Caulfield Racecourse: Liberals pledge $4.25 million to ovals plan

SPACE-STARVED sporting clubs could be playing at Caulfield Racecourse as early as next year, after a $4.25 million Liberal pledge to transform the huge parcel of public land inside the track into ovals.

SPACE-STARVED sporting clubs could be playing at Caulfield Racecourse as early as next year, after the Liberals committed $4.25 million towards ovals being built inside the track.

The community has long called for the 54ha parcel of crown land — more than 15 times the size of the MCG pitch — to be unlocked for community use, including a sports centre.

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While redevelopment plan was first proposed in 2013 the public land has barely been used, because it is hard to access and dominated by racing interests.

But if elected, the Liberals will spend $250,000 towards a masterplan, facilitated by the racecourse’s new trust and involving the community, sporting clubs, Glen Eira Council and the Melbourne Racing Club.

The Liberals have committed $4.24 million towards building sporting facilities at Caulfield Racecourse.

Another $4 million will “kickstart” the masterplan and ensure some facilities are built inside the track, but no concrete details have been released.

Caulfield Liberal MP David Southwick said the cash would go a long way in helping growing sporting clubs that to find grounds to play at, especially given the boom in the number of female players.

“Our plan will create a new sports precinct in this unused space (and) we will also ensure that further development of the reserve will explore additional park, play and recreational facilities as part of the masterplan,” Mr Southwick said.

Albert Park’s Ajax Football Club and Caulfield Bears Football Club both welcomed the announcement, with Caulfield Bears president Louise Nelson saying it was a long time coming.

She said the club had grown year-on-year for five years and people would miss out on playing if something wasn’t done soon.

“They want kids to get out there and play sport and having that extra ground is so important because everyone is doing ad hoc solutions right now,” Ms Nelson said.

“It just seems ridiculous that there’s so much space just sitting there idle when the sporting clubs are crying out and desperate for more space.”

Labor candidate for Caulfield Sorina Grasso was contacted for comment.

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