Caulfield Racecourse centre -agreement approved

During the week there were several important decisions by Council including;
Caulfield Racecourse - use - item 9.12 Council Meeting Wed 27th April
The draft agreement between Council and the Melbourne Racing Club was approved ;
My speech in seconding the item;
This draft agreement I believe represents and provides for a solid foundation for the present and future improvement of the access, amenity and usage by the community of the racecourse centre.
Through this agreement, the MRC can no longer deny the wider community its due rights to share the racecourse on equal terms and should continue to engage and improve community involvement on the crown land it occupies and shares.
If adapted this agreement will be viewed in future years as a productive beginning not a culmination of that involvement. Our negotiating team have done a commendable job in brokering this agreement given the reality of being in the present negotiation process conducted between Council and the Melbourne Racing Club.

There will need to be ongoing co-operation between both parties to ensure that all aspects of this agreement are fulfilled and delivered- this will require the continued goodwill on both sides.
As well as the on-ground aspects, this agreement is a demonstration of good faith and a willingness to work together in delivering the better outcomes the agreement outlines. This approach should be encouraged.

The key features of the agreement are:
New Amenities - as the attached diagram shows the centre will be developed with five major usage areas namingly
-a bbq and picnic area including toilets and public parking
-lakeside fishing and boardwalk area
-fenced off-leash dog and agility exercise area
-grassed soccer and passive open recreation fields
-fitness and exercise zone including jogging/walking paths and on-leash dog walking

These are all significant advances on the current arrangements as are the following;
- Fencing removed - over a staggered timeframe the majority of the perimeter fencing around the racecourse will be removed including the entire Queen St frontage, noting that there is a willingness by the MRC to complete this large section sooner than the agreed five years.
- Community events - there will be four community events per annum staged in the centre - an important aspect of the agreement that will bring large numbers of residents into the racecourse and provide a sense of awareness and appreciation of the new facilities and the site in general.
- Parking - the parking arrangements which restrict parking in the centre on the whole to race and the ten major event days whilst acknowledging aren’t ideal are workable. I accept they were the best arrangements that could be agreed by both parties in the conducted negotiations.
- Improved public access - there will be better public access through the provision of a new separated walkway in the tunnel and also a pedestrian walkway opened up from Glenhuntly Park in Neerim rd – there will be unrestricted access to the entire centre from 930am on all available days.
-Funding - the MRC will pay for and fund all improvements except those on council land or will share costs where on boundaries ie Queens St fence removal.
-Timeline - all the improvements outlined in the agreement have been given reasonable definitive timeframes to be completed .
To reject this agreement as some of my collegues are urging would place at great risk the entire range of community benefits negotiated and also the future co-operation and the good-will advanced between parties to deliver these. This would be a retrograde step- a risk I am not prepared to take. This item is not about past history, personal crusades, personalities or individual grievences – its about delivering tangible real benefits now and continuing to do so whilst building upon these in the future years ahead.
As such I will be supporting this motion.

Caulfield Racecourse- motion passed

At last Tuesday's 22nd Feb meeting Council unanimously passsed the following motion;

Council’s vision for the Crown Land known as the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve be codified so that the State Government has a clear and unambiguous picture of how Council envisions the land to be shared between the uses of a racecourse, a public recreation ground and a public park, as follows.

1-That the opaque fences be replaced by palisade fencing as soon as possible;
2-That the centre of the circumferential training tracks be fenced off and the general public be given exclusive and unrestricted access via the tunnel from Glen Eira Road to this entire area;
3-That the MRC landscape this area to plans and specifications to be agreed with Council, but which will include sporting ovals, areas for passive use, change areas and toilets;
4-That a firm timetable be set for the expeditious removal of horse training from the CRR so the Crown Land used for training can be made progressively available for unrestricted public use.
5-Aside from the tunnel, further public access should be provided to the new public park.
6-No car parking is permitted in the new park area other than for users of that facility.
7. That the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve be administered by an Independent Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust not dominated by any one group.

I was very pleased to support this motion moved and seconded by Crs Penhalluriack and Forge and viewed it as an important step forward in resolving the present inequitable situation

Caulfield Racecourse and public access- important progress

As many readers would be aware the issue of the racecourse and the lack of public access and usage has long been a difficult problem to resolve- the inequitable landswap proposed by the MRC had been the latest in this sorry saga.

The breakthrough as outlined by Sue Pennicuik from state parliament below is great news!-

Greens MP Sue Pennicuik moved an amendment in state parliament today to try to prevent the government from handing over valuable Crown land just north of the Caulfield Racecourse to the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC).

"The MRC has been making huge profits for decades from using the public land at Caulfield Racecourse solely as a racecourse despite it being set aside under the Crown as a public park, public recreation ground and racecourse. The community and Glen Eira Council have struggled for years to get the trustees to manage the land for all three purposes equally, but to no avail. Instead the trustees have delegated the management of the land to the MRC, whose only interest has been in promoting horse racing and making money from the onsite tabaret and other commercial ventures, Ms Pennicuik said."

"Very little of these huge profits have made their way back to the community, which has been locked out of the public land for decades. Despite an agreement with the Glen Eira Council to facilitate greater access by the public to its public land on non- race days and to improve and install public amenities in the centre of the racecourse, virtually nothing has happened. "The state government was preparing to reward this non-action by exchanging a very, valuable parcel of Crown land, for commercial development by the MRC, for a much smaller, less valuable parcel of land on the edge of the racecourse for community use. The Glen Eira Council has opposed this land swap."

"I was concerned that if the state government went ahead with this unfair land swap without conditions, then the commitments that the MRC had given regarding more public access and improved public amenities would never eventuate," she said.

"I am pleased that at the eleventh hour, Minister Jennings has listened to the concerns I have raised on behalf of the community and has given an undertaking that conditions will be imposed on the MRC regarding public access and improvements and that there will be no financial loss to the Crown from the land exchange. "This is a breakthrough in the long-running saga around the use of the public land at Caulfield Racecourse. I will be closely watching what happens because despite the assurances of the Minister, the MRC has a poor a poor track record with regard to fulfilling its responsibilities to the public park and recreational aspects of the Crown deed, Ms Pennicuik concluded."

Cr Jamie Hyams has summarized yesterday's excellent news from the Victorian Parliament as follows:
-I understand that among the concessions given by Gavin Jennings are that the land is to be valued and any difference between the value of the two pieces of land is to go to the Crown, and that the land swap will not occur until the MRC has fulfilled its commitments in relation to the centre of the racecourse and signposting to better inform the public of the land’s availability. Further, according to Sue Pennicuik’s interpretation of Jenning’s remarks, the MRC will have to pay commercial rent for the areas it uses for training, and that rent is, according to Jennings, to “be available for the ongoing maintenance and development of the park or other Crown public land within the Glen Eira area.” He also flagged that he could see Council being the manager of the land in the middle of the racecourse that is to be a public park.

The tide has turned remarkably- special thanks to Sue Pennicuik for her efforts , Gavin Jennings for acknowledging and acting on the inequities and those in the community and council who have campaigned long and hard on this issue