Kempton park to be turned into housing.

What's so awful is that the people doing this are effectively 'custodians of horse racing'.

Disgraceful - especially after spending all that money on creating a floodlit all-weather flat track - just for it to be demolished.

Even further back than Folkstone - Hurst Park was a racecourse at West Molesey and closed in 1962 - so 'previous' for closing racecourses in the area around Kempton. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gp673drkeo

There was also a racecourse at Gatwick that is now under Gatwick Airport with the racecourse there closing in 1940.

The loss of Kempton has only been finally made possible by this awful government's new Planing Bill that is imminently going to become law. Part of the bill removes the right of local objections to be fully considered so more and more of our green land will be concreted over by housing, solar panels, etc.

It was the local objections, as well as those from racing, that saved Kempton in 2017. I do fear that once the precedent has been set by Kempton more of our racecourses will be lost if objections can just be ignored.

Under the new bill there is now a designation of 'grey belt' which applies to 'previously developed' land in the green belt - such as the livery yards that many of us keep our horses at!
 
This would be a great pity were it to come about. I think it might, greed is powerful motivator.
Kempton has never really been a fashionable track, but very popular with ordinary folk who just like watching racing (and having a bet). I lived not far away for a while and we would often go, only three stops on the train so no need to drive. I too have seen Desert Orchid powering up the final straight showing off to the huge crowd. Such great memories.
 
It’s not a specifically Labour thing every inch of the countryside where I live has been consistently built on for the last 15 or so years. The rich landowners around here are selling their land and they don’t care about countryside or country pursuits just lining their pockets. The Duke of Norfolk closed down two yards one of which he got planning permission to do commercial storage. He’s expanding his shoots and fences of large areas of previously open fields to breed pheasant and also to get government subsidies (our taxes) for pseudo conservation projects.
 
Hedging their bets because it’s fallen out of favour with the public due to the fact they haven’t really tackled welfare concerns.
 
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