Rosehill sale a race between public good and vested interests

One of the most exciting and beneficial planning changes of recent times, the sale of Rosehill Racecourse, is under threat from vested interests with little apparent regard for the greater public good.

Trainer Gai Waterhouse and Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys.Credit: SMH

The selloff was announced in December by NSW Premier Chris Minns and Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran and hailed by the government as a “once in a generation” opportunity that could lead to 25,000 new homes being built amid skyrocketing concern about housing supply and an affordability crisis strangling Sydney.

The ATC would sell the prized 60-hectare site to developers in deals worth at least $5 billion and spend some proceeds on massively upgrading racing, training, member and spectator facilities at other NSW venues, while also gaining a Metro station at Rosehill.

But the proposal ran into trouble from the jump. The Randwick-based trainer Gai Waterhouse used her significant influence within the industry to build opposition to the sale and was quickly joined by Rosehill-based trainers Chris Waller, Lee Curtis and Richard Freedman, who quickly made public comments criticising the sale. Then, in March, Parramatta councillor Michelle Garrard used crass hyperbole against the sale: “I’ll say it loud and clear: Rosehill will become a ghetto.”

Now the Herald’s Michael McGowan reports that a coalition of powerful thoroughbred racing identities has signalled it may attempt to roll the board of the ATC over the sale proposal. Among well-respected racing figures, the newly formed Save Rosehill group includes former ATC chair and life member Matt McGrath, previous board members such as owner-trainer Julia Ritchie and Winx owner Debbie Kepitis. Champion horse trainers Waterhouse, Waller and Anthony Cummings are also backers.

Save Rosehill group spokesman, thoroughbred owner Jason Abrahams, said the alliance had formed due to the “lack of transparency” perceived in the proposed Rosehill sale and concern that members “would not be given a vote on the deal”.

“A recent letter to members by the ATC chairman, saying members will be consulted on any sale, has not assuaged our mistrust in the ATC Board and the senior executives involved in negotiations,” Abrahams said.

“As members of the ATC, we demand full voting rights on the future of Rosehill. This process should not be taken over by politicians or unelected racing officials.”

Members may well have felt blindsided by the decision to sell. Especially as the Herald revealed in April that the ATC had told planning officials there was “definitely no plan” to sell Rosehill. Initially, the club had instead flagged a potential sale of Canterbury Park Racecourse. The waters were further muddied by another of our reports: that the head of Racing NSW, Peter V’landys, was believed by some members to have lobbied the government to divert funds from the proposed selloff away from the ATC.

However, in a statement, a spokesman for the ATC dismissed any suggestion its members would not have final say on the proposal. “There will be a vote on the sale of Rosehill Gardens at the end of this year, when all ATC members will decide the issue with finality,” the spokesman said. “The ATC board is currently undertaking due diligence with Racing NSW to ensure members have all the facts and sufficient detail on which to make an informed decision. That is their right.”

The Save Rosehill group prefers blinkers to looking at the sale with a wider vision. Of course, trainers and their friends have a legitimate right to be concerned about governance, but they also appear quite selfish in putting private interests above public good and risk blocking what is a needed and good development project that will have a real impact on Sydney’s housing shortage.

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