Planning permission receives rubber stamp

With days to go ahead of a North West Leicestershire District Council planning permission deadline, a Section 106 agreement has been signed by all relevant parties to provide a final rubber stamp to the planning permission for Donington Park’s redevelopment programme.

Circuit owner, Simon Gillett, signed the document today, which had already been signed by landowner, Tom Wheatcroft. The seal of approval means that planned construction work can re-commence on site immediately, with the purpose of getting the Leicestershire parkland circuit ready for hosting the 2010 British Formula One Grand Prix.

Permission for the plans was originally granted on 8 January 2009, with the signing of a Section 106 agreement applied as a condition of approval. Today’s news adds further credibility to Donington Park’s promises that it will be ready to host F1 races from next year, which is the start of a 17-year agreement with series rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.

Further weight was also added to the circuit’s credentials last week, as ISG CEO Andrew Hampel released a statement rubbishing the claims made by British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) Chairman Richard Brooks.

“It is nonsense to say that the Donington Park figures and debenture scheme does not stack up,” wrote Hampel. “Through IMG and Bastion, ISG has vast experience and we are world leaders in the area of stadium and arena marketing. Without doubt, as paying customers, motorsport fans are ready for the same level of quality that fans of other leading sports have become accustomed to, and there is no reason that Donington Park cannot provide that.”

Despite preparations for this weekend’s World Superbike Championship event, which is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors, planned work on the new pits and paddock complex is set to begin immediately. The footings will be pulled through by contractors already on site, using Ruttle construction machinery that has been waiting to tackle the job.

“It’s great to have cleared another hurdle and to see the hard work of the entire team at the circuit paying off,” says Simon Gillett. “There’s no denying that we still have a lot of hard work ahead but we’ll continue to remain positive and do everything that we can to deliver against the promises that we have been made. The construction work is obviously extremely important, but we’re also trying hard to ensure that it doesn’t compromise the experience that our visitors to forthcoming events have.”

For updates on Donington Park’s F1 progress and to register an early interest in tickets for next year’s events, visit share-our-vision.com