There's been a boost in the battle to save speedway in Peterborough

​And the consortium leading the opposition against turning the East of England Showground into a massive housing estate have brought on board one of the legal brains that helped the ‘Save Our Speedway’ group win a major battle last week.

Retired lawyer Brian Connolly, an expert on planning, has already had meetings with the ‘Save Peterborough Speedway’ group and has been offering advice to its members.

Government Planning Inspector Helen Hockenhull turned down an appeal from Brandon Estates Limited against Rugby Borough Council’s refusal to give them the go-ahead to demolish the Coventry venue and replace it with 124 homes.

Connolly said: “The Planning Inspector has come to a carefully worded decision which will act as a precedent at Peterborough and possibly elsewhere. There is a lot in this in terms of planning and speedway.”

​Peterborough Panthers consortium spokesman Mick Bratley added: “Coventry have a long way to go before they can bring speedway back as it depends on what the developer wants to do with the site. They could just leave it undeveloped, but it is only a small site compared with the Showground which needs maintenance.

“The planning principle is now written in stone by the Planning Inspector’s decision which has got to be good news for us and all our fans.

“People are realising it’s all very well having hundreds of housing developments, but they also want somewhere to go and that’s particularly relevant in Peterborough where there isn’t a lot going on.

“It’s almost like they want you to stay at home, have food and drink delivered and never go out to be entertained.

“Covid taught us we all missed going out. The evidence is it affected people’s mental health and this was reflected in attendances at the speedway which went up when racing resumed after a year’s break, even though the team wasn’t exactly doing well.

“Speedway was the only sport going on at the Showground and they are trying to replace it with a couple of football pitches.”

In the Inspector’s ruling she said the need to keep the stadium and its national importance to speedway and stock car racing outweighed the proposed benefits of the development scheme, even though it included a 3G football pitch.

Peterborough businessman Mick Horton was the last speedway promoter at the West Midlands venue in 2016 and since then the stadium has lain idle.

Despite this, the Inspector, who presided over a nine-day public inquiry, said: “Four (speedway) clubs have closed as the owners have seen an opportunity to realise their asset through redevelopment proposals.

“This does not indicate a sport in severe decline, rather it reinforces the need for existing stadiums to be retained.”

The Panthers’ campaigners will use the landmark decision when they meet with leader of Peterborough City Council, Mohammed Farooq, next month.

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