Mildenhall Stadium e-petition & repercussions for motorsport in general

[stevebrown]

I am hoping you can help me as I wasn’t sure where to post this, so speaking as a former marshal, I went for this one as I know a lot of 10/10th members post here. (Mods feel free to move this if you think another forum is more appropiate).

Near to where I live is a Speedway stadium based at Mildenhall, Suffolk, home of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers. They were founded in 1975, in fact I attended the very first meeting there where the cinder track was separated by straw bales and you could just drive your car up to the edge of the circuit. Now, I have no affiliation to the circuit or the owners RDC Promotions but what has happened recently may have future repercussions on Motorsport in general.

In 2006 a couple moved to within one kilometre of the circuit and soon started complaining about the noise, despite the being TWO airbases nearby! Yes it is the same old story, "We didn't know there was a Speedway stadium there". They took the previous owners to court & lost. In 2008 RDC took over and were ordered to build a noise barrier at a cost of £46000. Meanwhile the couple appealed against the original decision and won the case at the Supreme Court recently and got compensation. They all go to court again soon to see if they can get costs, which if successful will probably spell the end of the team and the venue which also hold stock car & greyhound racing. There are now restrictions on what the Stadium can do.

Now the important bit. The Judge at the appeal stated that: The law says that them coming to the noise is no defence and planning permission makes no difference. In other words it doesn’t matter if the venue was there before the complainants. I am not sure if this ruling has actually been put in force before but it may now open the floodgates to anyone moving near any established motorsport venue. Just up the road is Snetterton & Mildenhall stadium may just be a tiny little venue and I know Speedway doesn’t get much coverage on this forum but this could just be the start. I know there have been e-petition request on here before but this case may have set a precedent.

RDC have started a Government e-petition to try and get the Law changed that was stated by the Judge. I am hoping that the members of Tentenths could make a difference and sign the e-petition. Please make as many people aware of what is happening in a small town in the Fens and that they have a chance to sign the petition. RDC are only a small business and at the moment still working on this at a local level but are looking at taking this to a bigger audience. I have mailed them to tell them about Tentenths and they asked if I could post this on their behalf. I wasn't sure which thread to post this to but have contacted Grant who gave me the go ahead.
I apologise for not providing a direct link to the petition as I got this from a local newspaper and did a bit of C&P. It does work though.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62894.

At the moment the petition stands at 18000 signatures. (This includes a paper petition).
It would be great if our UK members can have a chance to sign it. It would certainly boost the numbers.