FRESH HOPE FOR PANTHERS?

CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the return of speedway to Peterborough have been boosted by the refusal of a dual planning application on their former Alwalton home.

The Panthers were Premiership champions as recently as 2021 but their tenure at the East of England Arena was ended two years later after more than half a century of racing, despite their sustained crowd levels and overall significance to the area.

Outline plans to build 1,500 houses on the Showground site were approved – following a decision by the council’s Extraordinary, Appeals and Planning Review Committee – in January, but this was subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement to mitigate the impacts of the development.

However, following several time extensions the landowners East of England Agricultural Society have requested fundamental changes to the Heads of Terms.

And with clear differences now existing between EEAS and their land promoter AEPG, the Section 106 was not signed and the dual application was unanimously refused.

Campaign group spokesman Brian Connolly said: “We are pleased with this result. This is an important stepping stone. We now need to have a discussion with the relevant parties, and that is a process we want to start as soon as we can.

“The EEAS has a piece of land it wants to generate revenue from, and we were a part of that and we can be a part of that again.

“We are ready, willing and able to do it. Obviously it needs some work for us to get back there, but we are ready to get on with that.”