Club chairman Craig Paddon said a vote on Tuesday night seeking his removal, and that of fellow board members Denis Aitken and Martin Denton, had been a distraction and it was time to grapple with the future of Otago racing.
Moving to the Otago Racing Club’s Wingatui venue is one possibility for the Dunedin trotting club, clubbing together to set up a centre of equine excellence elsewhere has been touted as another and the two clubs may explore building a synthetic track at an upgraded Wingatui facility.
The precise reasons for discontent within the trotting club have not been spelled out publicly, but the board will remain unchanged.
The other board member, Lex Williams, intends to carry on, and he said preparations for farewelling Forbury Park in appropriate fashion were under way.
Five race meetings in the season remained and the venue would then close, after a review commissioned by Racing New Zealand deemed it surplus to requirements.
It is unclear what will happen to the proceeds from selling Forbury Park and negotiations about that will take place between the trotting club and Harness Racing New Zealand.
"The focus of my board is to keep the money in town," Mr Paddon said.
Harness Racing New Zealand representatives have not responded to questions about whether they would stand in the way of a Dunedin venture receiving the proceeds of a Forbury Park sale.
Racing Minister Grant Robertson said he was urging the parties to work together "so that there is a good outcome that benefits the code, benefits the club and benefits future residents of Dunedin".
A synthetic track at Wingatui is an idea that has emerged in the past week.
Otago Racing Club chairman Murray Acklin witnessed the first race meet on Cambridge’s new Polytrack surface last week and said such a track held possibilities for both the thoroughbred and harness racing codes.
Mr Acklin and Mr Paddon have said a synthetic track could be operating in Otago by the 2022-23 season, although this may rely on agreement from Harness Racing New Zealand.
Mr Acklin doubted the practicality of the two clubs shifting to a greenfields site, but suggested using Forbury Park sale proceeds to build a synthetic track at Wingatui was achievable.
Maintaining a strong harness racing presence in the greater Dunedin area was essential, he said.
Synthetic tracks have traditionally been associated with the thoroughbred code, but they have been used in Europe and Australia for harness racing.
The Forbury Park Trotting Club and the Otago Racing Club wrote to Racing New Zealand this month, seeking funding for a feasibility study that would examine the benefits of a multi-code centre of excellence featuring night racing in the Dunedin area.
The possibilities associated with a synthetic track were not raised at the time.
Racing New Zealand secretary James Dunne said it was too soon to comment on whether a feasibility study would be useful or on the future of Forbury Park.
The Forbury Park Trotting Club has four meetings planned for next season — two at Wingatui and two at Wyndham.
