“The ATC board is currently undertaking due diligence in conjunction with Racing NSW to ensure members have all the facts and sufficient detail on which to make an informed decision. That is their right and it’s not for the Board or any opponent to interfere with due process.”
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Abrahams said that Save Rosehill also had “great concern” about V’landys’ role in the proposal. The Herald last month revealed documents that some members believe reveal the powerful Racing NSW boss lobbied the government to divert funds from the proposed sell-off away from the ATC. The group contends the proposal has been “handed over” to Racing NSW because the regulator has been tasked with undertaking due diligence over the deal.
But V’landys hit back at those concerns, accusing the group of “scaremongering” and citing a “statutory obligation to ensure decisions such as this are in the best interests of the industry as a whole”.
“No amount of scaremongering which conveniently ignores the facts will deviate us from our statutory obligations,” he said.
Among well-respected racing figures, Save Rosehill includes former ATC chair and life member Matt McGrath, previous board members such as owner-trainer Julie Ritchie and Winx owner Debbie Kepitis. Champion horse trainers Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller and Anthony Cummings are also backers.
The group has not yet decided on its next steps, and has sought feedback from other ATC members. It has not ruled out an attempt to orchestrate changes to the board – Abrahams said Save Rosehill would “vigorously pursue all avenues to hold the board of the ATC accountable to the members”.
The ATC board comprises seven directors, three of whom are appointed by the NSW Minister for Racing. The other four are appointed by members.
The housing proposal, announced by NSW Premier Chris Minns and ATC chairman Peter McGauran in December, was hailed by the government as a “once in a generation” opportunity to ease Sydney’s housing supply shortage. In exchange for selling the course for housing, the ATC would gain a Metro station at Rosehill and investments in racing infrastructure around Sydney.
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The proposal is now being considered under the government’s unsolicited proposals’ framework, but a series of reports published by the Herald, revealing a remarkably short turn-around in the deal being hatched, raised questions about the process behind the mooted sale. The deal is now subject to an Upper House parliamentary inquiry.
Among the concerns of Save Rosehill members is a document released to parliament earlier this year showing NSW government officials workshopped a series of options to secure the racecourse, including compulsory acquisition. Documents also revealed that government officials originally believed “only the ATC board” would need to approve the deal, though McGauran insists it will go ahead only if members support it.
Abrahams said: “In our view, this whole process contemplates disenfranchising ATC members and threatens the future of premier racing in Greater Western Sydney, because there is no viable alternative to Rosehill Racecourse in the foreseeable future.”
In April, the Herald revealed the ATC had told planning officials there was “definitely no plan” to sell Rosehill. Initially, the club had instead flagged a potential sale of Canterbury Racecourse.
The ATC said the planning meeting had not been “the appropriate forum” to raise a potential Rosehill sale.
Abrahams said it was evidence the ATC had “flip-flopped dramatically” on Rosehill. The Canterbury proposal showed there were “many feasible options that can see land freed for much-needed housing which would preserve racing at Rosehill”.