Midland Red Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 Hope this link works, or someone more savvy can provide one Some disturbing comments about this former speedway venue Love Birmingham Wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 I am not surprised by this news at all. They are a council unfit for purpose & have been for many years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 Usual politicans, whether national or local, being open to question who, afteral, are supposed to represent the community they are elected to serve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richspeedway Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 I did see this a couple of months back on the local news. Sad to see another motorsport venue could be going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 I spent many a happy times at Birmingham wheels in my teenage years, not cause of speedway, I was there most Saturdays and Sundays either racing BMX or doing the ramps, we caught the train with our bikes, loved the place and it worked getting kids off the streets, sadly these days the area around the place is less than desirable and that’s being kind, a place like wheels is needed in every town, being brought up with a focus like bikes (motor or otherwise) is a good distraction against the pitfalls of those teenage years 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Goddard Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 Without Birmingham Wheels, put simply, I would not have a career. I did my first ever commentaries on the stock cars there and spent just about every Saturday evening of my 20s there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Birmingham Wheels is where Joe Owen had his tragic final ride 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Midland Red said: Birmingham Wheels is where Joe Owen had his tragic final ride I didn’t know that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluejam Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 2 hours ago, Midland Red said: Birmingham Wheels is where Joe Owen had his tragic final ride 1985 wasn't it MR? Zlata Prilba was a track marshall and was one of the first on the scene when Joe Owen had that tragic accident 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HGould Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Also where the guy from Teng Tools was killed at a Banger meeting I believe. I personally hated the place. OK it kept us operational for a while but was a cold bleak filthy place and wrong part of he City for me. The City Council are very sport minded. Sadly many initiatives over the years have been blocked by national governments and we have a complete wazzicj in the elected Mayoal role. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris116 Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 13 minutes ago, HGould said: Also where the guy from Teng Tools was killed at a Banger meeting I believe. It was a BriSCA Formula One Stock Car meeting and sadly the last Spedeworth meeting at the track. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbuck Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Speedway at Birmingham Wheels was unsuccessful during the three seasons of its operations there. There were many reasons for this, most of them being out of the control of Birmingham Speedway. The place was in its complete infancy, getting there was difficult and not very safe with no entrance via the main Bordesley Green Road, only via a dark and dismal lengthy back street (Landor Street) and approached through an unlit railway tunnel. The spectator facilities there were non-existant and what little spectator comforts were minimal. Sharing the track with banger cars was a disaster. This is possible at some existing stadia I know, but at the Wheels Park, the banger cars used it daily so preparation of the track for speedway meetings was virtually impossible. Even so, despite the problems, the track was a very good shape and before the cars wrecked it, produced some very good racing, and for all it's primitiveness, spectator viewing was very good. The speedway venture ended when at the instigation of the new Wheels Park Manager, an application to extend planning permission to beyond those first three seasons, was arbitrarily withdrawn, so Tony Mole who had just purchased the speedway rights, wasn't able to continue even though he was prepared to do so. Later attempts to get back into the Wheels Park using a different, unused part of the site to constructed a new exclusive for speedway track, were blocked by the same Wheels Park Manager. Could speedway have re-established itself there? I think it could have. We could have had our own track and used it for training as well as public meetings, and now that there is the access to the site from the main road, we could have capitalised on the fact that it is now on several bus routes, and that Adderley Park Rail Station is close by. The Wheels Park is still located in one of the less glamourous parts of the City it is true, so it might have been a long slow haul to get the club back on it's feet, but I always thought the place had possibilities. Now it seems that the City Council are looking for ways of recovering some of the massive debts it has run up in its efforts to promote the Commonwealth Games, and are trying to reclaim and re-sell the land on which the Wheels Park is situated. All the hard work which has gone into building a popular and well used operation from very small beginnings, will be wasted if they succeed, and I wish the group who are challenging this truly outrageous plan, every possible success in their opposition, and will be happy to help in any way if I can. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beowulf Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 10 hours ago, Midland Red said: Birmingham Wheels is where Joe Owen had his tragic final ride Unfortunately I was there that night and remember it clearly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 On 7/1/2022 at 12:00 PM, steve roberts said: Usual politicians, whether national or local, being open to question who, after all, are supposed to represent the community they are elected to serve. They do represent the community, it's just that there are other communities that they represent as well, and other communities are in the majority in that part of Birmingham where the Wheels complex is located, and they are growing rapidly and need housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbuck Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 To quote a biblical phrase - "Man cannot live by bread alone." We all need housing and we all need food, but we all need a bit of leisure activity as well!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 34 minutes ago, brianbuck said: To quote a biblical phrase - "Man cannot live by bread alone." We all need housing and we all need food, but we all need a bit of leisure activity as well!! 100%! Leisure facilities should be listed and protected from redevelopment! How many more speedway tracks would we have today if this was the case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 7 hours ago, uk_martin said: They do represent the community, it's just that there are other communities that they represent as well, and other communities are in the majority in that part of Birmingham where the Wheels complex is located, and they are growing rapidly and need housing. ...thereby lies the problem. Remember once reading a report that there many tens if not hundreds of thousands of vacant properties lying dormant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: ...thereby lies the problem. Remember once reading a report that there many tens if not hundreds of thousands of vacant properties lying dormant. According to government statistics, there were 653,000 vacant dwellings in England on 4th October 2021, with 237,300 of these (approximately 1% of the housing stock of 24.9 million) classified as long-term vacant dwellings. This information was released in May 2022 and the next release will be in May 2023. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 The council is a political animal made up of politicians with only short-term tenures on their positions. Given a choice of working for the local community who can vote you in or out of a job, or another nebulous community of leisure and pleasure seekers who are scattered all over the place, guess what a politician is going to do? Ultimately Wheels is a great facility, in the wrong place at the wrong time. When it was created it converted a larger derelict area into something that served a purpose. But sadly, that innings is now over. And with carbon footprints coming under scrutiny, having a motorsport facility very near to a Clean Air Zone isn't consistent with council policy either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 (edited) That is the problem that the local council has stated the Leipzig track must close. It is in a forest and they say although they have nothing against motor sports, it doesn't belong in a sensitive nature area. They say they will help the club find a new area for a track, but we have heard that one before It also i guess puts some of the Swedish tracks in jeopardy, as i think they are also out in the woods etc. Ok some years ago it seemed that was the ideal place, away from suburban areas. Now times have changed and i imagine Sweden is far ahead of Poland etc in that aspect Edited July 4, 2022 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.