Coffs Harbour Mayoral candidates question half-day holiday for Coffs Cup

The logic in allowing thousands to descend on a racetrack has been questioned by some while others are worried about the public holiday’s impact on struggling businesses

The Coffs Cup will look a little different this year with Covid restrictions forcing event organisers to halve its size.

With thousands descending on Coffs Harbour racecourse, concerns have been raised over the health risk and the decision to grant a part-day public holiday for it.

Calls have grown louder for a review of the part-day public holiday for the annual Coffs Harbour Cup race meet after this year’s event was capped at just 2500 people due to the Covid-19 public health orders.

The race has become a huge talking point and the merits of giving more than 75,000 people the day off for an event that will hold so few has been questioned by a number of Coffs Harbour City Council Mayoral candidates.

Rodger Pryce was particularly concerned with the impact the holiday would have on the region’s already struggling businesses and the problems it creates for families with school-age children.

“The whole intention of it as I understand is that it enables people to go to the races but if you restrict it to (2500) people, I don’t really think it works,” he said.

Rodger Pryce (far right) says Council can look for alternatives to having a half-day public holiday on Coffs Cup Day. He says his fellow candidate Nikki Williams (far right) has been significantly impacted as both a single mother and small business owner. Photo by Janine Watson.

Mayoral rival Tegan Swan agreed, saying the need for race day to be a public holiday had “probably passed”. Ms Swan also noted events like Curryfest in Woolgoolga attracted a much larger crowd without a public holiday being declared.

“For the size of the event and the impact it has on the wider community (weighed against) the number of people that attend … it’s not a balance to me,” she said.

‘It’s too much of an impost on the rest of the community to expect it would be a public holiday because there are so many bigger events.”

Health concerns linger

The Greens team for Coffs Harbour City Council elections in September are Tim Nott, Natalie Stevens, Jonathan Cassell and Maureen Burgess. Mr Cassell says The idea of a half-day public holiday seems outdated especially for horse racing. Photo by Meder Photography

Meanwhile, the potential health implications of the event have been at the forefront of others’ minds and Labor candidate Tony Judge said he was “concerned” about having such a large public gathering at a time the state was “desperately trying to stop the spread of Covid-19”.

Greens candidate Jonathan Cassell said he couldn’t understand how the risks of holding the race were different to holding an outdoor music festival.

“A day at the races usually means relaxing, socialising and having a few drinks,” Mr Judge said. “Combine that with a large crowd and it is very difficult to get social distancing and infection control right,”

“We’ve worked really hard to keep Our community Covid-free. I hope that this event doesn’t undo that hard work.”

Coffs Harbour Racing Club CEO Tim Saladine. The 2021 Coffs Cup will be awash with surgical masks as the club puts on a Covidsafe event for the 2500 punters. Photo: Tim Jarrett / Coffs Coast Advocate

Coffs Harbour Racing Club Tim Saladine has been at pains to point out the lengths the organisation has gone to ensure it is as safe as possible for attendees. Aside from mandating that surgical masks must be worn, there will be random license checks to ensure no unauthorised people from Greater Sydney entered the event.

Mr Saladine also said it was “highly unlikely” any racing industry staff from Greater Sydney, who can travel provided they provide a negative Covid-19 test, would make the trip north. Horses that are coming up from Sydney are being sent to local stables.

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh also played down the risk and said “ultimately” Coffs Harbour was not in lockdown and organisers and participants had to make their own judgments as to whether they attended any event in the area.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh at Sealy Lookout, Coffs Harbour. Photo: Tim Jarrett

“My understanding is (the racing club) have a comprehensive Covid safety plan in place,” he said.

“No organisation wants to be running that risk, and especially reputational risk, of being a super spreading event so obviously they will have to take it very seriously during the day.”

Mr Singh also addressed perceived inconsistencies in the Public Health Orders which allowed such a big event to go on yet didn’t allow more than 20 people to dance at a wedding.

He said 18 months into the pandemic the health experts had a lot of data on likely spreading events and that it was not as “as simple as it sometimes seemed on the surface”.

“The health orders are quite clear and have been honed over the past 18 months based on what does and what doesn’t spread Covid.