Edinburgh Monarchs speedway team dealt new stadium plans blow as council sell land to another bidder

Plans by the Edinburgh Monarchs motorcycle speedway club to build a new stadium in Livingston have been dashed by the council’s decision to sell the site for industrial use.

That decision could have a direct effect on a community battling incidents of motorcycle misuse on the streets in the area, residents said.

West Lothian’s Council’s Executive voted down an amendment from the SNP to question the sale, or find an alternative site for the club.

With the Monarchs set to lose their home in Armadale next month at the end of this season a future in West Lothian looks uncertain.

The club’s development director, Gordon Campbell branded the decision a “significant setback” and added the Monarchs were “extremely disappointed.”

The team, originally based at Powderhall stadium in the capital, has been drawing huge crowds to Armadale for the last 26 years.

Race nights attract up to 1400 spectators, and as the team races in a national league it draws visitors from around the UK for weekends throughout the season.

Local councillors had supported the plan to build a new stadium at Deans Industrial Estate, as had the community.

Councillor Robert De Bold, the depute group leader of the SNP, raised the amendment to the proposals to sell the Deans site to a local businessman.

He called on council officers: “to reassess the recommendation after undertaking a review of the total economic value and community benefit of the two bids and associated land uses to West Lothian and, if the same recommendation is made, then to determine whether suitable land can be found within the council’s property portfolio in order to retain the valued presence of the Monarchs within West Lothian.”

Speaking after the debate, which was held in private,