Huge racetrack plans for Staffordshire unveiled
Go-karting fans could soon be tearing round a track in Staffordshire in front of hundreds of spectators.
Plans to build a huge new racing circuit in Shareshill have been unveiled by Chasewater Kart Racing Club.
Bosses want to create an outdoor racing circuit, race control building, storage facility and a 400-space car park.
The track is proposed on green belt land off Warstone Road in the village.
And it is poised to be open seven days week - with special race weekends also planned.
It will be 1,312 ft long and 32 ft wide and the facility would occupy a total of 28 acres.
Plans to South Staffordshire Council from the agent CT Planning state: "The club would like to have the ability to use the site seven days a week.
"It is proposed that no karting activities would start on site before 10am or continue after 7.30pm.
"The proposed scheme will seek to mitigate any noise impact through detailed circuit design, restrictions on the hours of operation and landscaping.
"It is submitted that the proposed development relates to a form of development that is appropriate to a rural area and appropriate to the green belt."
Chasewater Kart Racing Club wants to host special race weekends at the site, which they say is one of the busiest events in the club's calendar, on a Saturday and Sunday for up to 22 weekends per year. Around 175 competitors would take part.
The club ran a racing circuit at Chasewater Country Park near Brownhills for more than 40 years but ceased racing there in May 2001 after part of the circuit was compulsory purchased as part of the M6 Toll scheme.
The club has since then been looking for a new home. It is managed as a not-for-profit organisation and its key objective is to promote go-karting in the area.
Neighbours in Shareshill are currently being consulted on the plans.
Bosses at the district council are due to make a decision on the scheme by September 22.
It was revealed in January this year that a go-kart track in Oldbury is set to be turned into the Midlands' largest after being bought up by a national company.
The Raceway was snapped up by karting specialist company TeamSport and is set to undergo a large refurbishment to make it the biggest track in the region.
The relaunch date is also still to be confirmed, although this is expected to be late winter or early spring this year.
