Compulsory Purchase Threat
In 1945 the racecourse company was still in the hands of the receiver of 1937,
Mr W A Grimwood.
London County Council had first offer of the land for housing, but eventually declined it. Ealing Council then stepped in. The Borough had a severe housing shortage at the end of the war. The redevelopment of Northolt Park could provide about half the required housing.
A Plan to Save The Course
For a time it looked as if racing might restart and in February 1946 Ealing Planning Committee received a deputation of racecourse supporters. They suggested a scheme providing some housing development, but preserving the racing facilities.
Mr Neal Christey, President of the Eccentric Club,
would buy the land for £240,000. There would be building in the south east and in the north west corner of the course, leaving the track intact. This would provide 700 houses and flats compared with the Council's planned 1,200.
The Public Enquiry
A public enquiry
on 7 May 1946 was a lively event, with many local people present opposing the Council's plans, but Council triumphed when the Minister of Town and Country Planning, Mr Lewis Silkin, later supported their proposals. In June 1947 The Ministry of Health sanctioned the purchase.
Last Chance To Save The Course
There was one last attempt to save the course, when the
Marquis of Milford Haven
offered to rent 48 acres of the site for pony racing at £10,000 per annum and promised to spend £20,000 providing other sporting amenities. The proposal would have provided only 37 fewer houses than in the Council's plans and it featured extensive sporting facilities as well as the racecourse.
The proposal lead to further acrimonious debates at Housing Committee meetings and in the Council Chamber. The argument dragged on. In October 1949 racing plans were in effect abandoned following a stormy Council meeting, but the Council did not reject the proposal formally until a debate in March 1950. Some time earlier, pony racing had restarted at a new venue:
Hawthorn Hill,
near Maidenhead, where Northolt Park's famous electric timing clock had been installed.
The Council had originally intended to start building in 1947, but this turned out to be hopelessly optimistic, mainly because the War Department did not vacate the site until January 1949. There also were shortages of building materials, which forced the Government to restrict building by imposing quota allocations.
Harrow Claims Land
Part of the racecourse land fell within the
Borough of Harrow,
but Ealing council had not seen this as a potential problem. Harrow Council waited until the planning disputes and public enquiry were out of the way and, in mid 1950, claimed the land in Harrow for its own homeless. Hurried negotiations gave 200 of the houses to Harrow. The first 64 houses were built in late 1951 in the north west of the site.
What Remains?
There are still a
few visible remains now (1996) on the site of the Northolt Park track. In Petts Hill, some neglected wrought iron gates, in peeling green paint, still stand opposite the Oast House pub, the letters "N" and "P" long disappeared from their centres. These and the stretch of roadway beyond them were the main entrance to the stands, and on the open land adjoining Mandeville Road, what was part of the track is still discernible as a long flat section of land running roughly parallel to the road.
The Brands Hatch Connection
The stands
survived until as late as May 1955, when they were removed. The final twist to their story is that the largest surviving remnant of Northolt Park is now miles away from its original site. One of the stands, which stood on top of the Tote building, was dismantled and re-erected as the first permanent stand at Brands Hatch Motor Racing Circuit, where it housed the race control centre and modern hospital facilities as well as spectators. Now simply a spectator's stand, it is pictured at the top of this page as it is today.
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