Cr Andrew Guile has guts. Questioning the push by Crs Greg Watson and Joanna Gash to have Shoalhaven City Council pick up the abandoned Yerriyong motorsports complex puts a bullseye on his back.
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There is a huge groundswell of popular support for such a facility in the Shoalhaven and this latest bid to revive the project has raised the expectations of motor racing enthusiasts across the region.
That support is mirrored by widespread opposition to council’s plans to increase rates to keep up to date with road repairs and other infrastructure needs.
So, as unpopular as his searing assessment of this bid to revive the track might be, his warning warrants close examination. We must ask ourselves if we are prepared to see ratepayers’ money tipped into resuscitating the project dumped by Motorcycling NSW because it was all too hard – and expensive.
The organisation spent $1 million trying to get the project across the line and decided to give up because the environmental constraints, defined by state and federal law, were too costly to overcome.
Ratepayers need to ask themselves if spending big money to revive a troubled project with no guarantee of success is what they really want council to do. They need to ask themselves if this ought to take priority over other council responsibilities in need of urgent attention. There are plenty of young mums with prams and elderly people with mobility issues for whom footpaths would be a higher priority.
The logic behind the notion of motion co-signed by Crs Gash and Watson – an extraordinary collaboration given they are historically sworn foes – is this: if council becomes the proponent and can offer a biodiversity offset and gain consent from the Joint Regional Planning Panel, it can then sell the project to a motor racing club.
Getting it across the line is likely to come at a significant cost. First, there are the swag of reports and environmental impact statements that will have to be done. The reports done on behalf of Motorcycling NSW are that organisation’s intellectual property, which it would be unlikely to give away for free. Then there’s the biodiversity land swap, which is a cost in terms of public assets.
If the whole community – not just the very vocal racetrack supporters – is prepared to bear that cost, well and good. If residents are happy to wait for neighbourhood infrastructure, great. If you want stuff, you’ll have to pay for it.
