JessicaJones

Abbey Stadium: New pictures show latest work on Swindon stadium | Swindon Advertiser

Clarke Osbourne reveals why Swindon Speedway had to leave stadium | Swindon Advertiser

Have you seen GI’s accounts for the last ten years? Only profits have been from selling off land.

You might be right but I thought, if they were going to do that, they would shut it during the pandemic as they did with Poole. They had the perfect excuse then. Instead we are 18 months on and the greyhound racing is still going on.

The dogs have not gone yet. We won’t be celebrating until the greyhound racing actually stops for good. The rumours that the track is closing are just that-rumours. This was never about winning or losing for our group and the Robins fans and I’m sorry that it has been framed that way by some of you on here. About 3 years ago I approached the philanthropist who was working with SBC to redevelop the town centre asking if he would help with the speedway track. He phoned me the day he got my letter and suggested that GI paid for another site away from the Abbey for speedway - win/win for them and the speedway team because he could see then what GI were aiming to do. He said he would raise it at his next meeting with the council. I mentioned it on here but very vaguely about 3 years ago as he asked me to keep the details confidential but I think enough time has gone by for me to mention my conversation with him. A few months after that, the pandemic hit and the council would have put all non urgent work on the back burner. So yes, GI’s plan has been clear from the outset but I have tried to help where I can because I could see that we could have worked together well and both groups would get what we wanted. Our group also did a petition to the council, which was one of the petitions that got the most signatures ever, asking them to work with GI to redevelop the stadium without the greyhound track and giving them ideas as to what else it could be used for to make it economically viable. To help with the debate that should have come from the petition, I spent the first lockdown working on a long report which detailed GI’s history and the economic case for not relying on greyhound racing and which set out other ways in which the speedway team could be viable without it. We printed it out at great expense and posted it to all 56 councillors. Only two even bothered to acknowledge that they had received the report and the council refused to hold the debate saying that they couldn’t influence what the stadium was used for, which I find hard to believe. Someone suggested doing the latter a few weeks ago and we had already done this in 2020. I have been very unimpressed with the councillors at SBC I came across through all of this and think they - and the council officers - could have sorted this situation out a long time ago if they’d had the will or the ability.

Ok but not one single person has said thank you for sharing it and I didn’t have to because every time I come on here I just get a load of abuse. Your post comes across as aggressive. I don’t know if you mean that to be the case but that’s how it reads. We were never against the speedway. I said that from the beginning and the whole reason I came on here is so that we could campaign together. No one was interested. Then the fans decided to do their own campaign a few months ago which was a bit late. I’ll stop posting now. I’m sorry you are losing the speedway team - for now at least, until a new site is found (if it is).

Don’t take it out on me. Take it out on the council and Gaming International.

This is why I don’t post on here! You wouldn’t know about the closure if I hadn’t posted about it. You’re welcome….please don’t take it out on me. Aim your upset at Gaming International.

We had already heard a few weeks ago that the greyhound track is likely to close on 23rd December.

My guess is that that’s for purposes of defending themselves against the breach of planning condition that stipulated they couldn’t build another house until the stadium was refurbished (I was at that council meeting). I wouldn’t believe a word Clark Osborne says (sorry). They’ll come up with some reason why they couldn’t rebuild the Abbey Stadium and will claim to be trying to find another site. Don’t hold your breath.

Probably shocking because I came on here as a representative from the anti greyhound racing campaign asking to work with the speedway team to get the stadium redeveloped without the greyhound racing. I am not involved with the speedway campaign at all. I was told to sling my hook pretty much. So I can understand why someone is surprised that it came from me rather than someone involved with speedway.

Yes, the speedway management should have been open about it from before they went to that BSPA meeting. I found that snippet purely by chance. I phoned my contact at the Adver today and he chased it up which may have forced the press release. It is now in the Swindon Advertiser. Since I researched the history of Gaming International, I thought it highly unlikely that the stadium would ever get redeveloped. And that, coupled with the growing unpopularity of greyhound racing, made me even more convinced. But every time I came on here to say, I was very unpopular….I debated whether to post that snippet at all because every post I have made got shot down in flames! https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/22808306.abbey-stadium-closes-doors-swindon-speedway/#comments-anchor

Speedway teams relying on greyhound racing have no future. Far better for speedway to decouple from greyhound racing especially as Dogs Trust, the RSPCA and the Blue Cross did a joint press release yesterday calling for a nationwide ban on greyhound racing within five years. (This has been some time coming.) I found the snippet from the minutes of the BSPA meeting in the Twitter feed of a greyhound trainer in Ireland. I was surprised the news hadn’t made its way into the public domain already. I hope the speedway team manages to find another venue although I saw above that the company mentioned in the press release had only been set up today and it has Clark Osborne as a director. If that‘s true, then I don’t hold out much hope for it as anything that Osborne is involved with turns to houses. He is a director of tens of companies and most of them seem to be dormant. Perhaps the fans need to take control and approach the council for help? It was the council who stipulated that the site couldn’t be redeveloped until the stadium was refurbished and they have not held GI to this condition. The Dogs Trust press release is here: https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/how-we-help/the-future/cut-the-chase Pleaae do not (metaphorically) throw rotten veg at me. Our group always supported the speedway team but not the greyhound racing.

Hi Orion I can see that you’ve posted messages in response but I have muted you so no idea what you’ve said. Life is better that way! Have a good day!

