Gold Coast Club launches bid to find new home

Confidence that the club will score a site is so high it plans on bidding for the sports blue riband event, the Interdominion­, which is in the final two years of a contract to hold the event in Perth.

The club has been without a home track since 2013 when Parklands was closed to be redeveloped for the 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village­ and health and knowledge precinct.

While relationships between the club and Queensland Government have been a knife edge with the club taking legal action in an effort to force the government to loosen its purse strings, it’s understood the club has moved to mend bridges.

A club spokesman said legal actions­ had been suspended for the past six months in an effort to kickstart negotiations with the new Labor government.

“We recently met with Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and CEO Dale Dickson and have secured the very strong support of council for the initiative­,” he said.

“There isn’t publicly owned land available so our focus will remain on privately held land.”

It’s understood club representatives hope to hold a meeting with Racing Minister Grace Grace in the near future.

It’s also understood the club has letters from former Bligh-era treasurer Andrew Fraser committing to compensation being paid and a new club facility being built on the Gold Coast.

It is searching private land opportunity and also exploring the possibility of co-location at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

“We will welcome approaches from greyhound racing clubs to join in any future development,” the spokesman said.

A proposal to build a track at Alberton­ purchased by harness racing patron Kevin Seymour remains the favourite for the club. However, the club is also exploring options to build closer to the coastal strip.

Tweed Heads Coursing Club spokesman Steve McGrath said the club would evaluate its future when a final decision on the future of greyhound racing in NSW was made.

He said the club, which owns the Border Park site close to Gold Coast Airport, would look at all its options once a decision was made.

“We will need to have a business plan whereby the club can still make a profit or, if we find none, we may reinvest the funds back into local sport.

“Who knows, we could build the world’s richest marble club.”

The club estimates the Border Park site would realise between $15 million to $20 million if sold.

By Denis Doherty

Reprinted with permission of The Gold Coast Bulletin