V’landys’ plan to relocate Rosehill racecourse unlikely to face the starter

The head of the NSW Planning Department has thrown cold water on a proposal to relocate Rosehill racecourse to the historic brick pit at Sydney Olympic Park, saying environmental constraints would be likely to inhibit any development.

Racing NSW identified the abandoned brick pit as a potential site for a tier-one racecourse in Sydney if a controversial plan to turn Rosehill into a mini-city of 25,000 homes went ahead.

The former brick pit at Sydney Olympic Park.Credit: Wolter Peeters

NSW Planning Secretary Kiersten Fishburn has downplayed the likelihood of such a proposal going ahead, pointing to significant environmental constraints at the 27-hectare site.

“I do believe the environmental constraints in relation to the brick pit would be inhibitive for any form of development,” she told a parliamentary inquiry into the sale of Rosehill.

While close to transport and entertainment venues, the brick pit has remained undeveloped since it closed in 1988. It was earmarked as a tennis venue for the 2000 Olympics, but the proposal was thwarted following the discovery of endangered green and golden bell frogs.

The parliamentary committee has previously heard evidence from Sydney Olympic Park Authority chief executive Carla Armanet that the site is zoned as an area of high ecological significance. She said the authority had not been approached about redevelopment plans.

Fishburn told the hearing this week it was unlikely the land could be developed.

“I think you would be challenged to manage out those environmental constraints under any development outcome,” she said.

The plan to relocate Rosehill to the site revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald, was floated in part to appease aggrieved trainers who oppose the controversial redevelopment of the track. Racing NSW is undertaking due diligence on the site after its powerful chief executive Peter V’landys indicated the original plan between the Minns government and the Australian Turf Club to redevelop Warwick Farm following the sale of Rosehill may not be acceptable.

After Fishburn’s comments, V’landys told the Herald the brick pit was “only one of the options that has been looked at to meet Racing NSW’s requirements that there be a replacement racecourse if Rosehill is to be redeveloped. We also have sought reports as to whether the brick pit is a viable option and they are yet to be finalised.”

A green and golden bell frog.Credit: Jeremy Tscharke

Opposition housing spokesman Scott Farlow said Fishburn’s comments showed the proposal was a “fantasy”.

“The site couldn’t be built on for a tennis centre for the Olympics and nothing has changed today,” he said.

Premier Chris Minns and ATC chair Peter McGauran announced the plan to sell the racecourse and turn it into a 25,000-dwelling housing estate in December.

The parliamentary inquiry was launched after pushback from high-profile members of the ATC including champion trainers Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller.

There have also been questions about how the idea was raised after the Herald revealed the ATC had told planning officials there was “definitely no plan” to sell Rosehill for housing only a fortnight before it proposed to do exactly that.

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