The Clitheroe vertiser an >^^Thursday^:MarcHti5tii^ 2007


£100m. racecourse plan clears its first hurdle


by Faiza Afzaal


THE £100m. project for the world’s first “super racecourse” is


galloping ahead. I t cleared its first hurdle when


plans for the massive scheme, to be built on 371-acres of land between the Ribble Valley and Hyndburn, were unveiled a t two public meetings in Read on Monday. If given the go-ahead, the state-of-


the-art facility, which is expected to a ttra c t up to 30,000 racegoers per meeting, could create several hundred


permanent jobs and more than 1,000 casual jobs on race days alone. Under the plans, which are in their


initial stages, advanced technology will be used to create a special grass track suitable for staging flat racing during the summer and jump racing during the winter. In addition, a floodlit track will enable people to experience the thrills of night racing. A five-star hotel, a theme park, a


museum, a casino, an associated retail development, stabling and a centre of sporting excellence are also planned - providing an all-year-round leisure and educational development for


racegoers and non-racegoers alike. If everything goes to plan, the facil­


ity, which will be sited near the now demolished Mullards “glass factory”, should be up and running in five years. Racing would take place 60 days a year - resulting in one race meeting per week. Two new entrances would be built


to provide access for the develop­ ment. The grandstand will provide stepped viewing for thousands of peo­ ple overlooking the course. A business consortium, which has


financial backers in the Middle East, Russia and the UK, are hoping to build the East Lancashire racecourse as part of a project to build two other tracks - one in Sri Lanka and another elsewhere in England. The consortium’s representative in


this country is racing legend the Mar­ quis of Zetland, whose family has been associated with Redcar race­ course since 1872. He has described the project as the world’s first “super racecourse”. “The world’s eyes are going to be on


this,” he declared. “We think it’s a very exciting proj­


ect and on the whole it can do this area a whole lot of good in terms of


I


EXPERTS discuss plans for (he mulli-million pound racecourse with members of the public at a meeting in Read United Reformed Church (B120307/Gd)


regeneration and employment.” Before any final decision is made,


developers plan to carry out an in- depth 25-month study, costing £4.3m., to examine the proposals in


detail. Plans are expected to be sub­ mitted to Ribble Valley Borough Council in nine months’ time. O Turn to page 2 for the full report on the public meeting.


M ■


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