Rosehill sale: Where could Sydney’s new racecourse be built?

A new racetrack for Sydney is a key part of a $5bn plan to sell off Rosehill Gardens for housing. Here are three sites that could potentially provide a new home for racing.

An aerial view of Rosehill Racecourse. Picture: Steve Christo / Corbis via Getty Images

If the plan to transform Rosehill Gardens into a new Western Sydney suburb, where could the replacement track be built?

The Sydney racing bombshell was dropped on Wednesday night revealing that the Australian Turf Club had put a radical proposal to the NSW government.

A new Western Sydney community with up to 25,000 new homes, a metro station, and a new school is being proposed for the land that currently houses Rosehill Gardens racecourse and stabling.

It was reported that the “once in a lifetime” proposal could generate up to $5 billion of dollars for the ATC.

• Rosehill trainers supportive – but guarded – of plan to sell

Punters, do you agree with the decision to sell off Rosehill? 👇

STORY: https://t.co/3BasHKi6Ai

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) December 6, 2023

Under the plan, training, stabling, and spectator facilities at the racecourses at other ATC tracks at Royal Randwick, Warwick Farm and Canterbury would be upgraded.

It was also revealed there are plans to build a new Centre of Excellence training facility at Horsley Park, alongside the International Equestrian Centre, to cater for trainers based at Rosehill Gardens.

• ‘The saddest decision’: Gai Waterhouse slams call to sell off Rosehill

The proposal also indicates that the ATC would look to build a new world-class Metropolitan Sydney at a new location.

We take a look at Sydney to identify potential locations for the proposed new racetrack.

BADGERYS CREEK / BRINGELLY CORRIDOR

Badgerys Creek, the site of Sydney's new airport, could also be a possible new home for a new Sydney racetrack.

This appears the most obvious location in the Greater Sydney area and it’s within a few kilometres of the proposed new training Centre of Excellence at Horsley Park.

Construction of Western Sydney International Airport is underway, and the airport is on track to begin operations in 2026.

With a new international airport comes infrastructure and transport services, with the Sydney metro rail line due to connect by the Airport’s opening in 2026.

The NSW Government has also committed to deliver to the airport – before it opens in 2026 – rapid bus services from Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown.

“This new metro link will be the spine of future development in Western Sydney around the new airport and Western Sydney Aerotropolis. The metro is crucial to realising the 200,000 local jobs objective of the Western Sydney City Deal,” the Western Sydney Airport website reads.

NARELLAN / ORAN PARK

There's potential for a new racetrack to be built on land around the Narellan / Oran Park area.

There is also plenty of land around five kilometres south of the new airport in Badgerys Creek in the Camden Council is another of Sydney’s real growth areas.

The NSW government is currently leading a co-ordinated approach to the planning of new homes and essential infrastructure, to help meet community needs in the area.

With the new international airport close by, transport links will be in place, while in and around the new South West growth area of Oran Park is a large variety of shops, restaurants, leisure and recreational facilities, civic buildings, apartments and offices.

EASTERN CREEK

Eastern Creek, famous for Sydney Motorsport Park, is a site where a new Sydney racetrack could be built.

Large parcels of land are a bit more scarce at Eastern Creek but it’s not to say it couldn’t be done – as the Government proved in recent years when moving Parramatta Speedway to Eastern Creek to make way for a Sydney Metro West maintenance facility.

Sites around five kilometres north of the new airport in Badgerys Creek and the Greater Penrith to Eastern Creek Strategic Framework are already being used to support planning and growth.

Eastern Creek was identified as a potential area for growth in the Greater Cities Commission’s Western City District Plan and the Central City District Plan.

With the new international airport close by, transport links will be in place and Eastern Creek is also regarded by the state government as a priority growth area and precinct.