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jennywales · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:45 pm Post subject: Through the Bins: Ffos Las again!

Below is a letter I have just sent to Tom Kelly (MD Northern Racing) copied to Michael Howard (Non-Exec Chairman), Adam Price (my MP) and Nia Boulton (Commercial Manager, Ffos Las).

It is not a pretty story - but I live in hopes that something can be done to prevent Ffos Las going the way of Great Leighs. The views in the letter are not entirely my own - I have talked to owners, trainers, vets and members; so I hope it is a balanced analysis. I have had a courtesy reply from Kelly, and I await his comments with interest!

Dear Mr Kelly

I am writing to express several concerns about the organisation and facilities at your new racecourse, Ffos Las.

I have visited the course four times (twice for jumps meetings on the first raceday in June and again on 26 August for the official opening, an Arab Race Organisation meeting on a Saturday in July, and the second of the two-day Flat meeting in September, a Sunday.)

I understand from reports in the press, from the Clerk of the Course and from others (owners, trainers, jockeys and vets who I know personally) that the racing surface and, where relevant, the jumps, are admirably maintained, sited and are generally first class. Trainers and owners do not hesitate to send their horses, jockeys are more than satisfied with the way the course rides, and vets consider it both safe and appropriately laid-out.

The same can’t be said of the spectator facilities. I understand that a new course, with new buildings and new people to operate and administer it may take a bit of time to bed in and for the little problems and niggles to be dealt with. Unfortunately, there are more than a few problems and niggles, and as far as I can tell they are NOT being dealt with. These are (in rough order of importance):

a) Very little room to move about in front of the stands, and the railing off of the stands from the course-side concourse, as well as the stand railings that run along the whole length of the building. As the stands can’t be accessed except from either end, it is virtually impossible for anyone who wants to see the horses in the parade ring, put a bet on AND watch from the stands to secure a place. What is more (and this is a serious health and safety issue) there is no way that people can exit the stands except by the two walkways at each end, which certainly when I have attended have been blocked by spectators – nothing was being done to keep these steps (access) clear, and the railings (unlike the usual 3-persons-wide railings at most courses, which allow people onto the steppings at any point), prevent easy access anyway – not wishing to exaggerate, but if the stands had to be evacuated in a hurry there would be a serious problem. In addition, the stands are very exposed (so is the whole course for that matter) and it would be a help if their ends could be walled with plastic (as at Hereford). There are no windbreaks of any kind, and although winter jumping fans are hardy folks, I suspect that even they will find the venue challenging in January! I get the impression that the “designers” and “architects” had never visited a racecourse in use!

b) Poor or no facilities for owners and members – the members have no dedicated facility at all, not even a tea bar. The owners and trainers bar/restaurant is so poorly organised that getting a meal or a snack is effectively impossible.

c) Not enough toilets, and the portaloos on site all have steps and are therefore not suitable for the disabled; who could use the “ordinary” toilets but on the days that I have attended the queues have been very long.

d) Poor organisation for coach parties – why cannot coaches be parked on the grass car-parks so that people who bring picnics can have them in relative comfort? The current arrangement, where coach parties are dropped off and the coaches then driven empty to a far distant gravel park, is a serious discouragement to people who want to keep to a budget and find a picnic far cheaper (and better!) than awful and expensive “food” inside the course. If Royal Ascot can do this, why not Ffos Las?

e) None of the current caterers have anything at all to offer for vegetarians, apart from chips, not even a baked potato. In this day and age that is unacceptable.

f) Paying at the entrance was (in September) a chore – there was a huge queue (on most courses you can walk up to the turnstiles, pay and go in); uniformed staff were offering tickets to people who were able to pay cash, and I also understand that delays were caused by the need to scan tickets to prevent abuse. I have never come across this on any racecourse I have visited, apart from Royal Ascot, not even Newmarket July this year! I was also slightly surprised to be told (by a staff member) that the queues were “because more people have turned up than we expected”! On a sunny Sunday in early September it is surely not beyond the wit of management to call in a few more people – attendance estimates, I concede, must be pretty hit and miss at this stage, but….

g) Why in any case did I have to queue once, for admission, and again for a racecard? Would it not be possible to charge £20 and issue the racecard “free” with the entrance?

h) There are not enough places where people can sit down – the benches on the concourse appeared to be occupied by parties who filled them for the duration. The betting hall and indoors bar is fine if you want to watch the racing on TV! If the weather is bad it becomes crowded to an insupportable degree

i) “The Real McCoy” isn’t – it’s a shed with straw bales for seats

j) Despite assurances from the course commercial department, there is still apparently no shuttle-bus service from Llanelli station on race-days. Expecting racegoers to use a once-every-two-hours public service (and none on Sundays because buses don’t run) is absurd. If small courses like Fontwell can offer a shuttle bus service from the nearest station, then so should Ffos Las.

k) If the course management continues to encourage drinking to the extent that it is at the moment, it will drive away its core business – “ordinary” racegoers – unless of course that is the intention; to make profits from drink and from events other than racing, at the expense of the “ordinary” racegoers; and that would be a great shame.

