Five applications submitted to Swindon Borough Council planners suggest there may be some movement towards the redevelopment of Abbey Stadium in St Andrews in north Swindon.
When planning permission was granted to Gaming International, the owners of the speedway and greyhounds racing stadium the council, as is normal, set conditions which must be met before different phases of work can start.
The building firm who will redevelop the stadium, Taylor Wimpey, has submitted a request to have a number of those conditions signed off: the company has submitted its wheel-cleaning facility plans for construction vehicles, a sustainability strategy, a tree-pit design, boundary treatment and landscape protection and maintenance plan.
If they are approved, these are significant steps to work beginning.
North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, who has been pressing Gaming International to get on with the redevelopment said it is a positive sign.
He said: “Swindon Borough Council rightly put on strict conditions in relation to the construction work.
“These five applications and associated works must be completed before the final phase can begin.
“These strategies are part of this milestone.”
Mr Tomlinson said it was good to see progress, but added more was needed and rapidly: “This is positive but it is still not completed.
“Crucially it is my understanding that Swindon Speedway Club and supporters need certainty by the very end of September to have the confidence to put together a team for next season.”
Gaming International has not responded to attempts to contact the company.
Progress on the new stadium has often been tortuously slow.
Outline permission was granted a decade ago and final approval on the details was granted more than two years ago. Work was, of course, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns.
Preliminary work started in September 2021 with a possible completion date suggested as this summer. But the new stadium is nowhere near finished.
A month ago fans of Swindon Robins gathered outside the stadium to express concern at what they saw as stalled progress.
Cliff Williams from Lechlade, who organised the demonstration, said "Nothing has been done to this stadium, nothing has been done for two months, we’ve had perfect weather.
“We would just like to have some answers from the council or Gaming International, anybody that’s behind the project.
“As it stands there will be no speedway next year if that’s the case we may not get the fans back after three years.”
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