TAREE Greyhound Club will be locked in a three-way battle with Wauchope and Kempsey in a bid to be the Greyhound NSW (GNSW) Centre of Excellence for the Mid North Coast.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
If successful the club's Kanangra Drive track will have a $10 million upgrade and host 13 TAB meetings a year.
Taree Greyhound Club president Des McGeachie expects to receive more information from GNSW on what is required and the club will immediately start working on a submission.
"There's been a lot of hearsay about this for the past two years,'' Mr McGeachie said.
"I'd say we've spoken about this at every meeting in that time. But now we'll have something concrete to work on.''
Greyhound NSW funds 33 registered tracks in NSW including Taree. The Taree club runs 20 non-TAB meetings a year but has never hosted a TAB meeting. The club has a history dating back almost 60 years.
Mr McGeachie said that if Taree is chosen as the Centre of Excellence the club's track will be totally rebuilt. He said non-racing facilities at the complex would include:
o Facilities to support the delivery of education programs to trainers, owners and other participants.
o Greyhound education facilities including socialisation areas and training, bull pen, hydrotherapy pool, breaking in opportunities, a slipping track, spring lanes and drag lure coursing facilities.
o On-site veterinary clinic that would be open during business hours with emergency options. A vet would also be present during race days, trialling and for private consultations.
o Hospitality facilities for race days and community events.
o Change rooms and showers for trainers and other guests and potential overnight accommodation.
o Facilities for Greyhounds as Pets (GAP), providing access to staff trained in behavioural assessment and providing surrender points for trainers.
Mr McGeachie says the club will seek support from Greater Taree City Council and the business community when making the submission.
He added that Taree usually has 12 races per meeting - more than either Wauchope or Kempsey and said the facilities at Kanangra Drive are the best on the Mid North Coast. The three clubs all race 20 times a year.
"We nearly always have 12 races at our meetings. Wauchope has 10, Kempsey occasionally has 12,'' he pointed out.
"We usually average 140 nominations for our meetings. A few months ago we had 250.
"And we get a lot of our nominations from the Newcastle and Hunter area.''
However, Mr McGeachie admits there is concern at the club's future should Greyhound NSW favour either Wauchope or Kempsey. He says no decision has been made on whether the clubs that miss out will continue to operate, running non-TAB meetings.
"Two clubs could be closed down...but at this stage we just don't know,'' he said.
However, he says the club is determined that it will be chosen.
"This would be a great thing for the town and would bring more employment here,'' he said.
mick.mcdonald@fairfaxmedia.com.au
