Kempton’s future once again under scrutiny

Housebuilder Barratt Redrow has refuted suggestions it is planning to submit an application this year to build on the site of Kempton Park, as the course’s future once again came under scrutiny.

Local MP Lincoln Jopp has secured a debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday on the “Future of British Horseracing” when the issue is set to be discussed.

However, both Barratt Redrow and Kempton’s owners the Jockey Club insist it is a case of business as usual and nothing has changed.

Kempton’s future seemed bleak in 2017 when the issue was first raised but a push back from the racing industry and the local community saw plans put on the back-burner.

A subsequent agreement was struck to enable the building firm to take control of the venue, which hosts the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, under pre-arranged conditions which could take the situation out of the Jockey Club’s control.

A spokesperson for Barratt Redrow said: “We have an agreement with the Jockey Club giving us the right to promote Kempton Park for development and since this agreement was made we have been reviewing whether the site, or parts of it, could assist with the delivery of much needed new housing in Surrey.

“A planning application is not going to be submitted this year though we will continue to work with Spelthorne Borough Council as part of their Call for Sites’ process. We will share further updates in due course.”

A spokesperson for the Jockey Club said: “Kempton Park Racecourse remains the subject of an option agreement signed in 2018.

“This gave a housebuilder, Redrow, the right to purchase the racecourse for a significant sum, to be reinvested back into racing, if they were to achieve planning consent to build on it. This option remains in place and expires in 2028, with a limited ability to extend if a planning application is under consideration at that point.

“Any residential development would be dependent on planning approval and as that process has not started, the focus for us continues to be on hosting racing next year and into the future.”

Jopp pointed to new housing regulations relating to the closeness of a train station meaning previous red tape may now by bypassed.

Speaking to Nick Luck’s Daily podcast he said: “Barratt Redrow are going to put a planning application in by the end of the calendar year which will propose flattening Kempton Park Racecourse and building 2,000 plus homes on it.

“People might think this is old news, but under the new planning applications brought in by the government I’m afraid it does open the door for this to happen and I want to slam it shut as hard as I possibly can.

“Kempton Park has a train station, under the new framework if your new proposed development is within 800 metres of a train station with two departures an hour in the same direction then it is an assumed ‘yes’ for planning purposes regardless of the fact that is green belt and that it is an internationally iconic racecourse.

“It does become really niche as Kempton is the first stop outside the travel card zone. You can build as many homes as you want on it but no one will use Kempton Park station as they’ll all go one stop up the line to Hampton and travel much more cheaply.”