Wesley Vale greyhound racetrack stoush between resident and Tasracing to soon play out in tribunal

Tasracing will soon go head-to-head with a group fighting the creation of the proposed Wesley Vale greyhound and harness race track. Latest from the Tas Civil and Administrative Tribunal >>

Greyhound racing at Elwick racecourse.

Tasracing will soon go head-to-head with a community group fighting the creation of the proposed new Wesley Vale greyhound and harness racing track.

Wesley Vale residents Joanna Smith and Amanda Rochford are behind a group called “All Bets are Off”, which is fighting the track on the basis of animal welfare, environmental, amenity and planning scheme concerns.

Opposite Devonport Airport, the site in question sits on 27ha of private land on Mill Road, with the cost of the development – which would include racetracks, a main building, stables, kennels and associated infrastructure – now estimated at $38.6 million.

Ms Smith will now fight Tasracing and Latrobe Council, which approved the development last October, at an upcoming hearing in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Before the tribunal, Ms Smith will argue Tasracing’s development application does not contain all the relevant information required by the planning scheme.

She recently argued that issue should be heard separately, because if she won that ground, she could win the entire appeal – and therefore the parties would not need to prepare evidence and expert witnesses for a substantive argument.

In another six grounds of appeal, Ms Smith alleges the proposal does not satisfy certain planning scheme standards.

Following a series of directions published on Friday, the tribunal ordered that Ms Smith file and serve further and better particulars to one of her appeal grounds – that the proposal fails “to minimise the visual impact of the building and light tower elements on the broader landscape”.

Tasracing has arranged for a three-dimensional model to be prepared and a visual impact assessment undertaken, and has asked Ms Smith to specify from which vantage points the proposal is problematic and does not meet planning scheme standards.

Tribunal deputy president Richard Grueber agreed with Ms Smith that her first ground of appeal should be heard separately, because if it was determined the permit was invalid, it “might dispose of the entirety of the appeal”.

He said there was a “clear demarcation” between that ground and the other six, that it would mainly rely on the council file and would not require expert evidence, and that a hearing to determine the matter would not be lengthy.

The hearing to determine the separate question, before a substantive hearing is set down if necessary, will be held at the “earliest opportunity”.

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Originally published as Wesley Vale greyhound racetrack stoush between resident and Tasracing to soon play out in tribunal