Fed: Packer awaits UK polo complex decision

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-2009
Fed: Packer awaits UK polo complex decision

By Miles Godfrey

SYDNEY, Dec 2 AAP - James Packer will have to wait up to a further three months to
find out if his controversial new British polo complex will get built.

The Australian media and casino mogul faces stiff local opposition to the complex -
reported to be costing about $36 million - near the tiny village of Selham, West Sussex,
England.

Three related planning applications have now been lodged with the local authority,
Chichester District Council, outlining Mr Packer's plans to take a lease on Manor Farm,
a dairy pasture, and convert it into a polo playing area with associated exercise tracks,
stables and yards.

Existing agricultural barns would be converted to stables and seasonal accommodation
for grooms, the planning application says.

Chichester District Council says it aims to decide on the planning application, which
it lists as having been submitted by Conpress (Hong Kong), by the middle of February.

Manor Farm is not far from the area in Stedham, West Sussex, where James' father Kerry
Packer also had a 38 hectare polo complex.

Kerry Packer also faced opposition from local residents, mainly over noise and disruption,
when his complex was built in the 1980s.

The area is well known for hosting polo events, attracting some of the best players
in the world and members of the British royal family, including in the past Princess Diana,
Prince Charles and their sons Princes Harry and William.

It is thought the Manor Farm complex would become the British base for James Packer's
polo club, Ellerston.

Locals are reported to be unhappy about the latest proposal, claiming the area is too
small to accommodate the complex.

Selham has a population of just a few hundred, a handful of shops and a single pub
- the Three Moles Inn - said to be of the smallest in England.

"Many people feel we are just too small to accommodate a STG20 million ($A36 million)
polo centre," London's Telegraph.co.uk website quoted one resident as saying shortly after
Mr Packer first outlined his ideas to locals in September.

"But his father got his own way 20 years ago and money talks. We expect history to
repeat itself."

Other locals have welcomed the proposal and say it could bring investment to the area.

Chichester District Council is inviting locals to have their say about the plan.

The outcome is likely to be determined by a panel of local councillors.

AAP mdg/evt/maur/mn

KEYWORD: PACKER POLO

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