Idea for racecourse to become all-round sport and music venue (From Hereford Times)

Idea for racecourse to become all-round sport and music venue

1:00pm Sunday 9th September 2012 in Hereford City By Bill Tanner

HEREFORD racecourse is being pitched as the county’s Olympic legacy in a new plan for the site’s future.
 

Gloucestershire-based owner and trainer Harry Chisman, who has worked for 40 years in racing, spoke this week of a company that could not only run the venue as a racecourse but also as an athletics facility.
 

Throw music and drama into the mix and the course becomes a site the city and county can use all year round, says Harry.
 

“I am sure many young people were inspired as I was by the Olympics and I believe it is up to communities to encourage young people to try and develop their talents,” he said.

“I believe this is a serious landmark opportunity for Hereford that should not be missed.”
 

Talks between Herefordshire Council and ARC – the Arena Racing Company created out of the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing – over the future of the course are due to restart this month.
 

The council is offering course leaseholder ARC a 125-year lease, with scope on site for a hotel and conference centre, to keep the company from closing the
course by Christmas.

ARC has also said it is willing to talk with other potential operators.
 

Former clerk and secretary of the course John Williams has already told the Hereford Times he has a consortium “ready, willing and able” to a launch a
£1 million company to take the course over.