Local Member for Myall Lakes Tanya Thompson and MidCoast Mayor Claire Pontin toured the site of the new Taree Super Track on Tuesday, with confirmation work will commence on the multi-million dollar project on Thursday.
Greyhound Racing NSW Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay hosted the pair on the tour to detail the works that will be carried out on the state of the art facility.
The Taree Greyhound Club will bid farewell to the venue when they stage their final meeting on the grass track on Wednesday before work gets underway on Thursday morning with a completion date set for mid-January.
“The local member and council are supporters of this project and I felt it was appropriate to come to Taree today and show exactly what is planned,” GRNSW CEO Mr Macaulay said.
“I know the participants on the Mid North Coast have been waiting a long time for this project, and unfortunately we underwent some delays which were out of our control. To now be able to say work is about to commence on this Super Track is satisfied and exciting.
“As a sport we know there is a real need for this facility on the Mid North Coast, and once completed it will not only be capable of racing multiple times a week, but more importantly this new track will be designed to be one of the safest in NSW.”
The Member for Myall Lakes, was impressed with the plans for the new track, and delighted that the track is now a reality with work about to commence.
“To be here today and have Rob (Macaulay) walk us through the process and explain how the new facility will look, made the project feel very real,” Thompson said. “It was some time ago now that plans were announced for the Taree Super Track, and to now know that it will only be a matter of months away before completion is tremendous news for the region.
“I know for a fact that greyhound racing participants on the Mid-North Coast have been waiting for the day when work commences here, and while it will be sad in some ways to say farewell tomorrow to the old track, it’s extremely exciting to know that a new state of the art facility - and even more significantly, a track which will be among the safest tracks in NSW - is now only months away.”
The Taree track will be a new two turn 474.9m (circumference increased from 462m) track with the surface changed from grass to sand, which will increase the racing capacity of the track and see a more consistent surface.
Turns will be a larger radii from 52m to 57m, transitions will be added, there will be increased flood resistance.
The track will have three new starts: a 300m, 400m, and 525m. A 300m slipping track will also be added, as will a new semaphore board and winning post, and improvements to kennels and tower.
“We are all stoked up here,” said Taree president Des McGeachie. “It’s a relief that we are now about to start and people can see that it’s really about to happen.
“It’s very exciting. It was only a few years ago that we were Non-TAB racing for $300, the