Penrith Paceway airs frustration on NSW Government acquisition process for new stadium

The operators of Penrith Paceway, an 177-year-old institution which may soon be demolished to make way for a new stadium for the Panthers, say the NSW Government has left them in the dark.

Paceway CEO Tash Greentree

The operators of Penrith Paceway, an 177-year-old institution which has been earmarked to be the future home of the Penrith Panthers, say the NSW Government has left them in the dark with the uncertainty impacting the club’s bottom line.

The NSW Government has announced plans for a $309m stadium on the Paceway site, with Infrastructure NSW writing to representatives of the Paceway to formally begin negotiations for the acquisition of the land on July 4.

The letter to the club stated Infrastructure NSW would make a “genuine attempt” to acquire the property by a private agreement for at least six months.

However, Penrith Paceway CEO Tash Greentree said since this initial communication, there had been little to no movement to indicate what the future holds.

“We got one email saying ‘we’ll be following these steps, getting information about your stakeholders, this is the process and you need to do the same,’ but since then there’s been no communication, there’s not even been a valuer on site,” she said.

Paceway employees on Tuesday

“It’s been eight months of us sitting on our hands, not being able to operate our business, me not being able to provide any updates to our staff, whether they’re gonna have a job or not. That’s a difficult thing to hold over people’s heads.”

Ms Greentree said the myriad of question marks hanging over the Paceway’s future were detrimental to everyday operations, specifically club memberships and functions.

Paceway CEO Tash Greentree on the club’s grounds.

“I can’t provide any assurance our rooms will be available, I can’t book in $10,000 worth of fireworks, or entertainment without a guarantee that we’re still going to be here,” she said.

Previously, clients which regularly held events at the Paceway would pay for services in advance. Now, Ms Greentree said, they have requested to pay per event, telling her: “you might not be here”.

Adding insult to injury were media reports a deal had been confirmed, with Ms Greentree feeling as if she was finding out key updates second hand.

“The process hasn’t even really started yet somehow it’s turned up in the media that it’s a done deal,” she said. “It’s a please explain moment, everyone knows more about our future and what’s going on here than we do. That’s not right.”

Ms Greentree said only after she vented her frustration in the media did Infrastructure NSW organise a meeting to provide an update to Paceway executives. The meeting is to take place on Thursday.

An Infrastructure NSW spokesman said discussions for the acquisition had begun. It did not respond to questions surrounding the impact of the uncertainty on the Paceway or what is hoped to be achieved by the upcoming meeting.

“To ensure the redevelopment of Penrith Stadium will meet the needs of the community, a six-week consultation with community members and stakeholders was held last year,” he said.

“During the consultation, feedback from the community and stakeholders confirmed the site of the existing stadium was limited, and an alternative site would allow fixtures to continue to be played in Penrith during the construction period. In response to the feedback, the NSW Government is exploring an alternate site and will review the scope and design of the new stadium.”

The existing Penrith Stadium, known as BlueBet Stadium, will be used for the 2023 NRL season.