The bold plan to raze Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens racecourse and turn it into a 25,000 home mini city will undergo “further development and progression” after the NSW government approved the initial proposal put forward by the Australian Turf Club (ATC).
As of Friday morning, the plan has progressed to stage 2 of the unsolicited proposals process. While this does not mean the government has agreed to the proposal, the project now warrants “sufficient interest” and will undergo further planning to become a “more defined project”.
The plan to relocate the existing racecourse and turn the Western Sydney site into an entertainment precinct, residential site, and touted metro location was announced to massive fanfare in December last year.
The proposal also includes plans to allow the ATC to develop a Centre of Excellence training and stabling facility at Horsley Park, upgrade existing facilities at Warwick Farm, Canterbury Park and Royal Randwick, and potentially create a new racetrack elsewhere in Sydney.
Friday’s update said the cross-government assessment panel believed the ATC was “uniquely positioned to deliver a significant housing outcome” and “achieve a value for money outcome which will be confirmed through quantitative due diligence in stage 2”.
ATC members, who were notified of the latest update by the board’s chairman Peter McGauran in a letter on Friday morning, will also be called to vote on the plan later this year.
In Mr McGauran’s letter, he specifies that “progression to stage 2 does not guarantee that the ATC’s proposal will proceed to stage 3 (negotiation of final binding offer) of the process”.
“The outcome of stage 2 may be that either the NSW government or ATC determines that the detailed proposal should not be accepted.
“Members will be in possession of all the facts before you are asked to vote on the proposal later this year.”