Allied Promotions took over the reins from Collins but with weeks they learned that the stadium was being sold and they pulled the plug, saying it would cost too much to progress this venture.

 

Port Vale

The Valiant Speedway Enterprises consortium got planning subcommittee approval for the football ground but this was reversed after a protest group petition, a decision later ratified by the full council. One councillor urged the council to help in the search for an alternative site and this may have smoothed the return of the sport at Chesterton.

 

Prestatyn

There was speculation about whether the Prestatyn complex would stage speedway . The owners had they successfully fought off a closure action brought by Prestatyn Council in the High Court but a subsequent action by local residents succeeded and somewhat reluctantly they sold their land to developers. Ironically Norman Hunter was injured in one of the last longtrack meetings held there.

The Kennedys would take their operation north to Motherwell and a couple of years later made a truly pathetic attempt to stage speedway on a track with a board fence which obscured most of the track from view

 

Rochester

Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale decided to move their Weymouth operation en bloc

to Rochester’s City Way dog track. They believed that, as speedway had been staged there previously, no planning consent was required and held a public meeting to allay the usual fears although it degenerated into a ratepayers protest against various council schemes. However the short film about speedway made some headway in educating the residents. While approval at the committee stage was readily given, Rochester City Council’s approval was only for one season. Controversially, and most disappointingly, Kent County Council refused to support this approval. While the Bombers management quickly did a deal with Romford FC to move into their Brooklands ground, Rochester Greyhound Stadium launched the appeal on behalf of the speedway, saying that there was little local entertainment in the area.

At the Public Enquiry, the speedway case was set out, supported by a petition of over 1700 signatures. Kent Council cited the earlier refusal at Maidstone although it was pointed out that the Maidstone noise tests had been based on gokarts and stockcars.

Sadly to no avail when the appeal was rejected, and in some ways was a landmark judgement which would deter all but the most determined of promotions from embarking on further costly appeals as the cards would be stacked against them.

 

Ramsgate

This pretty greyhound stadium was less than twenty miles from Canterbury and as the stadium owners were only prepared to lease it on Saturday nights, the Crusaders race night, it was never a “goer”.

 

Shrewsbury

Jeff Brownhut and Geoff Penniket applied to use the town’s showground but couldn’t get planning permission. Penniket previously had hoped to open at Watford FC’s Vicarage Road ground and later completed an unfortunate hat trick of refusals, when Oswestry was another than never left the drawing board. The pair finally got through all the planning hurdles at Ashington, and probably wished they hadn’t. It flopped badly and only ran two meetings, incurring heavy losses.

 

Sittingbourne 

Bill Chesson had previously applied to run the sport at Doddington when he offered the Southern Rovers a home base at his stockcar circuit. Now promoting at the Lyddon circuit, there was speculation that he was planning to include the sport as part of a multi sport complex when developing a former brickyard in Sittingbourne. However it was felt that nearby Canterbury were likely to oppose his application and no more was heard about this plan.

 

Southampton

Former Southampton promoter Charles Knott hoped to set up an arena at Netley Marsh a few miles from the city centre, providing a dog track and car park. However news of this proposal sparked a petition on the grounds that a speedway track would surely follow the dog track. Talk about getting your retaliation in first! The District Council rejected the proposal, stating it was harmful to the rural area and the land was to remain undisturbed.

A further attempt at Eastleigh FC’s ground close to Southampton airport didn’t get off the ground either – sorry!

 

Weston Super Mare                                                           

The Parks Committee approved the application for the town’s rugby ground, with councillors saying the noise would be little worse than the go karts which raced there previously. While local residents were generally supportive – only six had signed a protest petition – opposition came from both the Medical Officer of Health and the Chief Public Health Inspector, with the latter suggesting that the sport be held “up in the Mendips”. Robin Martakies subsequently declined to make a formal application and, in response to a petition, the permission granted earlier was rescinded. A later attempt to resurrect the project got as far as staging a noise demonstration, but this too was unsuccessful.