Warwick Council denies blowing £100,000 on the horses

A senior official has denied a claim that Warwick District Council is losing £100,000 a year in possible rent from Warwick Racecourse.



Warwick Town Council was told last week that following a review, the district council was charging racecourse operators the Jockey Club £40,000-a-year in rent when it could charge £140,000 for the Hampton Road site, according to an estimate based on the racecourse’s business rates.

In a response to a question from Cllr John Holland, the district authority’s deputy chief executive Andrew Jones said it was not true that the council was losing £100,000-a-year, adding that he could not go into any more detail as it was a confidential matter.

The Courier reported before the review was complete that the racecourse was then paying an annual rent of £5,000, offset by £4,500 from a mobile phone company with a transmitter at the site, while Racing Club Warwick next door paid around £3,600 in rent.

Cllr Bob Dhillon said: “We have undercharged and let these people get away with murder and we haven’t rectified this.”

Town council leader Cllr Gerry Guest said that rents had not been examined when they should have been in the past, but added that reports said very clearly that officials had been asked to approach an external organisation.

Mr Jones explained the council had brought in an expert to set the rent when its own valuer said he did not have the necessary competencies to do so.

He said there were very few other racecourses owned by local authorities and let to private operators, and setting the rent for such a site was very difficult.

During the meeting, Mr Jones added that the district council would be investing £15,000 in improving biodiversity on common land within the racecourse as part of improvements to the site.

He also revealed that Warwick Boxing Club, which has been in dispute with its landlord Racing Club Warwick, will be moving to a site at the racecourse, with £10,000 from the district council to ‘facilitate’ the move.

• Plans for a hotel at Warwick Racecourse are due to be decided in May. Proposals for a £10 million, 100-bedroom hotel were first submitted in 2009, with revisions in August 2010.

The district council’s planning committee voted in March to visit the site before deciding.