I was delighted when Ffos Las opened, because I live just outside Cardigan and my nearest courses otherwise are Chepstow and Hereford. But if improvements aren’t made, I won’t be going back unless desperate, and I suspect that a lot of racing enthusiasts will feel the same. Improvements need to be made and quickly, if Ffos Las is not to go the same way as Great Leighs.

I am copying this letter to Nia Boulton, Adam Price and Michael Howard.

Yours sincerely

jennywales · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:18 am Post subject:

Dear

Thank you for your patience in waiting for my reply but I wanted to ensure that I had spoken with all the interested parties before responding to your email.

It goes without saying that Ffos Las has caught the local populations imagination and has exceeded most people’s expectation of the number of people that would attend the course. As you say from a racing perspective the course has been an unprecedented success and this has clearly had a positive effect on the crowd.

In dealing with the various points you have raised the crowds have been exceptionally large at all the fixtures that you have attended so far. In particular the grandstand and the area in front of the grandstand have been busy for all meetings to date. In respect of safety issues I can assure you that we have at all times complied with our premises license so that safety has not been compromised. That is not to say that we have not noticed that some of the walkways have become crowded during racing. It is a matter we have reviewed with the security staff and they are under instructions to ensure that gangways remain clear during racing in future.

In relation to the setting I agree that it is likely that when the cold weather settles in Ffos Las will have a few days when only the hardy need attend! As for barriers to the wind, it is something we will keep under review for the next stage of developments at Ffos Las.

Turning to the facilities available for owners and members. There is in my opinion a very good facility for owners. It has in fact been extended since we opened although I’d agree that the service levels need improving, but I can assure you that that aspect is in hand.

The local response to the offer of membership surprised us. At the outset we never envisaged this level of response and permanent facilities were not considered at that stage. It is however a matter we are debating and we are considering some kind of facility on certain race days be made available. I would however like to make the point that we did not in essence sell a membership, we offered an annual badge, heavily discounted. It did not carry with it a promise of dedicated facilities. I do believe that the £100 charged for the 2009 season, of 8 high quality fixtures, has in fact been good value for money.

In respect of some of your other points. With regard to the number of toilets and turnstile queues, these can always be difficult to judge, we have done our best during peak periods to ‘queue bust’ which I note you have acknowledged. This is where we send staff to the queues to either take payment for tickets or point people in the direction of facilities that have less queues in them. Your point regards disabled facilities is very well made and we will take this on board when considering temporary facilities in future. Whether we should sell race cards at the same time as tickets is again a judgment we make through experience. Prolonging the process at the turnstile leads to longer queues. The system we have therefore works better as only 1 in 3 people buy a race card.

We have also taken up your issue in terms of the range of food we offer with our caterers. Whilst a better balance I’m sure can be achieved I would point out that our offering is similar to other courses through experience. You also mention the Real McCoy bar. I accept that this in a basic facility but it was always intended that way to provide some shelter and services on days when the weather is poor. It also seeks to draw some of the crowd down the course away from the areas you state you find uncomfortably crowded.

Finally you’ve also brought up the bus service from Llanelli. In fact this service did operate on the opening day. Despite advertising it on the website it wasn’t used. We are however considering other local amenity services which may be of benefit to you in the future.

Whilst I know I probably haven’t satisfied all the points that you have raised I do think that Ffos Las has been through a period where its popularity has been a surprise to many. There was a settling down period, which we are now through and the Directors have invested further into the facilities to cope with the demand caused by that popularity.

We always welcome feedback, both positive and negative and I and would welcome the opportunity to meet you in person should you choose to revisit Ffos Las in the future.

With Kind Regards,

Reply from Tom Kelly to my letter about Ffos Las facilities. I might take him up on his offer and go on Sunday. I note he doesn't address two important issues; coach parking, and the encouragement of the "drinking culture". On balance a decent reply, though.