--- «s*5var^5X'u:5.LS.:i


__ */5 :»;, ■ - - s: c tss’ia \ r - . ,


= - -


back on traek


> - . by FaizaAfzaal PLANS for the world’s first


^“super racecourse” to be built ; on land between Simonstone


; ahd Althahn are back on track. . -^'.Although th e project has been - de la y ed by 12 months, th e man ;; spe^heading the proposals,' racing s supremo the. Marquess of Zetland, has insisted that key talks will be -held in the hew year to ensure .the


I scheme naoyes forward.' N o plans have as yet been sub- imitted to Ribble Valley Borough.


j Council’s planning department, but Aif; g iv en th e go-ahead, th e race- ; course is to be built bn 371 acres of


{ Imd between the Ribble Valley and eH yn d b u rn , and is exp e c ted , to lattract lip to 30,000 racegoers per * m at ing. ‘--^It is understood that advanced-


A technology will b'e'u^d to create a' f special grass tr h ^ sjutable for stag- - jing flat racing during the sumnier -and jump racing during the .winter.; -i‘!Ih addition, a floodlit track will


enable people to experience the


. thrills of evening racing. ■ A five-star hotel, a theme park, a - casino, a limited retail develop­ ment, stabling, an equestrian train­ ing centre and a centre of sporting excellence are also planned - pro­ viding all-year-round leisure and educational development for race- goerssindnon-racegoersalikeji- . Earlier this year i t w a s revealed ,


plans for th e racecourse had suf­ fered a “minor” setback after one of the investors suddenly died'and a sea r ch for o th e r - in v e s to r s had begun. This delayed the launch of a £4m;i frasibility study into the area.


V Speaking to the' Clitheroe Adver- . tiser and Times earlier this week. Lord Zetland, who'is th e consor- tium’s'repfesentati've in this coun-


Atry, adihitted although times are toughj ^


ahead and


• it will hot be long before the project; is ready to move forward. He commented: “We had-bee'n - badly let down bn financial backing -


;-during the first half of 2008, but . 'then we seemed to be back on track--


again. This remaiiis the c a^ to th e . ; extent tha t negotiations are contin­ uing a n d l am now coiifident that a. we will be in a position to resume oiir dea lin g with the good people of East Lancashire by about F eb ru - , ary. ,


' '


. “Obviously I caimot diimlge any­ thing a b o u t th e id en t ity o f our


.wbuld-b'e funders, but I can sa y tiiat we are in serious discussions ^ - with a publicly quoted company •


who are as keen as we are to do the deal.


- “You will, of course, appreciate


that this is about as difficult a t im e ' as anyb ody can remember to be raising money for projects like ours, so nothing can be seen a s certain. However, we do not give up easily and my confidence in the project is soundly based.’-’: - •- ' Our picture shows the super race­


WIN ONE OF FIVE FREE HAIRCinS-pageSl


course outline plan, (s) - . , : V: PICKWICK NIGHT-page 4 FAMILY NOTICES... PAGES 20 AND 21 B AT YOUR SERVICE... PAGES 6 AND 7 B VILLAGE NEWS... PAGES 16 AND 17


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25