Cycle club has fears for future (From Swindon Advertiser)

Cycle club has fears for future

12:00pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Local By Josh Layton

SWINDON Cycle Speedway has vowed to fight for survival after failing to obtain assurances it will be part of the revamped Oasis Leisure Centre.

The club has failed to secure guarantees that it will be part of a £65m project to transform the run-down site.

Property developer Moirai Capital Investments will turn the centre into a regional tourist attraction with a hotel, indoor arena, ski slope and water park.

But club secretary Daniel Harper believes the cycling facilities may be left out of the plans.

“They want a visitor centre serving a wide catchment area offering ski-ing and things like that,” he said.

“We are a community-based club open three to four days a week and it is difficult to see where we fit in.

“We have met with the developer but they didn’t seem to be able to give us any guarantees about our future.”

The speedway circuit has been located behind the Oasis since it was built in 1976 .

Mr Harper said: “I spoke to one councillor who said we won’t be part of the development and the council will have to look at rehousing us.

“But there are no guarantees we will be relocated and we could be in danger of folding.

“We have just got national accreditation for good practices and our next step is to go into local schools.

“We are lucky we are governed by a large governing body and will hopefully have Sport England on our side as well.”

The club’s membership has risen from five to 40 since Mr Harper took over a year ago and has run projects with the Scouts and community groups.

“We are quite happy to move to facilities elsewhere but we are not just going to roll over,” he said.

Karl Hawkins, the secretary of the Indoor Bowl Club at the Oasis, said he was in the dark about its future but was waiting to hear from the committee, which had been in contact with Moirai.

The development will create 1,700 jobs and attract up to four million visitors a year from across the UK.

Peter Holmes, the property consultant for Moirai, said: “The plans we have got are not definite for the various areas in the Oasis.”

“It’s a question of the clubs letting us know what their concerns are. Not making a guarantee doesn’t mean the contrary.

“We will meet aspirations where we can and have been talking with the swimming association to see how the water facilities can be used.

“We are not brash developers coming in to rape the community. We are trying to do something that will benefit the community and be a real plus for Swindon."