Forbury Park raceway to close as costs ‘untenable’
Dunedin’s historic Forbury Park will close, its resident harness racing club has confirmed.
The news came after a review commissioned by New Zealand Racing recommended the park be closed.
The future of the park, which celebrated 100 years of harness racing in 2009, was untenable given current operating and expenditure costs, the Forbury Park Trotting Club said in a statement.
The club was working with the Otago Racing Club for the benefit of both racing codes in Dunedin.
A similar plan was explored a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Forbury club would also consider future development of the Dunedin site it bought in 1909.
The 12-hectare site was a reclaimed swamp and the low-lying area had been prone to flooding, most recently in 2015.
Forbury Park Trotting Club board chairman Craig Paddon said the club would look into developing an all-weather
multi-code racing hub and equestrian centre of excellence either on a new site, or at the established track at Wingatui, in Mosgiel.
The club was supportive of working with the local community on the future of the Forbury Park site, he said.
Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said the possibilities for the area were ‘‘hugely exciting and a once in a generation opportunity’’.
The next scheduled event at the raceway is greyhound racing on March 7.
‘‘There’s not much we can do about it – the council will just have to borrow to fund it and spread the cost over 10 years in the rates and try to make it as painless as possible.’’
Allan Birchfield, regional council chairman
The annual budget for work on the West Coast’s new district plan is heading for the $1 million mark, and the project will cost ratepayers at least $2.6m over the next three years.
Planners managing the workload for Te Tai o Poutini Plan submitted cost estimates this week of $962,500 for the year ahead.
West Coast councils have no choice but to forge ahead with the project, after the Local Government Commission decreed that the Westland, Grey and Buller district plans should be rolled into a single document.
The regional council was ordered to administer the process and given powers to rate to fund it – but has so far avoided doing so.
The budget for the 2021-22 year includes $250,000 for planners’ salaries; $85,000 for a consultant planner; $50,000 for Poutini Nga¯i Tahu planning input, and $295,000 for research.
Most of that research involves identifying significant natural areas (SNAs) and wetlands on public and private land throughout the region to meet the Government’s new environmental policy requirements.
The cost was not unreasonable for the amount of work involved, according to regional council chairman Allan Birchfield.
‘‘There’s not much we can do about it – the council will just have to borrow to fund it and spread the cost over 10 years in the rates and try to make it as painless as possible.’’
However, that would not be the end of the expense, he said.
‘‘Once we’ve notified the plan, you’d be living in a fool’s paradise if you think it won’t end up in the Environment Court.’’
The budget for the first year was set at $650,000, and increased by
$73,000 last year to $723,000 to ensure SNA research could begin.
But because of the Covid crisis, it was cut back again to $692,000 so the regional council could achieve a zero rate increase target.
The TTPP committee is aiming to have the new district plan out for community consultation by April
2022, and notified by the end of June
2023.
Estimated costs for the next year are $926,333 and for the final year,
2023-24, they reduce to $784,833. Overall, the work was going well, Birchfield said.
‘‘The planners are listening to us ... and they make changes in line with our feedback.’’