SEVEN DAYS (THE WEDNESDAY REPORT): THE WEEKLY REVIEW (APRIL 9 - APRIL 15) - NEWS COMMENTARY

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, April 16, 2014

HRO's news and commentary feature - SEVEN DAYS (THE WEDNESDAY REPORT) - provides a weekly review of racing activity, both on and off the track.

NEWSFLASH – IT”S ALREADY ‘LATER’

How much longer will racing’s stakeholders and enthusiasts actually have to live with the constant, seemingly never-ending delay before the Eagle Farm track and training precinct upgrade comes under stater’s orders?

According to some reports government approval for the project is ‘imminent’ but that would hardly have settled any nerves.

‘Strangled by red tape’ is a description I have used before and if ever there was ever a prime example of how suffocating an exercise it can be following an overregulated governmental process at the snail’s pace that seems its norm … this is it.

‘The government just don’t get it,” said one leading official. But that’s hardly news.

The project has been on the drawing board for so long it is time almost time to replace the drawing board itself, yet there is still no concrete action on the plans that have long been submitted other than having been informed that the plans for the project ‘have finally made its way to Treasury.’

It has been reported that the $10 million that is needed for the actual track reconstruction has been approved but access to a further $12 million, which is needed for tunnels and other infrastructure, is proving a sticking point … as is the fact, as I understand it, that the multi-layered project is all encompassing, intended to be completed as a whole and therefore having approval for half the package is the same as having nowhere to go.

The plan, in its entirety, has an urgency about it which is out of step with the government’s sedate pace. Racing Minister Steve Dickson says government is still undertaking the ‘checks and balances’ required before any approval can be given and he ‘makes no excuses’ for the need for that process.

Of course that ‘due diligence’ undertaking is to be expected, but the current situation does beg two questions.

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