ATC members vote against sale of Rosehill Gardens

[Chief Stipe]

ATC members vote against sale of Rosehill Gardens

www.racenet.com.au

Rosehill Gardens racecourse will not be sold after the 11,500 members of the Australian Turf Club (ATC) today voted against the $5 billion deal.

The final vote count was 56.1 per cent ‘No' while 43.9 per cent of the membership voted ‘Yes' with the motion therefore being defeated

Of the 11,500 strong membership, 7864 voted on the sale proposal.

The decision has been immediately condemned by Western Sydney leaders as a huge loss for Sydney which will miss out on a new 25,000 home suburb that would have eased the housing crisis.

ATC chairman Peter McGauran's last ditch appeal to members to vote for the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to secure the future of racing in NSW for the next century failed to persuade the ATC members.

ATC members arriving at Randwick to vote on the Rosehill sale proposal Picture: Jeremy Piper

NSW Premier Chris Minns had warned there was "only one opportunity" to sell the land while there was still time to build a Metro station to service the new community.

"The train line and a station can only be built once," he warned. "Without the Metro station the value of the racecourse is a fraction of the $5 billion on offer with some estimates as low as $300 million."

Before the result was announced, Premier Chris Minns told ABC Radio: "I would be disappointed … if the vote went down.

"I thought this would be a good step forward for Sydney … thousands of homes for young Australians. But I'd have to accept the decision of ATC members.

NSW Premier Chris Minns Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

"We're going to have to take chances, even controversial decisions when it comes to housing in Sydney. We've got the second most expensive city in the world, yet by most measures we're the 800th densest city in the world."

Ahead of the vote, Mr McGauran had argued the sale should go ahead to secure the future of the industry for the next century in the face of falling ATC membership and attendances at Rosehill.

"We cannot bury our heads in the sand, we have lost 20 per cent of our membership over the last five years and crowds at Rosehill have fallen by 50 per cent in the last 10 years," he said before the vote.

Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran Picture: Bradley Photos

Had the sale gone ahead the ATC would have spent $800 million upgrading Warwick Farm racecourse to Group One status with a new grandstand, training tracks, stables and barns for 1,000 horses.

Instead members have sided with a vocal Save Rosehill campaign that was backed by prominent trainers including Gai Waterhouse and Peter Snowden, who incorrectly said no firm figure had been put on the deal.

David Borger, Executive Director of Business Western Sydney and Chair of the Housing Now! Alliance, said "the broader community interest has not prevailed in this decision".

"We've lost the gift of building a new city in the middle of Sydney and that's disappointing," he said.

"It breaks your heart to think that such a massive opportunity to get kids into the housing market, to create new supply to deal with the crisis we're facing … could just sail by.

Executive Director of Business Western Sydney David Borger has condemned the decision not to proceed with the sale of Rosehill Gardens Picture: Jonathan Ng

"Young people already feel locked out. They don't feel like they've got a stake in this city anymore when they can't even afford to rent or buy a house."

Borger also warned how the $5 billion price tag for Rosehill would vanish along with the proposed Metro station if a sale was revisited down the track.

"Because of traffic nightmares (caused by the lack of a Metro) you would never get approval to do more than something very modest there," he said.

[Dark Beau]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

ATC members vote against sale of Rosehill Gardens

www.racenet.com.au

Rosehill Gardens racecourse will not be sold after the 11,500 members of the Australian Turf Club (ATC) today voted against the $5 billion deal.

The final vote count was 56.1 per cent ‘No' while 43.9 per cent of the membership voted ‘Yes' with the motion therefore being defeated

Of the 11,500 strong membership, 7864 voted on the sale proposal.

The decision has been immediately condemned by Western Sydney leaders as a huge loss for Sydney which will miss out on a new 25,000 home suburb that would have eased the housing crisis.

ATC chairman Peter McGauran's last ditch appeal to members to vote for the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to secure the future of racing in NSW for the next century failed to persuade the ATC members.

ATC members arriving at Randwick to vote on the Rosehill sale proposal Picture: Jeremy Piper

NSW Premier Chris Minns had warned there was "only one opportunity" to sell the land while there was still time to build a Metro station to service the new community.

"The train line and a station can only be built once," he warned. "Without the Metro station the value of the racecourse is a fraction of the $5 billion on offer with some estimates as low as $300 million."

Before the result was announced, Premier Chris Minns told ABC Radio: "I would be disappointed … if the vote went down.

"I thought this would be a good step forward for Sydney … thousands of homes for young Australians. But I'd have to accept the decision of ATC members.

NSW Premier Chris Minns Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

"We're going to have to take chances, even controversial decisions when it comes to housing in Sydney. We've got the second most expensive city in the world, yet by most measures we're the 800th densest city in the world."

Ahead of the vote, Mr McGauran had argued the sale should go ahead to secure the future of the industry for the next century in the face of falling ATC membership and attendances at Rosehill.

"We cannot bury our heads in the sand, we have lost 20 per cent of our membership over the last five years and crowds at Rosehill have fallen by 50 per cent in the last 10 years," he said before the vote.

Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran Picture: Bradley Photos

Had the sale gone ahead the ATC would have spent $800 million upgrading Warwick Farm racecourse to Group One status with a new grandstand, training tracks, stables and barns for 1,000 horses.

Instead members have sided with a vocal Save Rosehill campaign that was backed by prominent trainers including Gai Waterhouse and Peter Snowden, who incorrectly said no firm figure had been put on the deal.

David Borger, Executive Director of Business Western Sydney and Chair of the Housing Now! Alliance, said "the broader community interest has not prevailed in this decision".

"We've lost the gift of building a new city in the middle of Sydney and that's disappointing," he said.

"It breaks your heart to think that such a massive opportunity to get kids into the housing market, to create new supply to deal with the crisis we're facing … could just sail by.

Executive Director of Business Western Sydney David Borger has condemned the decision not to proceed with the sale of Rosehill Gardens Picture: Jonathan Ng

"Young people already feel locked out. They don't feel like they've got a stake in this city anymore when they can't even afford to rent or buy a house."

Borger also warned how the $5 billion price tag for Rosehill would vanish along with the proposed Metro station if a sale was revisited down the track.

"Because of traffic nightmares (caused by the lack of a Metro) you would never get approval to do more than something very modest there," he said.

The Members have spoken and it went the way that I thought it would, although closer than I thought it would be.