Sir Sidney

Yes, I submitted my comments based on the template as well. The only point I am making is that the site is proposed to have karting in addition to speedway, and so it is pointless to try to defend noise concerns simply by saying, as others have, speedway will only be for 2 hours a few times a year. On one Facebook page a local councillor has been called a 'c**t' for stating his objections, and told he is wrong when he says activity will be more than just a few speedway meetings. The best way to persuade the councillor is to use planning arguments to knock down his concerns, not abuse, whether we agree with him or not

One of the problems to be overcome is that the application is not just for a speedway track that might operate, say, 20 times a year, for a couple of hours - it's for a motorsport park with speedway and karting, and as far as I can see, no information about the potential hours of operation is in the application. On that basis, and to be fair to the locals, the noise may well be an irritant. I don't think some of the responses on open forums are putting speedway in a good light. I think we'd do well as a community to focus on responding to the application using the template provided, and refain from being abusive to people who hold a different view. Beat them with planning arguments, not abuse.

I agree. We were on the first bend, row 9, and it didn't look overly wet to us.

I agree. I've just come back from a weekend there. One of the most striking differences is the age profile of the crowd - but also that the older generation also join in with the chanting and scarf waving. Was the racing at the league match better than here? Probably not

I'm not sure that the Hundred is a drastic shake up in comparison to Twenty 20, other than having much more money thrown at it, being marketed to a different audience and getting much more TV exposure- all of which could have happened with the existing Twenty 20 format. And, as I say, it is rumoured that once more franchises are taken over by IPL owners it will become a Twenty 20 tournament. So it isn't the format necessarily. However, speedway needs to think about how cricket attracted all that and carried out the marketing. Strangely enough, a lot of what you propose, and I agree with, already happens at most IOW meetings. If only BSPL would have a discussion with Barry and Martin about what works and what doesn't I'm sure they would be happy to help

What do you think speedway should do 'to go the way of cricket'? In some ways, speedway is already the motorsport equivalent of short form cricket, in that it is short bursts of activity with space for additional activity in-between. It's widely thought that The Hundred will be converted to a more usual Twenty 20 tournament once more of the franchises are bought by IPL owners. I'm in Poland at the moment, and went to a play off match at Leszno yesterday. The age profile of the crowd was significantly different to the UK, with much more crowd chanting, scarf waving etc. But it was all about the speedway - no 'novelty ' entertainment between races etc

He hadn't signed for a team in Poland when Plymouth signed him

I won't hold that against you! And I do understand where you are coming from. I started going in 1969, and, even though crowds were much bigger than the 2000's, if I read programme notes from back then promoters were bemoaning the large drop off in crowds compared to the 60's and 50's. I'm sure there are many more knowledgeable forum members who could put numbers to it, and when the real decline started

Speedway peaked a long time before 2000. The decline started way before that.

Without him it would likely have closed earlier. I don't remember there being a queue of willing buyers

011.4.2 Guest Rider (G) Replaces an absent regular team member subject to the following: - a) if the absent rider, with an Established MA, is in the top 1-5 of the team, then the missing rider’s MA will be enhanced by +5% at a home meeting to determine the allowance for the guest rider. NOTE – a newly Assessed rider is not eligible to guest b) a rider may ride as a guest (in an official meeting) at a track only once in an 8 day period (within that league) excluding Play Offs, unless he is replacing the home teams #1 or is ONLY declared in a British Development League Team c) the guest must be in a current team declaration and have an established MA. The MA must be the same or lower than that of the absent rider. If a rider has an established MA in both Premiership and Championship leagues the MA for the league for which the rider is guesting, will be used. If the rider does not have an established MA in that particular league then the conversion factor of 1.5 will apply d) the guest assumes the position and MA of the missing rider. A guest rider in a ‘double header’ shall count as one meeting only e) no rider, whose team is in the play offs may appear as a guest in the play offs, in that league f) a rider may only guest for one team in any 2 legged tie (home and away) g) Once a rider Guests for a team in a League Play Off Semi Final they cannot guest for ANY OTHER team in any other League Play Off Semi Final or Final h) Guests for the Semi-Final(s) or Final(s) of the Knock Out Cup can only be selected from teams that have been eliminated from that competition. i) Guests for the Semi-Final(s) or Final(s) of the BSN Series can only be selected from teams that have been eliminated from that competition.

Per the Regulations CHAPTER 11 – PREMIERSHIP & CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUES 011.1 OFFICIAL COMPETITIONS Premiership and Championship League Teams will compete in the: - Premiership League Premiership Knock Out Cup Championship League Championship Knock Out Cup Championship BSN Series 011.1.1 Premiership & Championship Leagues Premiership League, teams will meet on 4 occasions, 2 at home and 2 away. Championship League teams will meet on 2 occasions, 1 home and 1 away. Play Offs will involve the top 4 teams in the final League Table in a series of home and away ties on a knockout basis. 1 st placed team v 4th placed team 2 nd placed team v 3rd placed team The highest placed team will have first choice of the home or away leg (in both semi-finals and final). If at the completion of all league fixtures 2 teams are tied on league points the Points Difference between Points For and Points Against will be calculated to determine the hierarchical order. Play off meetings will be determined by aggregate heat points scored in the home and away meetings. In the event of a tie on aggregate with the semi or final, the outcome will be determined by the Super Heat format. The winners of the semi finals on aggregate will contest a 2 legged final home and away with the aggregate winner being crowned the League Champions. A rider may only guest for one team in any 2 legged tie (home and away).

Perversely, it may be because they are the two biggest cities that they won't have a team between them - land values are so high and suitable sites so rare that to get a new location is very difficult, even if the demand is there

Yes, others need to step up

Whatever else may be said about the Birmingham promotion, it can't be denied that they have given development riders opportunities. Well done to them for that. It's a shame more people don't stay on to watch them or have attended the NDT matches