Think global, act local?

Or vice versa? Could North West Leicestershire District Council scupper the future of the British Grand Prix, bringing the race to an end after decades of being on the F1 calendar? Donnington Park, the proposed venue for the British F1 GP from 2010, and its leaseholder, Simon Gillett, face the threat of planning permission for the circuit being revoked unless certain conditions are met. If they are not met, planning permission could be withheld, the British Grand Prix would be without a home, and the race could be over, and likely to move elsewhere in the world. Could the routine activities of a small local planning committee thus bring to an end to the history of British F1 motor-racing, thereby undermining a motor sports industry that may be worth as much as £50 billion each year to the British economy? If so, is this sporting suicide? Is it an unnecessary waste of British racing heritage? Or is it a victory for (local) democracy in a globalising world of sport? Does it confirm that local action can still counter global power? Will the British government or motor-racing authorities step in to ensure history is preserved? Are there contingencies in place? If so, what are they and how will they be implemented? Or is it best that Britain actually loses its F1 GP to a country and circuit with better facilities in order to sharpen the country's sense of what it had and what it lost? And would this serve as a prompt to the future construction/re-construction of a British motor sport infrastructure that is competitive with and comparable to that in other countries elsewhere in the world?