Thurrock Hammers ??

[racers and royals]

Thurrock councillors  have unanimously backed  a motion calling for Thurrock council to use the local plan to support the retention of Speedway in Thurrock and identify a new home for Grays Athletic FC.

[iris123]

Sounds good, but Thurrock must be one of the worst Councils in the whole country. How they can be making decisions on such things at this time ?

Thurrock Council announced this week that it was effectively bankrupt, issuing a section 114 notice to bar itself from making any non-essential spending as it grapples with a £469m funding black hole. It emerged recently that Newcastle City Council was among a number owed money by Conservative-run Thurrock, which it has been reported has amassed a vast total of £1.5bn in borrowing debt – including £900m in short-term loans from other councils.

[marko]

The council don’t really need to spend any money, just force the developer into making changes to their plans.

Simple solution would be to give the speedway stadium and large part of car park back, volunteers and sponsor backing could handle the rest.

[iris123]

Ok, i thought this would involve financial support from the Council, at least in finding a suitable site for the football club etc

[Fireblade2022]

4 hours ago, iris123 said:

Ok, i thought this would involve financial support from the Council, at least in finding a suitable site for the football club etc

No it’s a decision to help the football team fins a new site and to retain speedway. It has zero cost!

[Goldhawk]

Great News. Well done to all concerned

[Chris116]

Great to hear that the Council are backing the idea but I have heard of other Councils who have made all the right noises about finding a site for a new track but they then never seem to be keen on giving any sites that are found the required planning permission. 

A very good first step but still a long road ahead before racing is possible. My best wishes to all involved.

[Ray Stadia]

Have they built anything yet on the old Arena Essex site? I bet the demise of the stadium, caused Chick Woodroffe to turn in his grave! It was his creation and baby when bangers and stocks were lost, when Rayleigh Stadium was lost!    

[racers and royals]

https://www.thurrockhammers.com/2023-news/council-backing-for-speedway-return/

[arnieg]

2 hours ago, Chris116 said:

Great to hear that the Council are backing the idea but I have heard of other Councils who have made all the right noises about finding a site for a new track but they then never seem to be keen on giving any sites that are found the required planning permission. 

A very good first step but still a long road ahead before racing is possible. My best wishes to all involved.

Not always the case. Reading Borough Council provided a site (Island Road) and granted planning  permission.

 

But still we got nothing. That's Gaming International for you

[iris123]

11 hours ago, racers and royals said:

https://www.thurrockhammers.com/2023-news/council-backing-for-speedway-return/

What i find strange is the football club have found a site and put another planning application in a few days before this meeting. Ok the Council it seems have rejected applications for this site before. So are the Council basically saying this new application will also fail …

I guess one thing going for both is that the Council must be hoping for something positive to report after all the negative news

Edited January 28, 2023 by iris123

[Bryce]

The local MP is trying to get housing developed on the Arena Essex site, even asking about it at PMQs a few weeks ago.

[marko]

On 1/28/2023 at 8:04 PM, Bryce said:

The local MP is trying to get housing developed on the Arena Essex site, even asking about it at PMQs a few weeks ago.

Yes I know I replied to her letting her know exactly my thoughts on the matter.

Basically came down to leave Arena Essex alone!

[E I Addio]

I don’t think there is anymore mileage in the old Arena site. The stock car club owned it of course and it was never going to be financially sustainable with just Speedway. I’d like to think a new track can be found but given that a lot of fans came from South of the Thames it has to be near the Dartford bridge. Therein lies the problem because there will be so much redevelopment for both Tilbury Docks and Housing the available land will be very scarce . Jon Cook used to say you can’t just have land for houses and offices and nothing else but apparently the local council, or more precisely the Government think you can

To be fair to the local MP Jackie Doyle- Price she did come to a couple of meetings and was very enthusiastic and supportive at the time, which is more than can be said for the local council but she is really under pressure now. When the club closed the local council had been told by the Government to build 37,500 houses in the area, and that’s without other infrastructure. This seems to be one of those impossible targets Governments give out so they can say they are doing something then leave others to pick up the pieces. I think Jackie - Doyle- Price has to be seen to be doing something although the site of the track is probably still contaminated from its old days as a sand pit. This sort of thing is I fear going to be the gradual death of Speedway over time.

My final point is that realistically Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook really were Lakeside and saved the club from closure when they took over in 2006/7  Duggo , as far as I know still lives in America and apart from not wanting to own a club he is rarely able to watch, he lost a lot of money when he was stitched up by Rob Godfrey in particular, and the BSPA , as was . I very much doubt that a decent bloke like Stuart would want to get his fingers burnt by that shower again. 

So much as I hate being negative , and much as I would like to say otherwise I think the Hammers future is very bleak.

