Derry's 'doggie men' to be charged £55 per hour to use new Brandywell track

The long-running saga over the redevelopment of the Brandywell Stadium in Derry today took another twist.

The multi-million pound plans for the stadium would see a new pitch laid and a new stand built.

As part of the project, the current greyhound track around the Brandywell pitch would be relocated to the adjacent Showgrounds site.

However, members of the greyhound fraternity in Derry are unhappy with aspects of the redevelopment plan which is being led by Derry City and Strabane District Council.

The Brandywell Greyhound Racing Company, which runs the greyhound meetings at the Brandywell, were told earlier this year that they would have to pay an annual rent of £45,000 for the use of the new track.

The council said this was because of regulations surrounding the allocation of government funding for the Brandywell project.

At present, the Brandywell Greyhound Racing Company pays a weekly rent of £35 to use the Brandywell track.

The local council sought legal advice on the issue and a total of seven options were put forward.

The options were discussed at a specially-convened meeting of the council at the Guildhall this afternoon.

Following a vote, councillors agreed to an option which would see a public advertisement issued asking for providers who would like to use the greyhound track.

The agreed option said that greyhound racing could take place seven days a week at the new track, and that any operator would pay a proposed £55 per hour for use of the facility.

This option was supported by councillors from Sinn Fein, the SDLP, UUP and DUP.

All five independent councillors voted against it.

Members of the local greyhound fraternity were in the public gallery for today’s council meeting.

Speaking after the meeting, a representative for the greyhound enthusiasts said they were unhappy with the option agreed to by the local council.

For a full report on today’s meeting, see Monday’s Derry News.