Forbury tensions mounting

The future for Forbury Park is uncertain. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
The future for Forbury Park is uncertain. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
Three-quarters of the Forbury Park Trotting Club’s board face possible removal at the same time as high-stakes negotiations around the sale of its raceway and relocation plans take place.

Tensions are also mounting amid fears the proceeds could be sucked out of Dunedin and that a bold bid to build affordable housing at Forbury Park may not be backed by the racing industry.

Preliminary meetings have been held exploring the possibility the trotting club could join the Otago Racing Club at Wingatui or that the two clubs could develop a greenfields site, although Harness Racing New Zealand having control of venue sale proceeds is a potential handbrake.

Craig Paddon
Craig Paddon
Trotting club chairman Craig Paddon said the club had a valuable asset and it was determined to retain this value in Dunedin.

However, he and fellow board members Denis Aitken and Martin Denton face a vote on Tuesday, after a faction of the club called a special general meeting seeking their removal.

Mr Paddon said this was an unhelpful distraction at a critical time in the club’s history.

He would urge club members not to lose sight of the big picture.

Lex Williams, the only board member whose removal is not being sought by the group of members, declined to specify what was behind the call to oust his colleagues.

The notice of the meeting bearing his signature claims the other board members failed to provide good governance or act in good faith and in the best interests of the club.

Mr Paddon said the club had recently sailed close to the wind financially, and was struggling for cash flow and operating in a complex environment.

The move to put Forbury Park on the market followed a review commissioned by New Zealand Racing.

Club chief executive Rachel Pullar ended her fixed term on Monday.

Meanwhile, Taieri MP Ingrid Leary has called on racing interests to "do the right thing" and allow part of Forbury Park to be sold to a private social enterprise investor.

Dunedin architect Gary Todd has been promoting a proposal for a mix of public and private housing there that could reinvigorate South Dunedin and help the low-lying suburb adapt to climate change.

"I’m suspicious that someone, somewhere, is trying to scupper the deal, which would effectively put paid to what is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get fit-for-purpose, innovative housing into South Dunedin during a housing crisis," Ms Leary said.

"We have a coalition of the willing wanting to work with the natural wetlands environment, and supported by the science and leading-edge engineering innovation — yet we stand to lose this opportunity if the racing industry doesn’t support this vision and blocks the sale and purchase," she said.

After a law change last year, Harness Racing NZ moved quickly to secure a caveat over the Forbury Park land and this caveat should be lifted to allow a sale to go ahead, Ms Leary said.

Dunedin National list MP Michael Woodhouse said he was aware of the housing proposal, a sound future for Forbury Park had been mapped out and he hoped problems could be resolved. Distribution of sale proceeds was contentious and ramifications of the law change pushed by New Zealand First had been foreseeable, he said.

Comments

Ms Leary's screeches notwithstanding, it's not clear what the racing industry owes Dunedin, or why she thinks it should surrender its property rights. One would have thought an MP representing Wingatui would have the good sense to keep silent...

Building yet more housing on land vulnerable to flooding and sea level rise is the very definition of insanity.
The scoreline here at the end of the day will ALWAYS read: Nature 1, Humans 0.

 

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