Donington F1 planning permission deemed 'valid'.

Donington will never be ready for 2010. Even if by some remote possibility the circuit is ready, the road links and general infrastructure will be shocking. Its just a way for Bernie to get F1 out of Britain and make some money out of it in the process. By the time they get planning permission (end of year according to council) they will have less than 18 months to get it all done! Sorry to be a downer but I just can't see it happening.

I agree it with the above post, but even if F1 doesn't end up being held at Donington, there was little or no possibility of Donington (which i think most people will agree was a bit of a dump) being redeveloped without the aid of F1 money.

Donington needed money spending on it. just think of the improvement in other areas such as BTCC, A1GP??? then theres the bikes Motogp, WSB, BSB etc......

If F1's to much up it's own @r5e to use Donington and go to some concrete jungle in the east then i for one won't be complaining when you have a nice shiny new Donington Park to play with!

Get on with it Donington. The current facilities are dire and the last part of the lap is rubbish - if you want to be ready for 2010, you need to work - now!

tick tock tick tock........

hands up those who said that the planning permission was submitted late and it would take them years for the decision to be made - how little do they know about the planning process...........

I'll stick my hand up. I've worked alongside planners for 9 years, and I'm currently involved in a planning inquiry.

The DC still has not given full permission: validity means that all the paperwork is present and correct and they've forked over their fee. The Planning Committee, presumably full of capricious councillors with their own agendas will still need to vote on it. It they pass it, objectors can still then seek a judicial review of the permission, or seek the Secretary of State to 'call in' the decision. Also the DC and County will seek Section 106 agreements to fund work elsewhere - like roads, and the negotiations on that can take years.

Fat lady ain't sung just yet.

andrew, robsy is right. just because the application is said to be valid, does not mean much. there has to be time allowed for objectors, of which i would think, there will be many, including BAA (do they own the airport?) then various depts have to have their say, then a decision is made, then time has to be allowed for an appeal to be made, heard and decided on. NOT a short process by any means

Is there no end to the anti-donington comments? While the current state of donington may be less than perfect the track, ignoring the Melbourne Loop, remains one of the best in this country especially for spectators. The track extension will only improve that and the building of new facilities will make it a truly fantastic venue. That someone actually has the vision to embark on this venture should be appluaded. There is still a long way to go, I have some knowledge of the planning process myself, but what dismays me most is the almost wholly negative comments and an almost universal lack of belief that a project of this size could ever succeed. Other country's have proved it can.

chris, the posters dont have anything "against" donington. it is a great track. the problem is the almost impossible time frame for changes. an EIS will have to be carried out, objections heard, infrastructure created, roads built etc. it is possible that it may fall into place in time, but the odds are against it. most posters see silverstone as the spiritual home of british GP, and see little need to move to a track that is not, as yet, up to a decent standard for F1

Crikey, me and Rich Ard on the same hymn-sheet.

Let me be clear - I think Donnington is a great track, and if we can't have the GP at SIlverstone, Donnington is fine by me. What concerns me is that the Dony managers are naive about what Bernie is up to and how ikely it is they can meet the demands laid down to host in 2010. They've no money, no planning permission, no plans for improved access. Bernie always complained Silverstone wasn't good enough, & just when a 50m plan was given the green light after at least 5 years of prep work, he goes and takes his race to a circuit needing 100m of improvement in less than two years. Who believes he's committed to the Brit GP?

Two comments: First Comment - Donington will NEVER be ready for 2010, the most obvious reason being that without massive improvements to the surrounding roads, cars will tailback so far that M1, M42 and A50 will effectively be blocked on and off over the whole weekend (checkout the M1 on the sundays of other lesser events). This will in turn mean that the airport is ineffective for that period and I'm sure it just won't stand for it (especially at the height of the holiday season).

Second comment: If they DO plan to change the circuit, they MUST bring back the ORIGINAL Melbourne loop - a fantastic downhill hairpin which was professionally tarmacced in the 70's and was used as an unofficial racetrack by us local petrolheads in our Capris. Check out how it could be addd to the existing track by looking on Google Earth or whatever.

Some facts: Donington Park does not actually need planning permission to run a F1 race, it can host top flight events under it's current permissions. The reason DP is rebuilding, and is therefore requesting permission from the planning authorities is to take it up to current F1 standards which Bernie requires, and this really is only the pits, paddock and media centre. As long as the 'circus' is catered for, and the owners pay the fee, I don't think Bernie cares if the spectators are stuck in a traffic jam. There are no plans for any new roads or improvements to existing ones. The airport doesn't shut down when other events are held at the circuit.