Under the potential deal announced by Premier Chris Minns late last year,the racecourse would be sold to developers for about 25,000 homes,an entertainment precinct and a new school. Rosehill would also get a train station on the forthcoming Metro West line.
But the ATC’s 11,000 members need to agree to sell their land,and Minns has since conceded that “irreconcilable differences” may stop the ambitious plan being realised.
Matthew McGrath,who was ATC chair from 2018 to 2022,said if prominent trainers such as Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller maintained their fierce opposition,the deal would struggle to pass.
“They might get 2000 voting. But I think the silent majority will vote ‘no’. The silent members are the problem,not the noisy ones,” he said.
Under the Registered Clubs Act,disposal of land requires 50 per cent support. But McGrath said if it were considered a constitutional change,such as the 2015 ATC merger with Rosehill Bowling Club as part of earlier redevelopment plans,it would need support from three quarters of members. “At 75 per cent I don’t think it’s got a chance,” he said.
McGrath noted the ATC owned three parcels of surplus land,the King Street site at Canterbury,the bowling club and the old Rosehill “circus site”,that could be sold for hundreds of millions.