The “future of British horse racing” and most immediately, the future of Kempton Park will be the subject of a debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday afternoon. Lincoln Jopp, the Conservative member for Spelthorne, has secured parliamentary time for MPs to discuss the effect of the government’s recent relaxation of planning regulations on the country’s second-biggest spectator sport.
There are 58 active British racecourses, 59 if you count Newmarket’s Rowley Mile and July courses separately. Plenty are situated on land that could be much more attractive to developers after the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 that aims to accelerate the planning (and appeals) process and release Green Belt land for development when planning authorities cannot meet housing targets elsewhere.
