SUPPORTERS of the Thurrock Hammers speedway team, which has not raced competitively for two seasons since losing its home at Arena Essex Raceway, have issued a rallying call.

It comes as part of the iconic landscape at Arena Essex has been changed forever with the demolition of the famous Tavern.

Supporters have been campaigning for Thurrock Council to support the creation of a new speedway track in the borough and they say that even though the Tavern has been brought down, the campaign itself "isn't anywhere close to drinking in the last chance saloon."

A spokesperson for the fans group says: "However, the activity at the Raceway reminds us that we need to be vigilant.

"As we have stated in the past, we are using planning policies, national frameworks and recent local council decisions as the basis of our argument that the developer should be required to replace the sporting facilities lost.

"The pandemic and concerns about the proposed development's impact on traffic seem to have put the brakes on much of the application process and, from our perspective, it has been challenging to connect with local politicians and decision makers during 2020.

"Despite these obstacles, we are still 'knocking on doors' and doing everything we can think of to make our voice heard and present our case. We are keeping a very close eye on Thurrock Council and their full council and planning committee meetings.

"It is enormously frustrating for us to 'see' the Arena Essex site locked up and unused for its primary purpose."

The fans are concerned that an application, reported here on Thurrock Nub News may be distorting focus on the redevelopment of the site.

The spokesperson continued: "An application to construct a temporary car park and related amenities on the site of the old bangers & stocks car park has been submitted. That situation won't move the underlying application by London Strategic Land any further forward but the situation at the Arena is obviously at the forefront of the Council's thinking."

The application can be found here.

Hammers supporters continue to lobby the council for help and support and their petition has just short of 4,000 signatures. You can sign the petition via this link.

The page has also attracted more than 1,900 comments which prompted the spokesperson to conclude by saying: "This all shows how much our sport is missed and the desire to see the return of the Hammers to Thurrock."