Musselburgh Racecourse
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| UK Racecourse | |
|---|---|
| Musselburgh | |
| Official site | |
| Location | Musselburgh, East Lothian |
| Date opened | 1816 |
| Screened on | Racing UK |
| Course type | Flat National Hunt |
| Notable Races | Scottish Sprint Cup, Musselburgh Gold Cup, John Smith's Scottish County Hurdle |
| List of UK racecourses | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Market Rasen | Newbury |
Musselburgh Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Musselburgh, East Lothian in Scotland.
Historic Musselburgh Links has been a venue for horse racing since 1816. It is also the location of the oldest golf course in the world. Originally known as Edinburgh Races with meetings held on Leith Sands, the move to the attractive 'meadows' setting at Musselburgh has proved a popular and lasting success.
The course now hosts 26 race days throughout the year - both Flat racing and National Hunt meetings. Within the course itself, the sense of history and tradition sits comfortably alongside the new and improved facilities specially designed to meet the needs of the modern race-goer but at the expense of the local people. A prestigious new Hospitality Stand was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen in the summer of 1995, and it is now established as one of Scotland's most popular hospitality venues. The old Edwardian Grandstand has also been tastefully refurbished, and landscaping and other environmental improvement works have been carried out.
Development Plans Local planning authority East Lothian Council approved the Musselburgh Racecourse planning application in March 2006. In April 2006 the “application” was called-in by the Scottish Executive, necessitating a Public Inquiry. The Public Inquiry was held in Musselburgh in November 2006.
The racecourse team employed the services of Edinburgh Solicitor Alastair McKie of legal firm Anderson Strathern and Planning Consultant Bob Evans of Muir Smith Evans. The team called 12 expert witnesses to present the case for the development and spent over £500,000.
The Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council, whose time was given for free, headed the team opposing the development which included 12 witnesses. The Inquiry spanned a period of 4 weeks.
Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said “Whilst we were initially disappointed that the application was called-in we quickly set about building a team to present the case. We believe we were given the opportunity to spin the facts and make people aware of how bad the whole thing is for Musselburgh and its people.
“We were impressed at the professional approach adopted by the objectors and by how much work the they had put into preparing their case. As a result the Inquiry proved to be an extremely thorough exercise with no stone left unturned except the financial side which we really didn't want looked at.
“We are now eagerly awaiting the result so that we can get on with destroying the oldest golf course in the world, erecting floodlights that will make this coastal setting look like a huge sports stadium and blight the whole east end of the town for both visitors and the local people.”
[edit] External links
- Musselburgh Racecourse. Retrieved on April 5, 2007.
