Future of New Plymouth racetrack in legal limbo after name change

[Chief Stipe]

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

The lease to the Pukekura Raceway in New Plymouth is up in the air

 

A high powered meeting will be held on Monday to sort out the future of New Plymouth's central city horse racing track, which has been in limbo for at least five years because of a legal technicality. 

Under former mayor Andrew Judd, the New Plymouth District Council did not renew Taranaki Racing's lease of the Pukekura Raceway after a name change at the club rendered the existing agreement null and void.

Judd, who did not stand for reelection in 2016, said at the time he did not want to renew the lease of the multi-million dollar piece of land without having a public debate first. 

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

Taranaki Racing leases 38.2175 hectares at Pukekura Raceway, New Plymouth.

 

"I didn't feel I had a mandate to do that and I wanted to be transparent and go through the council. Because the advice at the time from the officers was it could be a potential opportunity to renegotiate with the race course for the use of the land," he said. 

"I said I was not prepared to just sign anything particularly if it might mean we could use the land in a different way."

In an effort to sort out the legal situation club officials will meet with current Mayor Neil Holdom and New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young on Monday. 

Holdom, who has championed a proposal to turn half of the city's Fitzroy golf course reserve land over to housing, said the council was working with Taranaki Racing to tidy up the details of the organisation's lease so they could continue operating.  

"I wouldn't consider putting housing on the New Plymouth race course," he said. 

NPDC chief financial officer Alan Bird said the issue was with the lease, which came about through an administrative error during the racing club's restructuring.

Taranaki Racing chief executive Carey Hobbs said the club had been trying to fix the problem for the "last five or six years".   

"There is a legal technicality that I don't totally understand. It is understood by lawyers, not lay people." 

It was a perpetual lease, that went forever, but it was in limbo at the moment, he said.

"Our legal opinion is we are still the leaseholder despite the technical legal issue."

Hobbs said he didn't think the council would refuse to renew the lease.

"I don't know why they would. We bring $30 million a year in to the district."

Formerly the Taranaki Jockey Club, the Taranaki Racing Club and Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Taranaki Racing gave 38.22 hectares of land to the New Plymouth District Council under the New Plymouth Recreation and Racecourse Reserve Act 1959.

The Act says the land was declared to be held by the council under the name of the New Plymouth Recreation and Racecourse Reserve as a reserve for the recreation of the inhabitants of the 'City of New Plymouth'.

There have been two or three changes to the lease since then, in 1979 when the first stadium was built, and again in 1999, Hobbs said.

And there would probably need to be another change if the redevelopment of the TSB Stadium went ahead.

Young said there had been a small change in the legislation. He doubted there would be any problems renewing the lease, because the club was part of the city's culture. 

The Act says Taranaki Racing, or the Taranaki Jockey Club as it was then, was to pay $365 a year lease. 

 - Stuff

[Chief Stipe]

Pukekura Raceway a racecourse and 'community asset'

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

Taranaki Racing CEO Carey Hobbs says the racecourse plays a vital role in the region.

 

As dawn breaks in New Plymouth, Pukekura Raceway is alive with flying thoroughbreds, and trainers. But by 9am the sound of thundering hooves has subsided and all is quiet.

Sometimes, as the day continues, there will be the shouts of schoolboy rugby or the bustle of setting up a charity event; other days the facilities are vacant and silence reigns.

The home of Taranaki Racing sits on 38 hectares of prime green space in the centre of the city; right next to the world renowned Pukekura Park.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

Racing needed to work on ways to keep the community engaged, Hobbs said.

 

For years Taranaki Racing - formerly the Taranaki Jockey Club, the Taranaki Racing Club and Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing - has leased the area, having gifted it to the New Plymouth District Council under the New Plymouth Recreation and Racecourse Reserve Act 1959.

However, the racing body's lease is in limbo after changing its name rendered the agreement with the NPDC null and void. And while a high powered meeting between the council, New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young and Taranaki Racing is scheduled for Monday, the legal loophole has offered the council an opportunity to consider other options for land use.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

Hobbs says the horses are off the track by 9am most days and he hopes the venue will be better utilised by the community.

 

One idea mooted is using the space for an inner-city multi-sport hub, building on the NPDC's current proposal to upgrade the TSB Stadium that sits adjacent as part of its long term plan. Another option is to use the land for a residential development, something the council is already considering doing with reserve land it owns and currently leases to the Fitzroy Golf Club.

But entertaining the ideas would be foolhardy, Taranaki Racing chief executive Carey Hobbs says.

He doesn't think New Plymouth would want to lose the racecourse or the $30 million it brings to the economy. Hobbs says the facilities are used by others in the community for events like the Relay for Life, Multi-ethnic extravaganza and, among other things, as a campground during the three-day Womad festival.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF

The racecourse is a community facility, not just a horse racing track.

