Central Motor Speedway has equity of more than $1 million and had more than $500,000 in cash in 2022.
The council approved and ratified a new $50,000-a-year rent without rebate as recommended by the Cromwell Community Board during its July 30 meeting.
The reports contained the club’s financial statements from 2020 until year to date 2025, which showed the club made from $267,000 to $395,000 in total trading income, excluding affiliation fees.
The club’s asset base remained stable with an equity of over $1m.
Cash in bank for the club had risen from 2020 to 2022, peaking at $516,588 in 2022.
Since then, it had decreased, the club’s cash in the bank being $142,179 to date in 2025.
Cromwell Community Board chairwoman Anna Harrison said after looking at the books, the revenues the club made over a good season and the amount of money it had in the bank, there did not appear to be any risk of the club going under due to the rent it had to pay.
This was despite two years in a row of losses as revenue shrank due to cancelled meets and higher expenditure on track and personnel.
"We’re confident that they’ve got those people on the ground and that they’ll manage this and carry on the success that they are."
What set the speedway apart from other organisations which leased land from the council was, while the speedway was a not-for-profit organisation, it had additional revenue streams, meaning it could manage its operations comfortably, unlike other clubs which relied solely on subs and fundraising, she said.
The speedway was not a publicly available place and people had to pay to watch racing.
"They run their events, they charge a gate fee and for people to camp on site or to take their vehicles on site, and they make good money out of that."
It was not the intention of the board or council to put the speedway in jeopardy in any way, shape or form, she said.
"My biggest thing, just to reiterate, is we value what the Cromwell speedway club brings to Cromwell."
The fact the club was on endowment land and its revenue included more than just subs, grants and sponsorships put it in a different playing field from other small sports organisations in town, she said.
Negotiations were still under way between the organisations with the speedway writing to the council to explain its concerns with the rent increase and its ability to pay it.
Meetings would be held to look at the unrecoverable costs from race meet cancellations as well as the club’s avenues to apply for grant funding if it had capital works that needed to be done.
The door definitely was not shut, she said.
During last month’s council meeting, Central Motor Speedway club president Claire Arkell expressed concerns about the new lease and the lack of a rebate, citing the increases in losses and decreases in revenue.
She said the club might have to close if the losses continued.
