What will become of Waterlea?

NZTR will receive submissions until March 19, and conduct meetings with stakeholders before that deadline.

Should the Waterlea venue be delicensed by NZTR, it will become almost impossible for horse racing, gallops or harness racing events to take place at Waterlea Racecourse, and this will end what is a nearly 100-yearold organisation in the region.

A lot of horses are trained at Waterlea, predominantly trotters, and many people will be adversely affected if this is to cease.

The racing club shares facilities with the Marlborough Harness Racing Club, which has its own national racing authority but may also be affected.

The other significant implication, which will no doubt be on many people’s minds, is that Waterlea had previously been in negotiations with the Ministry of Education as a possible site for Blenheim’s new co-located colleges.

The ministry has since announced that the new colleges will be built on what are currently Marlborough Girls’ College and Bohally Intermediate.

I suspect that by the time NZTR makes its final decision about Waterlea Racecourse, likely to be some months away, it will be too late to revisit the racecourse as a potential site for the schools.

The final implication for Blenheim is what to do with the land if NZTR’S decision ends racing at Waterlea.

If the owners of the land decide it is to be redeveloped, I would like to see some of the land bought by Marlborough District Council for the community, such as for more sporting facilities to sit alongside Lansdowne Park, which is so nearby.

At this time, we will have to wait and see until decisions are made.