Fresh hope in search for Cradley Heathens track
The Cradley Heathens speedway club has had a major breakthrough in its 22-year search for a new home.
Planning proposals have been submitted for a track in Oldbury.
The application is for a multi-purpose sporting venue, which would include a speedway track, at the Queens Field site on the Lion Farm Estate. It has been handed to Sandwell Council by the club’s supporters trust.
The Heathens are one of the biggest names in the sport but have been homeless since their famous Dudley Wood track was sold for housing in 1995 and their subsequent search for a new permanent base has delivered a number of false dawns.
After reforming in 2010, initially as Dudley Heathens, the club has regularly-held talks with Dudley Council over a new home without success. Instead the club has been track sharing with rivals Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Bosses have now opted for a site in Sandwell.
In a statement yesterday, club bosses congratulated the trust on submitting the application and urged all supporters to get behind the plans.
The statement read: “The trust have been able to achieve something which we have been unable to in the past eight years, but that’s not to say there has been any lack of time, effort or expense spared in that time or by others before us.
“When you feel like you’re constantly running into brick walls and treated as the political hot potato, as we have been with both Labour and Conservative led administrations at Dudley Council, your motivation is severely challenged.
“We would urge all supporters of the club to fully embrace this scheme which could finally achieve the ambition of every Heathens fan and ultimately see the return of their team to a home of their own nearly 22 years after the closure of Dudley Wood.”
Proposals for the Queens Field site include a number of other sporting facilities including cricket and rugby pitches, a BMX track and basketball courts.
The club had hoped to find a site in the Cradley area but have moved on to other options.
The club secured its immediate future last year after agreeing a deal to race at Monmore Green in Wolverhampton, where it spent four seasons from 2011 to 2014.
