WEYMOUTH Wildcats remain on the lookout for land fit to host their speedway team but have been disturbed by “astronomical” prices in the current market.
Wildcats have not raced at their spiritual Wessex Stadium home since 2010 and have been forced to compete at Plymouth’s St Boniface Arena and Poole’s Wimborne Road since then.
However, their nomadic status cost them dearly in 2020 when the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA) banned such clubs from the Midland & Southern Development League (MSDL).
With all three of their past stadiums not long-term options, Wildcats have been reduced to scanning the property market for land or farmland suitable to convert into a speedway track.
READ MORE: Weymouth Wildcats slam 'farcical' rule banning nomadic clubs
Speaking to Echosport, Wildcats co-promoter James Tresadern detailed his search for a new home.
He said: “I do look around. What I’ll tend to do is have a look at several estate agents.
“I’ve got a couple of contacts that go in and out of Weymouth daily. If they go anywhere and see any land for sale, they let me know and I’ll have a look.
“A couple of the plots we were looking at, the prices people are asking are astronomical.
“It’s all right if they’re going to give enough land to build 23 four-bedroom houses that they’re going to sell for £400,000 each.
“But, we haven’t got that sort of money to throw at a patch of grass. I would say it’s a lot of greed on the part of the farmers, but you can understand why they’re doing it.
“People are going to make a lot of money out of building houses on the sites.
“Ideally for us, what we need is a nice friendly farmer that’s got a field that they don’t use, far enough away to not be a problem for housing but not too far that it proves logistically impossible for us.”
But Tresadern remains determined to find Wildcats a new home.
“There’s land out there, we’ve just got to find it,” he added.
“At one point, you just need that little bit of luck. Especially with the way that Oxford have come back – all their meetings have been sold out.
“That gives you heart that people still want to come and watch speedway – if we can find a track.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here