Racecourse lease again held back

10:10am Friday 4th July 2008

Comments (7)   Have your say »

THE planned new lease for York Racecourse has again been put on hold after opposition councillors challenged it for a second time.

City of York Council’s Labour group has called for a review of the ruling Liberal Democrats’ decision to approve a new 99-year lease.

They say the lease ought to address residents’ concerns about traffic and antisocial behaviour.

Coun Sandy Fraser said residents regularly suffered from the antics of drunken yobs, and during one recent meeting two race-goers were even caught having sex.

The racecourse’s marketing manager, James Brennan, today stressed the course was committed to the community, and sympathised with any residents blighted by antisocial behaviour.

But he said the trouble-makers were a small minority, and were part of a wider social problem, and said the lease document was not the best place to address such issues.

The racecourse has 48 years left on its current lease with City of York Council, but wants a 99-year-renewal to give more long-term security for their investments.

The council’s ruling Liberal Democrat executive approved a new lease on Monday, but Labour claim the new deal does not respond to residents’ concerns about race days.

Coun Fraser said the Lib Dems had “totally disregarded the legitimate concern of residents”, and said this was a “once in a generation” chance to tackle the issues head on.

“There is urinating in the streets, and even more extreme behaviour,” he said. “At one recent race meeting we had people complaining about a couple having sex in their back alley in South Bank.

“There is also vandalism of cars and property, littering, and inconsiderate parking, particularly in South Bank.”

New research, reported in The Press yesterday, suggests the racecourse was worth £44 million to York’s economy last year, and Coun Fraser said they should take more responsibility for their customers’ actions.

He wants stronger enforcement of parking restrictions, and said course bosses should contribute to the cost of off-course policing.

But a legal test-case in Greater Manchester found event organisers were not responsible for off-site policing costs.

Mr Brennan said: “There are some issues for society that we can play our part in dealing with, but we cannot be the panacea cure, nor fund that, because that’s not our role. Our role is to pay our rates, pay our rents, and give people good experience.”

He said the racecourse had been a committed part of the community since 1731 and remained so, for example by working with local schools and residents, and supporting good causes locally.

He said the course had been proactive in dealing with issues on its site, such as by providing extra toilets near the exits, and taking action to prevent drinking.

Council leader Andrew Waller said issues regarding antisocial behaviour could not be included in a legal lease, but he had followed up residents’ concerns with police. The council is also set to fund extra toilets for a trial spell next year.

Terry’s public meeting.

HUNDREDS of residents met with councillors to discuss plans for the redevelopment of York’s Terry’s chocolate factory.

But local councillor Dave Merrett said developers and traffic consultants did not attend the meetings on Wednesday, thus “hindering” the discussion.

Coun Merrett said more than 300 people took the chance to view the plans in the Ebor Suite at York Racecourse, and most welcomed the opportunity to make comments.

He said: “We lost count, but I think we were over 300 by the time we finished the day.

“There were a lot of people and we also had a lot of people who could not get to the meeting talking to us today.”