New £7.5m grandstand project gallops ahead at Fontwell

The racecourse's owner, Northern Racing, has submitted plans for the biggest development at the site for decades.

A community consultation evening about the plans was held last Wednesday. The project involves demolishing the current premier stand and its adjacent single-storey executive box building.

Work will start once Arun District Council gives planning permission for the major scheme.

Racecourse general manager Phil Bell said: "This will transform the venue. It will take Fontwell to another level, in terms of facilities for the general public and hospitality clients.

"It will also offer West Sussex a premier location for conferencing and weddings."

He continued: "At the moment, Fontwell is a very charming racecourse externally but the buildings are a little out of date.

"If all goes to plan, we will appoint a contractor before Christmas. It will take 14 months to build but we will definitely be racing all the way through because the building site will be self-contained.

"It is critical we continue to race to continue to generate revenue and keep disruption to a minimum."

The proposed new stand will have a capacity of 1,123 spectators over three storeys.

Its top floor will have 12 private hospitality boxes, each with room for 14 guests, a glass-fronted hospitality and banqueting lounge with a capacity of 250 on the middle floor and a ground floor multi-purpose hall.

Its facilities can be used seven days a week for conferences, events and exhibitions.

Elements of the intended stand, which will be just 2.5m higher than the existing one, will echo those at Kempton Park and Ascot in being designed for the 21st century.

Sussex brick and sustainable timbers, seen elsewhere on the racecourse, will be used.

Mr Bell highlighted two key reasons behind the redesign which illustrate the changing face of modern horse racing.

"Racecourses have become aware in the past ten years or so, that it is crucial to do this. We have a 63-acre site at Fontwell with a lot of outdoor space and a lot of indoor rooms, halls and buildings. So, it is critical we sell them as much as we can, every day of the year," he stated.

These alternative uses have included camping, an outdoor concert, product launches and car boot sales this year.

The number of race days at Fontwell will stay the same if the new stand goes ahead. Operations at the site and its access arrangements will also be unchanged.

Northern Racing's consulting engineers Campbell Reith say in a submission with the application that the new stand will not lead to a significantly greater use of the racecourse.

Therefore, the peak volume of traffic is unlikely to increase.