The NSW racing industry’s plan to relocate racing from Rosehill to a nearby environmentally sensitive site isn’t possible under current legislation and planning controls, a NSW Parliament inquiry has been told.
Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) chief executive Carla Armaret says that zoning permits attached to land at Homebush, known as the Brickpit, would make it challenging to build a new Sydney racetrack on the 27 hectares that have been mooted as a replacement for Rosehill.
The Brickpit is a habitat for more than 120 native birds, microbats, reptiles and frog species.
Armaret told the third day of a Select Committee hearing into the proposed sale of Rosehill that the Brickpit is zoned to protect, manage, and restore areas of high ecological, scientific, cultural, and aesthetic values under the SOPA Act.
“At the moment, under the current planning controls, a racetrack would be prohibited,” she said.
“Permissible uses include environmental facilities, environmental protection work and filming. All other uses are prohibited.
“A key consideration for the Brickpit is the habitat for the green and golden bell frog … as such only minor development may be undertaken within the space.”
She said the frog was recognised as a threatened species under Commonwealth and State legislation, countering a claim from Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran that its endangered status had been modified.
“Not so,” she said. “It’s a high-risk, very small population and we’re one of the biggest populations in NSW.”
Racing NSW chief operating officer Graeme Hinton told the inquiry last month that the regulator had spent $25,000 undertaking due diligence on the Brickpit site.
“We have identified that there's significant benefits of Homebush as a site. It's close to public transport. It's in a major event precinct,” Hinton said.
“It's closer to the centre of Sydney than Rosehill and overcomes a lot of the shortcomings of Rosehill in terms of access to the site that we hear on a regular basis.”
“However, Homebush is still early in the stage of due diligence.”
But Armaret said there has been no consultation or engagement between SOPA and Racing NSW or ATC officials.
“I can confirm that SOPA has not participated in or facilitated any inspection by Racing NSW or the Australian Turf Club to the Brickpit as a potential site for the Rosehill racecourse,” she said.
Bren O’Brien
Armaret, who commenced working at SOPA in January, told the inquiry she learned about the racing industry’s interest in the Brickpit and its inclusion in the ATC’s unsolicited proposal via a media report in March - three months after Premier Chris Minns announced a proposed $5 billion redevelopment of Rosehill for housing.
When asked if it was true that she had not been involved in discussions or had been privy to engineering and design reports on a possible racecourse relocation to Homebush, Armaret replied: “That is correct.”
Earlier, the chief executive of the NSW Office of Sport revealed that ATC representatives visited the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park as recently as last week.
Karen Jones said it was the second inspection made by ATC officials after they first toured the site in February.
Horsley Park is a key component of the unsolicited proposal as a potential future racehorse training facility.
Jones told the hearing that no document or specific proposal had been provided to her office for an internal review of the ATC plans.
Bren O’Brien
“In the absence of final scope and accompanying plans submitted by the ATC to the Office of Sport for consideration, it would be misleading and premature for me to provide a definitive answer to questions as to whether the proposed centre of excellence and/or racehorse training facility would fit on the site,” she said.
Jones said she was unaware of ATC plans to construct 700 stables, a 2400m training track, a 1200m uphill galloping track, and veterinarian and administration buildings.
“I would put (those plans) outlined as their aspirations because we have not yet seen a plan,” she said.
But she denied she was being kept in the dark.
“I think there is a process being followed and that’s the unsolicited proposal process,” she said.
“I’m very comfortable that during that process, the Office of Sport will be engaged at the appropriate time for us to then provide our advice and feedback around what a development on the Sydney International Equestrian Centre site would look like.”
