The organisers of the Oliver’s Mount road races have just made the announcement that the Spring Cup will not go ahead in 2022. And in a rare twist, for these times, it’s not down to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
No, rather than the cancelation having anything ‘public health’ related, it’s more to do with public safety. That’s because there are a number of old buildings on the Oliver’s Mount estate that are, essentially falling down. In a statement last year, management at Oliver’s Mount said
Scarborough Borough Council have recently conducted detailed inspections of their entire estate, including Oliver’s Mount. Their surveyors have found several serious issues with many of the aged buildings at Oliver’s Mount. Because of that, it is unsafe to hold meetings at the venue at the current time. The safety of the public, competitors, officials and staff must always come first.
Dodgy
A couple of big events were cancelled at the back end of last year, but it was expected that the work needed to repair any dodgy buildings (or demolish the ones beyond repair) would have been carried out in time for this season. But it hasn’t.
The latest statement from Oliver’s Mount, released today, says
Scarborough Borough Council have made some great progress in getting the required permissions to demolish the condemned buildings, but there is still more to do on this, so we have taken the early decision now that The Spring Cup will not go ahead in 2022 so that riders and spectators looking at the early Irish events can make plans for them now.
We are planning to start our 2022 season after the TT with a return for The Cock O’ The North followed by The Barry Sheene Classic and ending with the Michelin Steve Henshaw Gold Cup in September.
Thanks for your support and patience. We will release event dates once all required permissions are in place and we can then determine the date that the works will start in the paddock.
God’s will?
It really does seem as though the gods don’t want Oliver’s Mount to be successful. It looked as though it was completely doomed a few years ago after a few high profile accidents. We heard the news the place was getting shut down in 2018, only for a brave band of merry men to step up and try their best to salvage something from the ashes. It looked like they were going to, and then coronavirus hit. And now all the decrepit buildings are falling down and the council won’t let anyone near them. It’s an absolute nightmare.
So let’s keep our fingers crossed that they can sort the job out, and get some road racing done there in 2022. It’d be a crying shame if the circuit, along with the buildings flanking it, falls to rack and ruin.
