BRUMMIES SPEEDWAY RACE FOR DEADLINE

22-09-2006

Hopes are rising that Birmingham Brummies will be back in speedway action next year after a 20 year break, despite a farcical delay by the city council that threatened their future.

Brummies promoter Tony Moles applied last November to re-start racing at Perry Barr, but as we revealed on the Stirrer recently, hold-ups in the council's planning process meant a judgement was delayed until a fortnight ago.

Even then, the outcome was unclear. Although members of the planning committee over-ruled their officers and said they were “minded” to support the application, a final decision is dependent on rules being laid down about noise limits.

This means that despite reports elsewhere heralding the return of speedway, the future of the sport in the city is still uncertain.

The good news is that Birmingham council is now apparently pulling its finger out in an effort to help the Brummies meet the October 31 deadline set by the sport's authorities.

Our sources tell us that the planning committee will hear the application on either October 5 or October 12, and if approval is granted it will give Moles just enough time to put a plan together for next season.

Brian Buck from Brierley Hill first watched the Brummies 54 years ago, and has written more than 2,000 letters calling for their return since racing stopped in 1986.

He told us: “This is good news. The initial reaction from the council after the last meeting was that we'd just have to take our place in the queue to be heard, but I suspect they know there are people like you waiting to pounce if they don't act quickly enough.

“It looks like we've got some friends in high places too, and they've been doing a bit of ‘leaning'. We still haven't got the final ‘yes' we need yet though, and I'm certainly not dancing on the tables, but it is looking promising.”