星空传媒

A dog鈥檚 chance

As 星空传媒 takes a look at the refurbishment of the Daytona International Speedway this week, we revisit 2011, when a different type of racing track was in the spotlight.

Walthamstow鈥檚 greyhound track, once the heart of an East End night out, was thrown into a development dispute. The track closed in August 2008 and was bought by housing association London & Quadrant for 拢18m, with the intention of demolishing the stadium and building 490 homes. But not everyone was in favour.

Iain Withers reported: 鈥淟ittle did they [L&Q] know the difficulties they had let themselves in for. First of all the market tanked, cutting the value of the land by half. L&Q shelved the scheme until last year, when it unveiled its Conran & Partners-designed redevelopment plans for the track to a storm of criticism.

鈥淥pponents appeared on all side to criticise L&Q for trashing Walthamstow鈥檚 local heritage. The dispute has attracted everything from a campaign group backed by greyhound enthusiasts, contentious interventions from London mayor Boris Johnson and local MP and cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, to allegations of threatening and intimidating behaviour.鈥�

Work eventually began in October 2013 and is due to be completed by July this year.