Tomorrow night’s decision regarding a proposal to extend Kent Speedway’s race meeting times in Sittingbourne has been postponed.

Swale planning committee was due to vote on the club’s application to be allowed to stay open until 10pm.

The team hosts up to 20 National League meetings a year at the council-owned Central Park Stadium, but has to abide by an 8.30pm curfew.

Its owners claim it is the only speedway club in the country operating with such a time restriction.

Tomorrow’s meeting has been put on hold for officers to check start and finish times at other clubs nationwide.

A spokesman for Kent Speedway said its long-term future depends on the outcome of the council’s decision, which is now due to be taken on Thursday, September 18.

Swale council leader, Cllr Andrew Bowles, said depending on the officers’ findings, he will be backing the proposal.

He said: “The tax payer owns that stadium.

“If there’s no longer a viable use for it, it becomes a white elephant and a drain on our finances.

“If speedway brings a thousand people into Sittingbourne every week and only a small proportion stop off to buy food and drink, it will provide quite a substantial boost to the local economy.

“If the council supports the proposal, the speedway will provide another option for people’s leisure time.”

Swale planning officers have recommended the proposal be refused, and the environmental health manager has objected to the plan due to potential noise levels.

Kent Speedway’s chairman, Roger Cearns, said fans are put off by the early starts.
He said: “We really need to be able to have a later curfew which in turns means we can shift from the early evening start time of 6.30pm to a much more normal 7.30pm.

“We know from representations made to us from many local families, who because the parents commute to work, struggle to get home and out again for 6.30pm.”

He added: “We spent much time and expense erecting what is a substantial and innovative acoustic barrier to ensure residential neighbours would not be inconvenienced at all by the speedway.”

A total of 22 letters, including two petitions containing 340 signatures, were received in support of the proposal, while 44 objections were sent to the council.

In supporting the plans, one person wrote: “This will go a long way in promoting and attracting a bigger audience in the county of Kent to the sport of speedway.”

Opponents called noise generated by speedway bikes ”repetitive and annoying”, while another objector said later race times, “will greatly infringe on the human right to enjoy an acceptable level of peace”.