YOU may recall some consternation a few years ago when Jockey Club Racecourses (JCR) announced plans to sell off Kempton Park racecourse for property development, the idea being to raise funds for other racecourse development work.

The plans to raise at least £100 million via the sale seemed a paltry return for the loss of a metropolitan track, especially as the number of houses proposed to be built in the area was 3,000, leaving an estimate of the value of the land to the developers as high as £900 million.

It soon transpired that the land being put up for sale is not fully owned by Jockey Club Racecourses, and the proposed income was smaller than expected due to expected sharing of the proceeds with third parties, including the local council itself.

Indeed, Spelthorne Council, despite standing to benefit from the potential sale of parcels of land owned by it and sold back to JCR under covenant, have not been keen to promote the development of the site at all, describing the plans as “unwanted desecration” of the area.

They commissioned an assessment of the green-belt , and announced that Kempton Park was performing strongly as part of the Green Belt, which in short meant that they were not minded to grant a planning application as proposed by JCR, which put the brakes on an imminent sale.

Bad business

So the idea of losing all of the Kempton Park estate for a fraction of its true value began to look like bad business, and talk of closure cooled, but the Jockey Club’s plan to raise significant funs for investment in its other racecourses, notably Kempton’s sister track at nearby Sandown still needs to be fulfilled, and JCR have been trying to find a compromise with Redrow Homes which will allow development to take place while also keeping racing as an ongoing concern.

Not too long ago, Newbury Racecourse (briefly The Racecourse Newbury until they got embarrassed by the mickey-taking) announced similar plans in conjunction with David Wilson Homes. That has seen a transformation of the site at Newbury which was unpopular with die-hard members at the time it was announced, but has enabled the track to complete a much-needed refurbishment, improved access to the track, and provided new buildings as well as the proposed 1,500 new homes which financed the project.

I’m sure some regulars prefer Newbury the way it was, but the improvement to the facilities, and the local transport network have improved the experience of the track for the majority of racegoers, although the train service still needs improving upon.

If the latest proposal for Kempton can provide the funds needed for investment at the likes of Newmarket and Sandown, while also making some strategic changes at the Sunbury course, while satisfying the requirements of Spelthorne Council’s Local Plan, then this could be an outcome which satisfies – partly or fully – all parties involved.

That can only be a good thing when compared to the alternative, while an aspect of this which has never really been discussed is the benefit to racing of having people living with the sport quite literally on their doorstep.

The sight of a well maintained racecourse, particularly on a race day, is one which sells the sport to casual observers better than most expensive advertising campaigns.

Attractive vista

Thankfully, modern housing developments are a lot less ugly than was the case 40 or 50 years ago, and a lot of care is taken by developers to ensure such building projects create an attractive vista.

Kempton is a hugely important track because it is one of very few easily accessible to Londoners, but my Lord it’s not a place which stirs the soul, the verdant pastures hidden from view as you trudge through the carpark from the adjoining station.

It’s hard to believe that any housing development will make that less attractive, and a little money well spent could massively improve the experience for racegoers.

Perhaps the track will consider letting the new local residents into evening all-weather meetings for free, in an attempt to create an atmosphere. It’s certainly worth a try.