Stadium dream is in doubt

12:10pm Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in Local Photograph of the Author By Matt Maher

Cllr Shaukat Ali said speedway plans could jeopardise existing plans for the site Cllr Shaukat Ali said speedway plans could jeopardise existing plans for the site

A MULTI-MILLION pound stadium bringing speedway back to Dudley is unlikely to be built at Castle Hill, a top councillor has claimed.

Ambitious plans for a new venue at the flagship junction of Castle Hill and Tipton Road, which would house Dudley Heathens Speedway and Gornal Athletic Football Club, were revealed last week.

But the proposed location has already been called into question by Dudley Council’s new deputy leader, councillor Shaukat Ali, who said different plans for the site were already in the pipeline.

Though he refused to be drawn on what these other proposals might be, the News understands it could be a 160-bedroom hotel.

However cllr Ali, who also serves as cabinet member for regeneration, said the plans could be “jeopardised” by plans for a stadium.

He added: “There is an existing plan for the future of the Castle Hill site.

“Any departure from this, at this time, would prejudice the Castle Hill development, which will in itself bring significant investment and jobs.

“However, the council will continue to work with the speedway promoters and Gornal Athletic to attempt to finda suitable site.”

Last week’s announcement of a potential return for the Heathens brought a delighted reaction from fans who have long campaigned for speedway to return to the borough.

Under the plans, Gornal would sell their current Garden Walk home to fund the new stadium, with the Heathens moving in as tenants.

Heathens chairman Nigel Pearson said both clubs remain committed to the plans following a meeting last week and said Castle Hill was not the only site under consideration.

He said: “Castle Hill is a fantastic location but should the site not be available then we will look elsewhere.

“We are committed to pushing the project forward. We are not restricted to one location.

“It is our intention to work with Gornal Athletic FC and Dudley Council to find somewhere for a multi-purpose stadium which would benefit thousands of people.”

Comments(12)

jap8 says...
4:50pm Wed 23 May 12

I just wonder what councillor Ali would have said and what backing he would have given if it had been a mosque they wanted to build their !!!!!!!!!!!

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lowe says...
7:23pm Wed 23 May 12

We all know the answer to that.....

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chrisabbey says...
7:53am Thu 24 May 12

A 160 bed hotel!For christs sake! cant this council have any immagination what so ever? There is a perfectly good quality hotel over the road called the village, how about doing something for local people, i would bet that if the heathens were to race at the said piece of land crowds of between 2-3,000 would regularly attend. Thats 2-3,000 flocking into the zoo,bclm,pubs,restue
rants,fast food outlets,cinema,etc,e
tc and guess what those 2-3,000 will be local people enjoying themsleves!!! How many more brick built souless buildings can be built in one place? A place by the way thats steeped in history, why not back this project and let a sports team also steeped in history return and make alot of black country people very very happy????????

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chrisabbey says...
8:11am Thu 24 May 12

Another point, sport in this country is very much an essential part of our fabric, its so important it gives anyone involved in whatever sport it is a sense of belonging, a sense of direction and projects like this should be backed to the hilt by local authority and i would hope that in olympic year when the nation is about to go sports crazy that dudley council would do just that, back it!!! Dont forget not only will it give the borough back the mighty heathens, gornal athletic f.c will have a smart new ground to grow in and i dare say it will be used by a whole host of other sports team and community groups! What a chance dudley council have, over to you!!!

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chrisabbey says...
10:29am Thu 24 May 12

There are currently 7 hotels within 2 miles of this site in castle gate! 3 within walking distance(village,war
d arms,station hotel) one near newbury lane and 3 on birchley island.Another hotel needed or wanted? certainly not!!! The other proposal for the site is to build a road between the zoo and the musuem(already is one) and a car park(already is one). The land is so vast at castle gate that the new stadium could fit in even if the road and car park where built. I just cant get my breath that people in power are coming up with ideas such as the one's listed above and think that they are good one's!!! incredible!!!

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dudley old boy says...
10:58am Thu 24 May 12

can someone explain why more hotels are needed in times of austerity

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scabbers says...
2:03pm Thu 24 May 12

jap8 wrote:
I just wonder what councillor Ali would have said and what backing he would have given if it had been a mosque they wanted to build their !!!!!!!!!!!
Why does Dudley need another Hotel? Only one of the three main ones we have really does well. The stadium would bring 1000's of people into the town riders and supporters may want to use the local facilities which would help the existing hotels. We should be supporting sport in this country not ignoring it.
I suppose this councillor has never been near a speedway track and obviously doesn't give a thought to anyone who loves speedway and athletics.

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yeti75 says...
3:44pm Thu 24 May 12

I am alarmed by the first two posts, who quite clearly have racial undertones.
I think anybody with a bit of common sense, would find it very difficult to believe, that this statement from councillor Ali, would be his statement alone, he is obviously quoting the council agenda and plans, allready mooted for that particular site.
In regards to the Heathens, i would love them to be based at Castle Hill, i also would prefer to see Dudley Town FC return to their own town, instead of Gornal. On the otherhand if this proposal is given the go ahead, i would like the Stadium to be used by Gornal, on condition that they allow Dudley Town to play on it aswell.....wishful thinking?, maybe!

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matty1984 says...
8:03pm Thu 24 May 12

I don't see what the probleems with the comments are. The plans for Castle Hill were announced a few months ago. Behind the new archive/history centre will be a shared car park and link road. This will serve the three major attractions in town (BCLM, zoo and Canal Trust). There will by a bus running between the three sites to encourage people to visit more than one of them at once - therefore spending more money in the area. The plans also included a new hotel as mentioned above and shopping precinct. The hotel would obviously cater for people coming to visit the attractions and bring money from outside the area, whilst also providing more facilities for locals.

As for the stadium, I agree that there needs to be one built as this would also attract people into area. A suitable alternative might be the land on which the proposed mosque was to be built. Or perhaps the empty land at the end of Constitution Hill, there's better access here than the mosque site and access to car parking.

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chrisabbey says...
8:02am Fri 25 May 12

Who on earth is going to walk round the zoo,then walk round the bclm then onto the canal trust all on the sameday??? not many i'll bet! I dont see how building a road,car park and a shuttle bus is going to encourage anymore visitors to these attractions than they currently get? surely not enough to the fill the 160 bed hotel proposed! If people want to go to both the zoo and the bclm thay can do that NOW there only 1/4 of a mile apart! Why go to the monsterous expenses of building a link road when there's no evidence to suggest its neccessary? By the way who's paying for all this?

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matty1984 says...
8:36am Sat 26 May 12

A lot of the funding is coming from European Regeneration grants with some council funding.

The current plans make use of a lot of the waste ground around Castle Hill. You're right Chris that very few would visit all three attractions in one day, however people might visit the 2 of them, or one and the history centre, or one and visit one of the other new facilties planned. It's all about convienience - something people look for these days. One car park fee for the day and access to a range of attractions is ultimately better than either paying twice for parking or walking alonside busy roads and rundown areas. Dudley is blessed to have 2 major attractions in the town centre and one developing one, this is the envy of other towns. The council are waking up to this and trying to entice people to visit. After all the average spend by a visitor in a weekend is significantly more than a local in an average week.

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yeti75 says...
4:15pm Sat 26 May 12

The old Britih Gas call centre at the bottom of Constitution Hill, has been earmarked for new housing, in fact it has been given planning approval for Taylor wimpey to build approximately 150 homes, so thats a non starter, the site on Hall St, for the failed proposed Mosque, is a possibility, not sure if it's quite big enough though.

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