Edited February 3, 2023 by E I Addio

[Bagpuss]

57 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

I don’t think there is anymore mileage in the old Arena site. The stock car club owned it of course and it was never going to be financially sustainable with just Speedway. I’d like to think a new track can be found but given that a lot of fans came from South of the Thames it has to be near the Dartford bridge. Therein lies the problem because there will be so much redevelopment for both Tilbury Docks and Housing the available land will be very scarce . Jon Cook used to say you can’t just have land for houses and offices and nothing else but apparently the local council, or more precisely the Government think you can

To be fair to the local MP Jackie Doyle- Price she did come to a couple of meetings and was very enthusiastic and supportive at the time, which is more than can be said for the local council but she is really under pressure now. When the club closed the local council had been told by the Government to build 37,500 houses in the area, and that’s without other infrastructure. This seems to be one of those impossible targets Governments give out so they can say they are doing something then leave others to pick up the pieces. I think Jackie - Doyle- Price has to be seen to be doing something although the site of the track is probably still contaminated from its old days as a sand pit. This sort of thing is I fear going to be the gradual death of Speedway over time.

My final point is that realistically Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook really were Lakeside and saved the club from closure when they took over in 2006/7  Duggo , as far as I know still lives in America and apart from not wanting to own a club he is rarely able to watch, he lost a lot of money when he was stitched up by Rob Godfrey in particular, and the BSPA , as was . I very much doubt that a decent bloke like Stuart would want to get his fingers burnt by that shower again. 

So much as I hate being negative , and much as I would like to say otherwise I think the Hammers future is very bleak.

I'm trying to remember the circumstances and I'm struggling, can you remind me please?

[E I Addio]

1 hour ago, Bagpuss said:

I'm trying to remember the circumstances and I'm struggling, can you remind me please?

Choosing race nights was done on a first come first served basis at the time so clubs that had chosen their race night before others had first choice, but if nobody objected other clubs could race on the same night.  I can’t remember what night Lakeside raced under Ronnie Russell who was losing money anyway. When Cook and Douglas took over the allocated race night was Wednesday and it quickly became clear that for various reasons including commuting from Kent on a week night mid week crowds were too small to sustain the sport ,whereas 8pm Friday brought substantially bigger crowds so for years in the old Elite League the Lakeside fixture list was submitted for Friday night racing and nobody objected because they all knew it was Friday nights or no Lakeside at all. Then for what turned out to be the final season they dropped down to the old Premier League, submitted their fixture list for the season, had it approved by the BSPA pre - season and booked the track for Friday meetings. Racing continued in line with the approved fixture list until about August when Scunthorpe had an injury to , I think from memory Steve Worrall but not entirely sure , but Godfrey then started moaning because he couldn’t get suitable guests because other clubs were racing the same night as Scunthorpe. Then he pulled out this rule and said Lakeside couldn’t race on the same night as Scunthorpe so he could get a wider choice of guests, even though he as BSPA member had approved the fixture list pre- season and the track had been booked.

By that stage Rye House had closed or lost their licence so Lakeside tried to finish the season by racing at Lakeside when they could get Fridays and the other weeks they were going to race at Rye House on Saturdays. Then Godfrey in his BSPA position said they could not do that and had to race at one or the other, which basically meant Rye House and which in turn had a catastrophic effect on the fixture list. I think with League and cup matches I think we finished up racing Peterborough three weeks out of four or something like that to complete the by then congested fixture list which of course was disastrous for attendances seeing the same team every week.

We were later told by John Cook at a fans forum that Stuart lost £24,000 on that episode with no help or assistance from Godfrey and the BSPA management committee. I might have missed a detail or two but that was basically it. The Lakeside owners sold the track at the end of the season and for some reason I can’t now recall Rye House never had its licence reinstated. So two more tracks went out of business in that season and another nail was sunk into the sports coffin and the BSPA continued to fiddle while Rome burned.

To rub salt in the wound the SS carried an interview with Godfrey who was bleating about “ rules are rules,” but the principle of the “best interests of speedway “ didn’t seem to apply then . In fact if I remember correctly that was the season Peterborough almost went out of business as well.It’s the old, old story again, self interest first, self interest second, and if there’s anything left over, self interest again as far as the BSPA are concerned. No surprise the sport is in a mess.

Edited February 3, 2023 by E I Addio

[steve roberts]

24 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Choosing race nights was done on a first come first served basis at the time so clubs that had chosen their race night before others had first choice, but if nobody objected other clubs could race on the same night.  I can’t remember what night Lakeside raced under Ronnie Russell who was losing money anyway. When Cook and Douglas took over the allocated race night was Wednesday and it quickly became clear that for various reasons including commuting from Kent on a week night mid week crowds were too small to sustain the sport ,whereas 8pm Friday brought substantially bigger crowds so for years in the old Elite League the Lakeside fixture list was submitted for Friday night racing and nobody objected because they all knew it was Friday nights or no Lakeside at all. Then for what turned out to be the final season they dropped down to the old Premier League, submitted their fixture list for the season, had it approved by the BSPA pre - season and booked the track for Friday meetings. Racing continued in line with the approved fixture list until about August when Scunthorpe had an injury to , I think from memory Steve Worrall but not entirely sure , but Godfrey then started moaning because he couldn’t get suitable guests because other clubs were racing the same night as Scunthorpe. Then he pulled out this rule and said Lakeside couldn’t race on the same night as Scunthorpe so he could get a wider choice of guests, even though he as BSPA member had approved the fixture list pre- season and the track had been booked.

