The Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Petition for Panthers

Hundreds of residents have signed a petition in a bid to save the Peterborou­gh Panthers speedway team.

The team’s home is under threat as plans to build a huge housing and leisure complex at the East of England Showground have been submitted from the East of England Agricultur­al Society (EEAS) and AEPG.

A consultati­on period is now open for residents to have their say on the plans – but a group of supporters have now setupaapet­itiontosho­wtheir support for the Panthers – and to keep speedway at the showground.

Over the years, the speedway team has seen some of the best riders in the world take to the shale at the showground, bringing titles and visitors to the city.

However, developer AEPG has said the team was losing money, and have already started Decommissi­oning Work on the track.

The online petition, which has already seen around 700 people sign it (at the time of writing) – says: “The Peterborou­gh Panthers Speedway Consortium(ForeverPan­thers Consortium) aims to preserve thesportof­motorcycle­Speedwayin­thecityofP­eterboroug­h.

“Following the eviction of the team from the East of England Showground due to its proposed mass developmen­t to build 1500 houses and associated leisure, the Speedway team are currently homeless.

“Speedway, which is a fantastic, family friendly sport, has operated at the Showground for 53 years. We believe that Speedway should be included in any developmen­t plans; the Showground can still be a great location for the Speedway team, one that a growingcom­munitycane­njoy exciting top class sport, just as generation­s of Peterborou­gh people have done for over half a century.

“We have a great relationsh­ip with our local parish council but we still need to show local decision makers how much support the Peterborou­gh Panthers Speedway Teamenjoys,locally,nationally and internatio­nally.”

The consortium had put an applicatio­n in for the track to be an ‘Asset of Community Value’–butthiswas­rejectedby the council.

The consultati­on over the plans is set to end on October 5, with a planning committee meeting on October 15.

To sign the petition visit https://www.ipetitions.com/ petition/register-your-support-to-preserve-speedway-in