‘Bitterly disappointing’: Labor may keep greyhound racing at Wentworth Park

Lord Mayor Clover Moore says it would be “bitterly disappointing” if Labor rips up the Coalition’s plan to move greyhound racing from Glebe’s Wentworth Park and turn the inner-city asset into public green space.

NSW Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper told a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday the government was reconsidering the future of the site, including “the continuity of some form of racing … whether it will close and what form it could take”.

The Coalition planned to end greyhound racing at Wentworth Park after 2027 but Labor says it is reconsidering those plans.Credit: Nick Moir

There was also an opportunity to “introduce other activities” given the new Sydney Fish Market under construction nearby, and plans for significant housing uplift at Blackwattle Bay, he said. Kamper said he had “general discussions” with Racing Minister David Harris about the matter.

The previous government committed to ending dog racing at Wentworth Park when the licence expires in 2027, and planned to convert it to “newly activated, publicly accessible open space as part of a larger and enhanced parkland”.

That was announced in December 2020 by then-treasurer Dominic Perrottet and planning minister Rob Stokes, as part of the broader Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy. The documents said a working group of government agencies and stakeholders would find a site for greyhound racing.

The Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association, which runs Wentworth Park, agreed to leave the site at the expiry of the lease. But chief executive Rob Macaulay said the former Coalition government left office without an alternative being finalised, and the GBOTA now wished to remain at Wentworth Park.

The Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association has told the government it wants to stay at Wentworth Park.Credit: Brendan Esposito

“We’ve just raised this as a desire. I understand that it’s going through a process of consideration,” Macaulay said. “Wentworth Park is the ideal place. We’ve invested many millions of dollars in that facility.”

Macaulay estimated the cost of another site would be “the best part of $100 million.” Kamper said the government had not decided, but expense was a factor. “It’s prudent if we can get a positive outcome there without it being an enormous cost to the state,” he said.

Animal Justice Party upper house member Emma Hurst said Wentworth Park was one of the most dangerous greyhound tracks in Australia, with 11 injuries and one dog death last Saturday night alone, and it was “absolutely reprehensible” for the government to consider backflipping.

“[It] shows NSW Labor continues to be in the pocket of racing and gambling industries,” she said. “Dogs are being killed and injured on this track … the NSW government cannot turn a blind eye to this cruelty.”

Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst said it was “absolutely reprehensible” for the government to consider retaining the dog track.Credit: James Brickwood

Moore, a long-term proponent of removing greyhound racing from Wentworth Park and the City, said her council had started developing a new master plan for the precinct, which would dedicate the site for community use.

“Wentworth Park sits in the middle of one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Australia and is dominated by a greyhound racing track,” she said.

“This parkland should be for the benefit of the community, not an industry that has admitted to killing up to 17,000 healthy dogs each year, has been shown to live-bait, and causes problem gamblers real suffering.

“It would be bitterly disappointing if the government backed down, indicating the greyhound industry is more important to them than the community of Pyrmont/Ultimo.”

At loggerheads over city planning: NSW Premier Chris Minns and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.Credit: Rhett Wyman, Janie Barrett

The disagreement looms as another potential clash between the lord mayor and Premier Chris Minns, who last week slammed Moore for blocking residential development in the Sydney CBD.

Moore agreed more housing was required to deal with the current crisis, but said the government “must recognise this additional housing requires infrastructure and open space to ensure growing suburbs are liveable”.

Independent upper house member Mark Latham said he could not fathom why the government would consider ending the “pre-eminent greyhound racing facility in the state” now that breeders, owners and trainers had indicated they wanted to stay.