 

"We're not just a racing club; we're a community asset.

 

"Our main thing is our core business, racing and training, but I believe the Pukekura Raceway can also be developed more for the community without affecting our racing."

Hobbs says he would like to see it being used more; the Act states only 20 races a year can take place. The facilities are used to train 100-160 horses a year and they hold 14 to 16 race meetings, depending on the season.

"That still leaves 346 days a year.

"Training's over by 8.30, 9 o'clock in the morning. It's here; it's available; it's a lovely green space. We want to see it used."

Short of the big racecourses like Ellerslie and Riccarton, Taranaki is doing as well as any facility in a struggling industry, Hobbs says.

"It's well documented that racing has struggled in the last two decades. Prize money hasn't kept up with inflation, and the foal crop's down.

"The racing industry as a whole has looked at diversifying and trying to get a strong cultural and social side to the industry.

"Racing is not massively relevant to a significant number of New Zealanders; however the occasion of racing, if we market it correctly, can be enjoyed by a reasonably large section of New Zealanders."

Taranaki Trainers' Association president John Wheeler says the region doesn't need all four of its racecourses but losing the most used track was not a good option.

"New Plymouth is the flagship and I would think that it would always remain that."

He says the area was already used as a sports hub.

"The racecourse itself is really quite a small part of it."

A report from business consultants IER for the New Zealand Racing Board, released in February, highlights the impact racing, including harness and greyhound, has on the New Zealand economy. In Taranaki/Manawatu-Whanganui, the racing industry generated $135.7 million in value-added contribution to GDP, 8.3 per cent of the impact nationwide.

Taranaki Racing was one of the case studies highlighted in the report for their connection to the community.

"On an annual basis, some 20 - 30 charities benefit both directly and indirectly from activities at the Pukekura Raceway," the report says.

But with such a large amount of land being underutilised there is room to house a number of different sports beyond basketball. Netball Taranaki has long advocated for a move up to the area. 

Volleyball Taranaki's Phil Gayton says the racecourse area could be further utilised as a sports hub, but would like the track to stay.

"It's central to the town and because a large proportion of the people playing sport are non-drivers, then access is easier. The Bell Block one is too far out of town."

He says the racecourse could stay where it is but the sports hub could be built around it.

"I think there's plenty of land to build things there.

"What we need is a stadium at least twice as big as the current one. We apply for about 30 nights a year and we're lucky if we get 20."

The land the racecourse sits on is similar in size to that of the Fitzroy Golf Course but according to the NPDC's website is worth four times as much - at $19,786 million. The council has already proposed selling off half the golf course land, worth about $5m, to raise $40m for projects in the district - including the TSB Stadium redevelopment.

While the council's proposal to sell of reserve land for housing has come under fire, if the option was available a lot of money could be raised from selling off Pukekura Raceway, Bland & Jackson director Geoff Bland says.

Hypothetically speaking, the value of that land would be huge, Bland says.

"Yes it is definitely valuable but there's social responsibility and whether or not a developer would be brave enough; it's probably going to create a lot of backlash.

"If it was not a reserve or racecourse facility and it was just someone's private land, it would be worth huge money just because of its proximity to town.

"It could be anything; it could be commercial or it could be residential.

"It would be several million dollars."

But despite the fact council is considering selling off golf course land New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom is adamant the NPDC is not considering the racecourse for residential development.

"The racecourse is quite different to Fitzroy Golf Club as it exists under its own unique piece of legislation," Holdom said in an emailed statement.

"At this stage NPDC has not considered any future possibilities at the racecourse as it is not a priority. Our attention is firmly focused on our draft 10-year plan which sets out our proposed $2.3 billion work programme for the next decade."

Hotelier Peter Tennent is also against chopping up the land for residential development and says is would be "disappointing" to see the racecourse lost.

"There has been propositions going back the last 55 years for part of that land being used for a hotel; at one stage part of that land being subdivided.

"Why would you want to destroy it?

"How valuable is Pukekura Park or the foreshore walkway? It's part of what makes this place pretty special."

Craig Williamson, who is fighting the council as part of the Save Fitzroy Golf Club campaign, says there is no justification for selling off any recreational reserve land for residential development.

"That's what was set aside for by our forefathers so nobody has the right to come along and change that.

"There's plenty of other places to build houses and the private sector are doing that."

 - Stuff

[The Centaur]

THe name changes undergone by the Taranaki club of recentt times have been ridiculous. Same with a lot of other clubs just a yuppie idea to make new committee members believe they are modernising racing where in fact they haven't a clue.

Back in the sixties when the New Plymouth airport shifted from the old Bell Block site there was some talk of relocating the racecourse to Bell Block which would have given it plenty room. However the New Plymouth track is used extensively by sports clubs I doubt any valid reason would allow it being converted to housing unless the Bell block site was still available for an all weather track.