As plans to open up Moonee Valley Racecourse to the public reach a step closer, the racing club’s chief hopes that the redevelopment will safeguard its future as race attendance figures dwindle.
Thirteen years after the idea was formed, and despite ongoing community opposition, the first two planning permits for the Moonee Valley Racing Club’s masterplan to revamp its 140-year-old racecourse have been approved by the council.
Moonee Valley Racing Club CEO Michael Crowell has big plans to future-proof the club.Credit:Joe Armao
The planning permits include the redevelopment of the racetrack and infield, which will be turned into a recreation zone for locals on non-race days, accessible by a pedestrian walkway that will tunnel beneath the turf course.
Moonee Valley Racing Club chief executive Michael Crowell said the third and final planning permit application, encompassing a new four-level clubhouse and grandstand with floor-to-ceiling windows, will be submitted in May. These buildings will also be available for the community for events and functions.
“I’m excited about the delivery of a spectacular new racing precinct,” he said. “We’re trying to have the best of both worlds here where we can retain our business of horse racing but also open up the racecourse so the public can come in and make great use of the green, open, landscaped infield that we’ll have.”
The racing club’s redevelopment plans have been a controversial subject within the local community for more than a decade.
Homes being built at Moonee Valley Park.Credit:Joe Armao
Separate to the $200 million racecourse masterplan, a quarter of the racing club’s 40 hectares of land was turned over for a $2 billion residential development – a site now called Moonee Valley Park – in a joint venture with developer Hamton and superannuation fund HostPlus that started in 2017.
The proposal to deliver thousands of new townhouses and apartments was opposed over building heights and increased traffic to local streets but the first planning permits were approved from 2018.
Residents moved into the first completed homes – 36 townhouses – last September. There will be almost 500 new residences by the end of 2025 and the goal is to reach 2000 by 2035.
Crowell said the racing club hoped to secure its financial future for the next 100 years by venturing into residential development, bar and dining venues, and other business opportunities, including a childcare centre and gym.
A render of the planned new grandstand.Credit:Moonee Valley Racing Club
“The club was asset-rich but cash-poor,” he said.
“Racing is very different in 2023 than it was in 1923 or 1963. Racing is broadcast widely, you can bet off-course and on-course attendance is a fraction of what it used to be, so we don’t need these big grandstands on racecourses [except on feature days].
“You look at the population explosion in Melbourne over these next 10 or 20 years and we had an opportunity in such a brilliant location to reimagine what our racecourse could be.”
Crowell said the Cox Plate Carnival would move locations after the October 2025 event during the racecourse’s two-year redevelopment. A home for the 2026 Cox Plate has not yet been determined.
Plans for the racecourse redevelopment.Credit:Moonee Valley Racing Club
He said that with only 24 race meetings a year at the racecourse, the local community would benefit from the site most days of the year. The club is projecting visitation to increase by 50,000 a year.
Several options for the infield are still being discussed, including opening it up from early morning to late evening with an adventure playground, a running and cycling track, dog off-leash areas and local sport facilities including tennis courts, a soccer field or AFL oval.
“I would expect by the end of this year, we’ll have landed on what the makeup of that will be. We’d like to make sure that whatever we’re putting in is multipurpose and appeals to a broad range of people,” Crowell says.
In March, four councillors voted in favour of the racetrack planning permit application, while one – councillor Rose Iser – voted against it. Three others had to abstain due to conflict of interest.
“It’s a really big piece of infrastructure that’s necessary to unlock huge commercial benefit for our city,” said councillor Jacob Bettio.
Iser told the chambers that while she was supportive of redevelopment, she was disappointed that several details in the application – including landscaping, the use of the infield and the Dean Street shared path – were still to be ironed out.
The racecourse masterplan was approved by the council in October 2021 and residents can no longer review and object to associated planning permits.
“I know residents are anxious about elements of the masterplan,” Iser said on Tuesday.
“They have been engaged in the process for over 10 years and are understandably concerned about the disconnect they now have with the racecourse permits.
“Further discussion with respect to amenity issues – between the applicant and residents living directly adjacent, and Moonee Ponds Primary School – would be valuable”.
Jenny Nola, president of community group Save Moonee Ponds, has long fought the redevelopment over concerns that opening up the racecourse year-round to events could impact on noise, light spill, traffic, parking, public safety and waste management.
She also worried about primary school students being exposed to gambling and alcohol advertising with the grandstand being moved opposite the school.
Nola supported opening up the infield to the public and hoped to see a running track and sporting facilities, but she was disappointed that residents were yet to see detailed designs for the grandstand.
“We’re not opposed to development but to unfair amenity impacts being imposed on residents to benefit racing club,” Nola said.
“Everybody knows the racecourse is there and has been there for over 100 years however the use and the amount of events the club is looking to increase by will fundamentally change the way the area operates.
“For some residents, the new grandstand will be less than 25 metres from their home with noise, light and chaos of weddings and functions. It’s a huge change from the current layout where the grandstand isn’t near anybody’s houses.”
The council set up a working group to help shape the racecourse’s future but no community members are on the panel. Nola said engagement with residents had been inadequate.
“The stakes are too high for them to get this wrong,” she said.
Moonee Valley Mayor Pierce Tyson said the council would continue to work with the racing club and residents to ensure the best outcome for the local community and economy.
The club also has large environmental targets, with plans to achieve carbon neutrality, reduce its energy consumption and begin stormwater harvesting.
While Flemington and Caulfield racecourses sit on Crown land, Moonee Valley is on freehold land owned and controlled by the racing club.
Caulfield Racecourse is also being redeveloped, with a $570 plan to turn it into a sporting and entertainment precinct that includes several sporting fields, walking and cycling trails and the capacity for music events.
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