Royal Randwick Racecourse skydive plans revealed
Sydney looks set to get the perhaps the most scenic skydive experience in the world with daredevils plummeting to the earth over the city’s stunning eastern suburbs.
Southern Courier
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Plans have been revealed for a new skydiving venture which could see adrenaline junkies plummet toward earth with a bird’s eye view of the most beautiful harbour city in the world.
The Australian Turf Club (ATC) wants to use the racetrack infield at Royal Randwick Racecourse, in Sydney’s east, as a landing zone for a tandem skydiving business.
The club owns and operates the famous racecourse and lodged a development application last week for permission to use a vacant piece of land in the middle of the racetrack as a landing zone.
It would be the only skydiving business with a landing zone in metropolitan Sydney, if the plans are approved.
“It will provide a unique recreation and tourism attraction to Sydney and provide the ATC with an additional income stream, which will support the ongoing operation of Royal Randwick Racecourse as it recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the proposal read.
The Australian Turf Club confirmed with the Southern Courier the plans had been in the pipeline since before COVID and were primarily a commercial venture.
The turf club will team up with an existing skydiving company, Skydive Australia, to run the operation.
Under the plans, skydivers will take off from Sydney Airport and be dropped from heights up to 4.5km above the racecourse.
The adrenaline-filled activity will be restricted to Sundays and public holidays and never clash with race days at Royal Randwick.
The famous venue, which is home to Australia’s richest race The Everest, is located just 6km from Sydney Airport.
The proposal stated consultation had begun with the Civil Aviation Safety Authorityand Sydney Airport.
“Further consultation with these authorities is anticipated to be undertaken during the assessment of this application.”
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed there was not a specific rule prohibiting skydiving within a certain distance of an airport.
There are currently no commercial skydiving companies that have landing zones in metropolitan Sydney.
The closest places to skydive include the outskirts of southwest Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
The Australian Turf Club confirmed it was not looking at rolling out the business idea at its other racecourses.
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