THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - PHASE TWO OF THE EAGLE FARM PROJECT GETS THE GREEN LIGHT

By Graham Potter | Sunday, July 12, 2015

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

The news that the Queensland industry had been waiting for finally came through on Thursday with the official announcement that the government had approved a $12 million Treasury Loan which will be directed to the Brisbane Racing Club.

Confirmation of this decision will finally allow work to begin on the tunnels and infield works project at Eagle Farm, which is the second phase of the race club’s development project.

Eagle Farm has not seen any racing action since mid-August 2014. At that time it was reported that the track would be closed for a total reconstruction ... a new track, improvements to the layout, flood mitigation work to facilitate the building of around 400 infield stables and the inclusion of tunnels for the movement of horse floats etc ... with the rebuilding likely to be completed by mid-2015.

The reality now is that Eagle Farm will now only be ready for racing in April 2016.

As disturbing as that significant delay has been, the fact that racing will have to add a year before reaching that completion stage is now immaterial.

All of the previous racing hierarchy who presided over those stalled negotiations before the last state election have been dumped from office by the Labor government.

The LNP government of that time, who trumpeted their support of racing loud and long only to bow out on a sour note of broken promises with regard to the Eagle Farm issue, is also gone ... smashed at the ballot box.

So there is little point in looking back.

The important thing is that the status of the plan to not only bring Eagle Farm back to life but to create a vastly improved racing precinct is back on track with important, two-fold positive repercussions for the industry.

When Eagle Farm returns it will revive racing at the state’s top wagering venue. It will also bring a more measured spread of racing fixtures to the various racetracks in South East Queensland, giving much needed relief to overworked racetrack surfaces of clubs, notably the Sunshine Coast, who have had to pick up the slack due to the Eagle Farm closure.

To some this vital step by the present government to rubber stamp the deal could have come sooner, but the point is it has arrived and avoided the catastrophe that others predicted could well have been in play.

The Racing Minister is to be applauded on signing off on this important project.

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Wade Birch’s controversial role in recent times as Racing Queensland’s GM of Stewards and Integrity Operations is over.

The former Chief Steward’s contract will not be renewed, meaning that, for now, he follows the various racing board members and the previous Racing Queensland CEO into the racing wilderness.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stated after the findings of the MacSporran commission that she wanted racing to start ‘with a clean slate’.

Well the first part of that was to get rid of the old. That done, the government now has to move onto the second phase of its own racing project ... namely completing the process of appointing new members to a new racing control board.

Getting that mix right could be every bit as important as getting Eagle Farm back in the game!

Interesting times.

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