Pressure mounts to unlock Caulfield Racecourse Reserve

A RESERVE the size of 20 MCGs at Caulfield Racecourse could be opened to the public as pressure mounts for the space to be shared with the community.

There are calls for a reserve at Caulfield Racecourse to be opened to the public. Picture: Chris Eastman

PRESSURE is mounting to open up a public reserve at Caulfield Racecourse.

An independent report on the future management of Caulfield Racecourse Reserve, which was handed to Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio last month, is yet to be acted on.

Ms D’Ambrosio, who was expected to act on the report last week, is anticipated to make an announcement about it this week.

The reserve, a 54ha parcel of Crown land — the equivalent of more than 20 MCGs — is underused by the public because it is hard to access and dominated by racing interests.

The bipartisan report, jointly compiled by Caulfield Liberal MP David Southwick, Oakleigh Labour MP Steve Dimopoulos and independent chair Ken Ryan, recommended members of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust (CRRT) resign from the trust, which would enable establishment of a new, independent land manager.

In Parliament last week Mr Southwick called on Ms D’Ambrosio to commit to a time to act on the report.

“The action I seek is particularly to get the time line in place,” Mr Southwick said.

“The time line includes a date for the trustees to all resign. I have it in writing that the Glen Eira Council representatives on the trust will resign, which is three members. Also the Melbourne Racing Club representatives, of which there are six, have all agreed to resign. We now need the government appointees, of which I believe there are five at the moment, to resign, and that would then force a trigger to get this happening.”

A 54ha parcel of Crown land at Caulfield Racecourse is dominated by racing interests.

MRC chairman Mike Symons said he welcomed the report and were looking forward to securing the tenure at Caulfield in the long-term.

“We also hope that we can contribute to ensuring that the racecourse is an asset that can be enjoyed by the local community, which is an objective we have always pursued,” Mr Symons said.

“We look forward to working closely with Minister D’Ambrosio and the Andrews Government in their task of determining the most appropriate governance model for the management of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve. That includes the absolute preparedness of the six current MRC-appointed Trustees to stand down immediately from those positions in keeping with the options identified of the report, and in the best interests of the future of the Caulfield Racecourse, which is always the priority of the MRC.”

The report recommends:

THE CAULFIELD Racecourse Reserve Board of Trustees (CRRT) must all resign (currently all Glen Eira Council and Melbourne Racing Club representatives have agreed to resign, government appointees are yet to decide).

IF TRUSTEES all resign it would enable the establishment of a new, independent land manager with a modern governance structure and accountabilities for the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve.

IN THE INTERIM after the CRRT resigns, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning would be the default land manager. The DELWP would be in a position to settle the commercial lease and license arrangements with the MRC for racing and public use. Currently the MRC is paying just $93,000 rent a year.

THE MRC has indicated that it wants to remove training from Caulfield within five years of signing a new long term lease. This presents opportunities to reinstate these untenured areas for use as public open space.

DURING the interim, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change must establish a new independent body to take over as land manager. The working group’s preferred option is through a separately legislated body by an Act of the Victorian Parliament with ideally no more than seven independent appointees.

IF THE minister chooses to introduce legislation for the Caulfield Racecourse, it would set out the different uses of the CRR, including what parts of the land may be leased and licensed for racing and what land may be used for public park and recreation purposes.

THE NEW independent land manager would oversee obligations regarding opening hours and public use and access of the Caulfield Racecourse.