Hi @ruckerroo Have a look at the Gaming International accounts to see what the company’s profits/losses are. They are all available on the Companies House website. Whether you agree that greyhound racing is cruel or not, you will see that the company is not making a profit from the racing. They are only making a profit from selling off land on the site. The company has also bought up four previous greyhound/speedway sites and closed four tracks. I am not sure what you consider to be a conspiracy. Best wishes JJ

Hi @Steve0 Thanks for your message. Have you read any of my posts? My point has been that relying on the greyhound racing will mean the end of the speedway as greyhound racing is not profitable for Gaming International. I have made that point several times and that was the basis of our group reaching out to work with the speedway fans. Have a look at what happened to Wallyford Stadium. A half built stadium for years - started as a condition for further development of the site - until the company claimed that greyhound racing was no longer viable (as it is not for GI Ltd too). All the best JJ

Hi @mikebv You’re probably right but I have sat through some long council planning meetings at which the stadium development has been discussed and all the councillors seemed to be very passionate about wanting to keep the speedway going. (The local MP has said the same but I don’t think he cares about very much other than his own career.) The councillors have all argued that speedway is very important to Swindon. You have a good point though about the dwindling spectator numbers potentially being used as an excuse not to progress with the stadium build. But I doubt many councillors would come out and say publicly that they would prioritise the house building over the speedway track.

Hi @Technik I think I’ve answered most of your questions about greyhound racing in previous posts. On the question of whether greyhounds would be bred if not raced, greyhounds as a breed have been around for 1,000s of years. They have only been raced in this country for less than a hundred so the chances that they would die out as a breed are slim. I also had this discussion with Baiden on a previous few posts about the number of greyhounds that are bred for the industry and then discarded as wastage, either before, during or after their racing lives. Whilst they are used as commodities, they will always - sadly - be abused. Abuse in the industry is rife but of course that’s not the picture that the tracks want people to see when they visit. These questions are all addressed on our website-Stop Swindon Greyhound Racing-under FAQs if you wanted to have a look. I accept the point about the two tracks working well together but the fact is that the economic case for greyhound racing is waning. For Gaming International, it is not a profitable business and my argument has always been that to rely on greyhound racing would be to hasten the end of the speedway in Swindon, not keep it going. Spectator numbers at tracks are now very low as the public doesn’t support it in large numbers anymore and the BAGS racing money doesn’t seem to cover the running costs. Far better for GI to diversify in order to support the speedway. Suspect it is too late now though.

Hi @Triple.H. I understand why PETA declining to see the stadium might sound narrow minded. But it's not just about the facilities at the track - that's a very small part of it. Greyhounds are put at risk every time they are raced. The kennels at the track themselves could be luxurious but as soon as the greyhound is on the track, there is a risk it could break a hock, break its back or collide with other dogs. That's why every track has to have a freezer to store the bodies of dead dogs - the tracks expect that dogs will die racing. Also, the track itself might have luxurious facilities but greyhounds are only kept there on the day and then are transported back to their owner’s kennels, which could be of an appalling standard. I noted above about the trainer from Swindon who is keeping 50 dogs in an old grain store and another Swindon trainer was jailed in 2020 for neglecting the dogs in his care. The story was widely reported in the local paper at the time. You might have heard of the case. I have been invited to look at kennels but have declined as it's pointless. They could be the best in the world but it doesn't change the risk that the dogs are put under every time they race and there are no guarantees as to what happens to the dogs at the end of their racing lives. I have seen too many awful stories for one nice set of track kennels to make me think that greyhound racing is ok. I hope that helps you to see the other side - that it's just not being narrow minded and that there's a lot more to it than just seeing the facilities at the track. Best wishes JJ

You keep saying let’s talk about the speedway so I try to talk about the speedway and you return to the issue about the greyhounds. Forget that topic then if it is so tedious for you! What about the other points I have raised about the stadium? What about the offers to help by passing on info? Not one response to that from anyone on here or on the SOAS Twitter feed. I keep saying I and my “mob” are behind the speedway team. Have made numerous offers to help and support the campaign. We have information and contacts and could have worked together. Not one person has said “great, thank you-please pass on the info”. (Can see Orion has posted in response but I have muted him. I’m sure it’s a lovely reply….)

In my opinion, the speedway fans should have got onto this years ago. It feels as if many of them just gave up and others placed too much good faith in GI Ltd.

It’s fair to say that 7,000 (minimum) dogs die as a result of greyhound racing each year in the UK and Ireland. The two countries’ industries are inextricably linked. I have been trying to talk about speedway but was also answering your points! I have been offering to help the campaign both here and to the SOAS campaign on Twitter. I have made suggestions of ways to get information on what’s going on. Have suggested we pool our resources to get GI to invest in the stadium. Have passed on information about Gaming International to the Twitter account. Have suggested there’s no point focusing on Justin Tomlinson as a) he won’t do anything, b) he doesn’t care and c) it’s the council officers who should be approached in this instance for more information. Got no reply to any of the above.

And yes-of course our group has an agenda. We want to see the end of greyhound racing full stop. I do think it’s fair to recognise that around 6,000 dogs in Ireland are killed as wastage and a further circa 1,000 dogs are killed as a result of racing=7,000 which is the future I quoted. Whilst we do want to see the end of greyhound racing, we also recognise that speedway is important to the town. I didn’t sit through hours of tedious council planning meetings to not appreciate this. So it was never our intention to be against the speedway too. Speedway racers choose whether they race-dogs do not! I thought it was a win-win for us to work together. But no one I approached on the speedway side was receptive.