Menangle Park Training Centre

March 2004

There has been significant progress made on the viability of making the Club's Menangle Park Paceway into a training centre.

A quantity surveyor engaged by the Club is currently completing costings for the project and once the figures are available the Board and Management will then develop a full business plan.

While a final decision will not be made until the business plan is completed and analysed, I must say the concept of a training centre being established at Menangle Park looks promising.

The response by industry participants to a Club survey has been very positive. Aside from a strong response, the information we gathered from the survey has been invaluable and has allowed us to take the plans even further.

Architect Chris Dunkerley was commissioned to draw up plans for the complex, based on the Club's ideas and the needs of trainers who responded to the survey.

If the Menangle project is given the green light, I can assure the membership the Club will have a state-of-the-art training facility on its hands.

There will be room for 100 stables to be rented with all the associated requirements such as swimming pools, sand rolls, walking machines and tack rooms.

The design of the complex will allow for another 100 stables to be added if - and when - they are needed.

The Club has also been working closely with the State Government, which has established a future plan for the Menangle Park precinct.

We need to make sure that what we are doing is consistent with the Government's plans for the area.

Menangle Park Plan Remains a Priority

May 2004

A redevelopment of Menangle Park into a first-class training and racing centre is still very much at the forefront of future plans for the NSW Harness Racing Club.

As members would be able to appreciate, there is much red tape to sort through with various government departments before the plan can become a reality.

The Club has been encouraged by the amount of interest shown by trainers and owners in the Menangle project. There is a need for a bigger racing track in the Sydney metropolitan area along with state-of-the-art training facilities.

It is generally agreed Menangle Park is the ideal location for such a facility. At the moment the Club is exploring different sub-division opportunities and talks with Campbelltown City Council are continuing.