By that stage Rye House had closed or lost their licence so Lakeside tried to finish the season by racing at Lakeside when they could get Fridays and the other weeks they were going to race at Rye House on Saturdays. Then Godfrey in his BSPA position said they could not do that and had to race at one or the other, which basically meant Rye House and which in turn had a catastrophic effect on the fixture list. I think with League and cup matches I think we finished up racing Peterborough three weeks out of four or something like that to complete the by then congested fixture list which of course was disastrous for attendances seeing the same team every week.

We were later told by John Cook at a fans forum that Stuart lost £24,000 on that episode with no help or assistance from Godfrey and the BSPA management committee. I might have missed a detail or two but that was basically it. The Lakeside owners sold the track at the end of the season and for some reason I can’t now recall Rye House never had its licence reinstated. So two more tracks went out of business in that season and another nail was sunk into the sports coffin and the BSPA continued to fiddle while Rome burned.

To rub salt in the wound the SS carried an interview with Godfrey who was bleating about “ rules are rules,” but the principle of the “best interests of speedway “ didn’t seem to apply then . In fact if I remember correctly that was the season Peterborough almost went out of business as well.It’s the old, old story again, self interest first, self interest second, and if there’s anything left over, self interest again as far as the BSPA are concerned. No surprise the sport is in a mess.

...which is why the sport needs an independant body but it will never happen.

[JC!]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

...which is why the sport needs an independant body but it will never happen.

Agreed, no objectivity currently.

I think the financial troubles with the parent company of the shopping centre gives more room for optimism than in the past as they are not so likely to be eyeing up the land.

 

Hope this succeeds, no tracks within an hour of me currently so not been a regular attendee since Rye closed.

[Halifaxtiger]

6 hours ago, E I Addio said:

Choosing race nights was done on a first come first served basis at the time so clubs that had chosen their race night before others had first choice, but if nobody objected other clubs could race on the same night.  I can’t remember what night Lakeside raced under Ronnie Russell who was losing money anyway. When Cook and Douglas took over the allocated race night was Wednesday and it quickly became clear that for various reasons including commuting from Kent on a week night mid week crowds were too small to sustain the sport ,whereas 8pm Friday brought substantially bigger crowds so for years in the old Elite League the Lakeside fixture list was submitted for Friday night racing and nobody objected because they all knew it was Friday nights or no Lakeside at all. Then for what turned out to be the final season they dropped down to the old Premier League, submitted their fixture list for the season, had it approved by the BSPA pre - season and booked the track for Friday meetings. Racing continued in line with the approved fixture list until about August when Scunthorpe had an injury to , I think from memory Steve Worrall but not entirely sure , but Godfrey then started moaning because he couldn’t get suitable guests because other clubs were racing the same night as Scunthorpe. Then he pulled out this rule and said Lakeside couldn’t race on the same night as Scunthorpe so he could get a wider choice of guests, even though he as BSPA member had approved the fixture list pre- season and the track had been booked.

By that stage Rye House had closed or lost their licence so Lakeside tried to finish the season by racing at Lakeside when they could get Fridays and the other weeks they were going to race at Rye House on Saturdays. Then Godfrey in his BSPA position said they could not do that and had to race at one or the other, which basically meant Rye House and which in turn had a catastrophic effect on the fixture list. I think with League and cup matches I think we finished up racing Peterborough three weeks out of four or something like that to complete the by then congested fixture list which of course was disastrous for attendances seeing the same team every week.

We were later told by John Cook at a fans forum that Stuart lost £24,000 on that episode with no help or assistance from Godfrey and the BSPA management committee. I might have missed a detail or two but that was basically it. The Lakeside owners sold the track at the end of the season and for some reason I can’t now recall Rye House never had its licence reinstated. So two more tracks went out of business in that season and another nail was sunk into the sports coffin and the BSPA continued to fiddle while Rome burned.

To rub salt in the wound the SS carried an interview with Godfrey who was bleating about “ rules are rules,” but the principle of the “best interests of speedway “ didn’t seem to apply then . In fact if I remember correctly that was the season Peterborough almost went out of business as well.It’s the old, old story again, self interest first, self interest second, and if there’s anything left over, self interest again as far as the BSPA are concerned. No surprise the sport is in a mess.

Workington were affected in the same way. 

[iris123]

Seems Grays Athletic are trying to drum up local support for their planning application

At least ticking lots of boxes about community use, health of the local community and helping youth, plus the added attraction of around 30 jobs for locals and even then the trump card of an area set aside for wildflowers, insects etcOn the other side, some locals are against the development for the usual noise, traffic reasons. But possibly the main objection, and one used by the Council is the development is in the Green belt and on a flood plain

I guess , the reasons the application has been turned down before, and why the Council want to find an appropriate area for the football club elsewhere