Hobart Radio Controlled Car Club left with no home as JackJumpers take over Kingston site

The JackJumpers are preparing to build a new base in Kingston, but for another club it means being kicked out of their home of around 50 years. Here’s why it could spell the end for them.

Hobart Radio Control Car Club spokesperson Greg Gard at the site of the new JackJumpers high performance centre in Kingston. Picture: Linda Higginson

As excitement builds for the Tasmanian JackJumpers new base in Kingston, the choice of site has left a much smaller club displaced, and they fear it could mean the end for them.

The JackJumpers are in the application process for its new high performance centre to be built at the Kingborough Sports Precinct.

But the 5000 sqm of land its earmarked for includes the site of an existing club, the Hobart Radio Controlled Car Club.

“It’s heartbreaking we’ve come to this … It’s an awful situation we’ve been put in,” club spokesperson Greg Gard said.

“We’ve been there since about 1975/77 something like that.

“I’ve only been there for about 20 years, I’m 67 years old.

“It’s my recreation, my hobby … now I’m done, my recreation has been taken away from me.

“We’ll disappear, our sport’s going to be gone.”

Mr Gard said even if they were able to secure an alternative site, they’d then be stung with the bill for new infrastructure, which he says would cost in the vicinity of $250,000.

“That facility’s purpose built for what we do and we paid for it,” Mr Gard said.

“The council originally, back then, gave us a $10k interest free loan to build the infrastructure.

“Since then we’ve applied for grants to upgrade the place

“Everyone is saying they want to help us, but nobody is going to thump up the money for what we’re losing.”

Hobart Radio Control Car Club spokesperson Greg Gard at the site of the new JackJumpers high performance centre in Kingston. Picture: Linda Higginson

He said a new track could be used by the wider community.

“We suggested to the sports department and the council, why don’t they develop something for us and on the days we’re not using it they could have training areas for kids,” he said.

“We’re only on it twice a month, the rest of the time it could be used for education.”

Mr Gard said the club used to have as many as 50 members, but at the moment it was down to a dozen.

“The size of the membership is irrelevant, if we had 200 members we’ve still be in the same situation,’ he said.

“We’ve had many members represent Australia.

“We’ve got two members, life members, with their ashes embedded in the track.”

Mr Gard said he believed there were alternative sites the JackJumpers could occupy.

“I love the JackJumpers, I support them 100 per cent … but why would you build a high performance centre at Kingston when their venue is at the DEC,” Mr Gard said.

“We can’t understand why they are targeting our site when there is land to the south west of us, used for dog walking.”

Kingborough Council’s recreation director Daniel Smee said the JackJumpers were offered several sites within the sports centre precinct.

“On assessment by the department of state growth, that (the selected site) was deemed to be the most appropriate,” he said at Monday’s meeting.

Kingborough mayor Paula Wriedt said council staff had been actively looking for alternative locations for the club.

“I believe the most recent communication we had with them sometime ago, was the CEO wrote with a list of three alternative locations we had been investigating,” she said on Monday.

“We did not hear anything further from them.”

Sports Minister Nick Duigan said the Department of State Growth was committed to supporting the club to find an alternative.

“Preliminary discussions are underway,” he said.

“Kingborough Council as the landowner has been asked to work with the club to support its relocation.”