Source : the age
Racing supremo Peter V’landys says Racing NSW won’t take any extra money from a sale of Rosehill Racecourse in a last-ditch bid to stop Australian Turf Club members torpedoing the $5 billion deal with the NSW government.
After being delayed three times, a vote on whether to proceed with the sale of the racecourse for a new housing development will go ahead on Tuesday.
Peter V’landys has sought to assure ATC members he won’t seek to have funds diverted away from the club if Rosehill Racecourse is sold.Credit: Rhett Wyman. Images digitally altered.
Under the deal, which would still need to be approved by the government, taxpayers would buy the course for $5 billion and the land would be turned into a “mini-city” of 25,000 homes with a new Metro station.
In a bid to win over members concerned about V’landys’ influence, the Racing NSW boss wrote to ATC chairman Peter McGauran this month confirming the regulator “will not seek to recover any of the net $5 billion in sale proceeds from the ATC”.
The commitment comes after the Herald last year revealed both V’landys and former Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding had told government officials the regulator did not want all proceeds from any sale to go to the ATC.
Those revelations were contained in minutes of briefings given to V’landys and Balding before the initial plan was announced in December 2023. The documents stated the two men had told the government to consider reforms to “ensure the revenue derived from the ATC proposal is reinvested to benefit the racing industry as a whole”.
Although V’landys at the time played down those comments, saying he had meant that the proceeds should be spent “in the best interests” of the wider racing industry, it has been a continual concern among ATC members.
The ATC has previously said the sale of Rosehill would trigger the repayment of $50 million in interminable loans to Racing NSW, which V’landys’ letter excludes from the commitment.
The proposed sell-off has divided the racing industry, and high-profile racing figures including champion trainer Gai Waterhouse have campaigned against it. The ATC’s board is also divided on the sale.
In the formal proposal sent to members this month, a document outlining the “no” case is authored by director Annette English with input from vice chair Tim Hale and fellow board member Caroline Searcy.
This week, Save Rosehill, a group of ATC members leading the opposition to the sale, circulated a document pointing to concerns including the ATC’s planned $800 million revamp of Warwick Farm as a replacement for Rosehill.
The document says the course is not a suitable like-for-like replacement because of its location on “Sydney’s fringes” where there is a “lack of transport and easy driving access”. It also points out the proposed redevelopment does not have any planning approvals.
The club itself, led by McGauran, has sought to sway members to support the sale by promising billions of dollars in upgrades to existing courses such as Warwick Farm, as well as free ATC memberships and $1000 food and drink credits.
The planned sale of Rosehill has changed markedly since it was announced in December 2023. At that time, Premier Chris Minns said it was to cost taxpayers “zero” because the ATC planned to find a private buyer.
But the club has asked the government to purchase the site, with payments potentially extending to 2041, to allow it to avoid the risk of developing it.
The government is yet to make a formal decision on the purchase, but Minns, a driving force behind the plan, has previously supported that idea, saying it would come at no cost to taxpayers because “ultimately, we’d be flipping the land” and on-selling it to developers.
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