Santa Pod racing affected by local building plans
Discussion
Turn7 said:
I’m curious about this now. I really don’t believe Keith Bartlett crazy enough to invest in a brand new concrete track if he thought the long term viability was under any form of suspicion.
Not only that but I believe he has also just extended his lease for another 10 or 20 years at substantial cost.I think what it does have going for it is that unfortunately it's now the only dedicated, accessible, world class, full 1320 drag strip operating in the UK following the demise of Shakey and I for one am hoping that will strengthen its case to stay open.
The single biggest thing however is Keith and his tireless love of drag racing and the history that been created on that piece of track - the man deserves a medal imho.
Orb
Vocal Minority said:
jas xjr said:
if there is a requirement to mitigate the noise from santa pod then surely it is up to the developer to provide solutions. acoustic barriers and suchlike , maybe plant some trees.
Under the curio that is British nuisance law....no. You can move to a noise source and then b
h about it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42745611
The increasing number of chavs with their coffee can car exhausts, Narcissistic bikers and increasingly selfish people in general, moving to a typical overdeveloped cheap and tacky UK housing project, will cause more noise disturbances in a day than Santapod will once per week/month.
Tony1963 said:
Is there any news on this? I've just done a quick search, and nothing seems to have happened at all.
I expect that nothing will happen for several years.Bedford Borough Council issued a 'call for sites' for housing 4 years ago. They sifted through the submissions to create a shortlist and have now selected the Lee Farm site near Santa Pod as their preferred option. No planning permission has been granted as yet and assuming that there will be an appeal, judicial review etc. it won't be final for several years. The analysis provided by the Borough Council when the site was selected as their preferred option said building work could commence in 2022.
The council document does contain a section on noise impact from Santa Pod. Stating that physical measure such as barriers/bunds, the relocation of the drag strip to the other side of the site together with "the reduction and removal of certain events" should be sufficient.
I don't know how they can relocate the drag strip but "the reduction and removal of certain events" is fairly self-explanatory.
I suspect that recent renovations at Santa Pod are to maximise the return over the next 10 years before closing for good when only major re-investment will keep the site inside the noise requirements.
Below is the statement by Santa Pod: (http://www.keepnorthbedsgreen.org/2018/03/22/santa-pods-statement-to-bedford-borough-council/)
Santa Pod Raceway would like to state their position regarding the proposed Colworth Garden Village development. We have been aware of the project since day one and were open to working with the site promotors to establish whether the sound produced by the raceway could be reduced to an acceptable level for potential new residents.
Following extensive negotiations with the Wrenbridge Estates we have unfortunately arrived at the conclusion that adequate sound mitigation measures were not possible. Being part of the project would have brought with it potential development benefits to the raceway in the shape of a new race control building and larger camping areas.
We now have a much clearer understanding of the insurmountable challenges faced by the promoters in reducing the sound emitted by Santa Pod. With potentially 4,500 new neighbours positioned much closer than our current supportive neighbours we feel that it would be unfair on new residents living so close and it would pose a very real and unacceptable risk to Santa Pod Raceway as a long standing international attraction.
We have had assurances from Bedford Borough Council that they do not wish Santa Pod Raceway to suffer as a result of the development and the Colworth proposal would not be submitted to the Planning Inspector if Santa Pod were opposed to the new houses next to the race track.
We will be making forthright representations to the local plan in defence of Santa Pod and cannot support the Colworth Garden Village proposal.
Santa Pod Raceway would like to state their position regarding the proposed Colworth Garden Village development. We have been aware of the project since day one and were open to working with the site promotors to establish whether the sound produced by the raceway could be reduced to an acceptable level for potential new residents.
Following extensive negotiations with the Wrenbridge Estates we have unfortunately arrived at the conclusion that adequate sound mitigation measures were not possible. Being part of the project would have brought with it potential development benefits to the raceway in the shape of a new race control building and larger camping areas.
We now have a much clearer understanding of the insurmountable challenges faced by the promoters in reducing the sound emitted by Santa Pod. With potentially 4,500 new neighbours positioned much closer than our current supportive neighbours we feel that it would be unfair on new residents living so close and it would pose a very real and unacceptable risk to Santa Pod Raceway as a long standing international attraction.
We have had assurances from Bedford Borough Council that they do not wish Santa Pod Raceway to suffer as a result of the development and the Colworth proposal would not be submitted to the Planning Inspector if Santa Pod were opposed to the new houses next to the race track.
We will be making forthright representations to the local plan in defence of Santa Pod and cannot support the Colworth Garden Village proposal.
That is not particularly good news.
Long term, no council will refuse planning for that many houses as they will receive tens of millions in all sorts of fees for it.
The obvious stumbling block are the locals who want the track to stay, are probably mostly happy with it and don't want the eveklopment near.
I gather there is more than one bid though so let's hope. I would think the Bedford Aerodrome site is more likely as it is mostly developed already and Palmer wants to sell it
Long term, no council will refuse planning for that many houses as they will receive tens of millions in all sorts of fees for it.
The obvious stumbling block are the locals who want the track to stay, are probably mostly happy with it and don't want the eveklopment near.
I gather there is more than one bid though so let's hope. I would think the Bedford Aerodrome site is more likely as it is mostly developed already and Palmer wants to sell it
Robmarriott said:
It does indeed 
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