As some of you know, I have a bit of a love affair with Speedway. It's gonna be a long winter without it, but the news I learnt last week regarding the future of Ashfield Stadium, home of the Glasgow Tigers, has meant that the long-term viability of the sport in Glasgow could be under threat. Essentially the stadium is zoned as 'Greenspace', so any developer wanting to build on it must also provide an alternative venue for the displaced football team/speedway promotion. This is of course a pain in the arse for any would-be developer. It would seem though that the planning application being submitted will be to use the area currently occupied by the car park and the Ashfield Club. This spares the stadium itself, but as it's a combined office/residential proposal, the chances of Speedway continuing at Ashfield for any length of time would be distinctly remote. There are enough issues regarding noise as it is and this would simply make things worse. It would also make entry to the ground a logistical nightmare as the proposed construction area would obstruct entry to and from the ground. Essentially, the developer has found a way around the 'Greenspace' legislation and should the planning dept allow the construction to go ahead, it would essentially make the original designation of 'Greenspace' for Ashfield Stadium utterly pointless.
The good news is that we can object, preferably via individual e-mails sent to the DRS. For the letter format and a better idea of what seems to be going down, click HERE.
I realise this is a bit of a long shot, but if anyone reading this happens to find this all a little objectionable, or if you don't like to see any local attraction/ammenity/source of community cohesion & pride being marginalised or snuffed out, I would be most grateful if you could take ten minutes or so to send an email to the DRS, quoting the reference in the above link (take some time to read the link, it'll give you all the info you need) and stating why you feel that the application is unsuitable.
Ok, normal service will be resumed soon.
Cheers!
2 comments:
Consider it done, you should also put up a Squidoo lens on the subject. Like you say you don't know who's reading.
Cheers Clairwil! I'll set up a lens tonight, amongst other things. There should be an official response from the promotion at Sundays double header against Birmingham & Stoke. maybe there will be an easier way of lodging an objection by then too. For the record, template letters and petitions are probably of little use, as it has to be seen to be an independent reaction by concerned individuals to stand any chance of halting the application.
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