Queensland Harness Racing Centre: State government’s Gold Coast development at Norwell faces uncertain future

Grand plans for a key tourism attraction on the northern Gold Coast have stalled, sparking fears the multimillion-dollar project, tipped to create 1300 jobs, will be abandoned. FIND OUT MORE

Grand plans to make the Gold Coast the state’s home of harness racing have stalled, sparking fears the multimillion-dollar project will be abandoned.

The former state government spent more than $8m to buy a giant 72ha property at Norwell in 2022, where facilities were to be built to replace the sport’s crumbling Albion Park headquarters.

But nearly three years on, ground has not broken on the development and there is little indication it will proceed.

With plans to build a new harness racing facility in Brisbane for the Olympics also dumped, Mayor Tom Tate, an avid racing fan, urged the Crisafulli Government to keep the faith in the Gold Coast project ahead of the 2032 Games.

Artist impression of a new Queensland Harness Racing complex at Norwell on the Gold Coast. Picture: State Government.

“They should do a business case and from that we can look at the funding opportunity,” he said.

“The federal government should be in line (to contribute) from the regional development infrastructure fund.

“Harness racing is very popular in southeast Queensland and there are more horses per capita than any other large city in Australia.

“I would urge (the state government) to do the business case to determine its viability and they should do it because this would add a great deal of economic benefit for the city.”

The complex was tipped to have “state-of-the-art” facilities which would include a full-size harness racing track, stables, offices and grandstands, as well as a training ground.

Racing Queensland at the time commissioned an independent report which found “the northern Gold Coast corridor was the most suitable location for the Queensland Harness Centre, with a third of all Queensland standardbreds based locally”.

Mayor Tom Tate. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mr Tate has been backed by Barry Grimsey, the long-time president of the Gold Coast Harness Racing Club before its facilities were demolished in 2013 ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

“We helped (the former government) find the land they bought and it is the best location because you can come from Brisbane and there’s not a traffic light until you get there and there will be a new train station going in, so transport is great,” he said.

“Meanwhile (Brisbane’s) Albion Park is falling apart, and they’re spending money to try and get people to go there but nobody is.

“The government spent all that money (at Norwell) and they’ve just neglected it.”

Gold Coast Harness Racing club president Barry Grimsey at the former Parklands night.

Sports Minister Tim Mander did not answer questions about the current status of the Norwell project and whether it would proceed, but confirmed the sale of the land to the state had gone ahead.

“The Queensland harness industry was promised the world and delivered an atlas under the former Labor government,” he said.

“Labor’s backflip on Albion Park left the industry in limbo. It’s just another example of how almost 1200 days of indecisiveness was detrimental to other sporting codes.

“The Crisafulli Government is conducting the most comprehensive review of Queensland’s racing industry in more than 25 years, and we will examine how we can fix the messes Labor created.”

Sports Minister Tim Mander. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

The centre was supposed to be built on a site opposite the old Holden Performance Centre on the corner of Norwell and Fischers roads and was announced with a 2025 completion date ahead of the first races in early 2026.

Then-premier Annastacia Pala­szczuk said, when announcing the project in 2022, that more than 1300 local jobs would have been created with the development of the racing precinct. “This world-class harness racing facility is expected to host more than 200 meetings a year and will include training and stabling facilities currently unavailable in Queensland,” she said at the time.

The project was unveiled in 2022 Picture: State Government.

It was to replace the existing harness racing facility at Brisbane’s Albion Park and original Gold Coast Harness Racing complex at Parklands.

The latter was demolished more than a decade ago to make way for the 2018 Commonwealth Games athlete’s village at Parklands.

Among those who backed it at the time of its announcement were Racing Queensland chairman Steve Wilson, Albion Park Harness Racing Club chairman Brad Steele and Breeders, Owners, Trainers, Reinspersons Association president Daren Garrard.

However, plans to resume Albion Park came under fire from racing industry figures.

A proposal to redevelop the site to build 2032 Olympic venues was dumped in mid-2024 after former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk’s review into the planning of the Games.