Wakefield Park Hope with $1mil Election Pledge
If it worked in South Australia, it might just pay off in New South Wales, too.
Following in the footsteps of Peter Malinauskas sweeping Labor to power in 2022 on the back of a promise to revive the Adelaide 500, New South Wales Labor has similarly announced its intentions to back a resumption of racing at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway.
With the NSW state election looming on March 25th, the opposition Labor party has announced that it plans to spend $1 million on sound mitigation measures at the facility.
The venue was closed by its custodians, the Benalla Auto Club, in September last year following a decision by the NSW Land and Environment Court, which essentially restricted the venue to only 30 days of operation annually.
It is noted that the closure cost 12 jobs, with the loss of the significant draw for visitors to the region felt by accommodation and hospitality providers.
Since its closure, meetings have been ongoing between the Department of Planning and Environment, the Goulburn Mulwaree Council, the Benalla Auto Club and the Save Wakefield Park group, with several potential options tabled to restore activity at the circuit.
“We will have the Department of Planning, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, and the Office of Sport work on a plan to get Wakefield Park reopened,” said Opposition Planning spokesperson Paul Scully to the ABC.
“We will develop a motorsport strategy to help make sure that Wakefield Park can remain open for recreational competitive motorsport operations into the future.
“A $17-million injection into the economy of Goulburn — that is what Wakefield Park used to generate before its closure.”
The announcement comes after a petition to parliament raised over 28,000 signatures of support.
Last year, The Race Torque took a deep dive into the long-running mechanisms behind the closure of the rural facility, which had played an important role in the state and club-level motorsport scene across many fronts.
Recently, we also covered what the Wakefield Park closure has meant for the 2023 NSW calendar, with the Motorsport Australia state championships set to visit Winton Raceway, while also take in various layouts and formats at Sydney Motorsport Park.
With SMP currently undergoing important track-based work from January 16th through to the 31st, Australia’s most populous state currently has no permanent racetracks open for business.
A public meeting of the Save Wakefield Park group will be held on the 19th of February at 2pm at the Goulburn Workers Club.
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
