Campaign launched to save Cornwall's only stock car raceway
A petition to save a stock car and banger raceway near Redruth has now reached more than 7,100 signatures.
United Downs Raceway has been operating at St Day for 50 years, on land owned and leased from Cornwall Council.
Racing Promoter Crispen Rosevear says United Downs Raceway thought it was going to secure a lease from Cornwall Council for another 10 years. Now the business has been told the lease will end in October.
12-year-old Kaydi Butcher from Helston is an aspiring Formula One Driver. At Christmas her family bought her her own stock car to compete in Ministox racing at United Downs.
Kaydi says it would be harder to compete regularly if the raceway at St Day closes.
''I'd be really disappointed because the whole racing team is a big community at St Day, and we'd have to travel up to a further different race track."
In a statement, Cornwall Council said: ''Purple Cornwall’s lease with the Council to operate their stock car racing business on Council owned land runs until October 2021. We’re working with the company to help identify other suitable potential sites for their business after that date. In preparation for when the lease expires in 2021, the Council is looking at low carbon and sustainable alternative uses for the site. ‘’
One such project is plans by the Cornish Geothermal Distillery Company to build a rum cask maturation facility which will harness renewable waste heat and power from Geothermal Engineering Ltd’s (GEL) geothermal power plant at United Downs.
The Celsius project has already won £75,000 in the UK government’s Green Distilleries competition, and is projected to create 30 jobs.
The planning application submitted to Cornwall Council includes a biome and visitor centre with cafe.
The plans are yet to be go before the council's planning committee whilst UNESCO carries out a report into land use at United Downs. The raceway - and the planned location of the rum distillery is within the Cornish Mining World Heritage site.
Supporters of the raceway say they will continue to campaign for the track to stay at its current site.
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