Circuit of Wales boss Michael Carrick has hit out at carping over the £315 million project. “First it’s that we’re not going to get planning consent, then it’s we’re going to lose interest, then it’s we’re not going to get approval on the deregistration of the land, then we’re not going to get Dorna to come, then we’re not going to get a world-class contractor to deliver. I think we’re a little bit tired of people putting up constant negative criticism about what we’re going to do and deliver in this project,” said circuit CEO Carrick.
“Why would investors not be attracted to it and why would it not create the enterprise and economic growth we’re seeking to achieve? The money is not one of the significant challenges we’ve had. One of the more significant challenges we’ve had is environmental and planning consent and we’ve achieved that.
“This is going to a world-class automotive hub that is going to anchor the growth of automotive activity in Wales. It will be the best automotive facility in Europe, it will be the most exciting and exhilarating race circuit in the United Kingdom, it will be the home of British motorsport and it will be a significant long term regeneration opportunity for the Welsh Valleys.”
The Circuit of Wales has come under fire since details of the project first surfaced in 2013 and several delays to the start of construction work have led to further doubt that the circuit will be built, despite having signed a deal to host MotoGP. Without a circuit for the first year of its MotoGP contract, the Circuit of Wales covered the cost for the British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone, where it will remain next year with the Ebbw Vale circuit not expected to be ready until 2017.
The Welsh Deputy Minister for Farming and Food announced recently he was ‘minded to grant the S16 application’ for deregistering the common land, a key step forward for the project.