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£2m boost for motorsport base
Motorsport enthusiasts will be provided with improved facilities when a Preston track is given a £2m facelift.
Bosses at Trax Motor Sport have been given permission to replace their sheds at Wall End Road, Riversway, with three permanent buildings.
The new facilities will allow training to continue on the site and they will provide space for a booking office, lecture rooms, IT suite and library.
Boss Eddie Sloane said the work would allow the training facilities to be improved to meet education standards. He said: "It's great news for us – we want to start work straight away.
"We show young people about mechanical engineering to do with motorbikes and cars, and we show them construction trades as well.
"A lot of young people use the facilities as an alternative to doing nothing.
"But without the modern accommodation and no heat or hot water, it's difficult to meet Ofsted regulations.
"Security's been a problem for us over the years as well, with break-ins and damage."
He said the next step would be to secure a long-term lease on the council-owned site which has attracted more than 20,000 visitors over the past two years.
Planners gave unanimous approval to the plans.
Coun Bill Tyson, vice chairman of the council's planning committee, said: "I've watched it grow over the years and I think it's one of the best projects we have for young people.
"It will smarten it all up. It will make it a lot more professional.
"I think they're doing a marvellous job."
The business, which specialises in off-road moto-cross, has come under fire in the past for creating noise nuisance but it is acknowledged that some of the noise comes from youngsters racing bikes on land outside the boundaries of the Trax site.
John Lindsay, principle planning officer at the council, said temporary buildings would be replaced with superior ones.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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