Greyhound Racing Victoria announce end of life for Cranbourne greyhound track
Greyhound Racing Victoria have today announced that Cranbourne greyhound track will not be rebuilt due to excessive cost.
Cranbourne greyhounds have not raced since January 2022, after an unfortunate “lure malfunction” claimed the life of one greyhound and injured three others.
Following detailed consultation with a Cranbourne Advisory Group, Cranbourne Club members, and feedback from an industry wide survey, a final design was defined earlier this year for the redevelopment of the Cranbourne track.
Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) recently received the independent Quantity Surveyor (QS) cost estimates for the Cranbourne track rebuild, using benchmark construction, material and resource costs.
The QS cost estimate for the project came in at around $14M, a cost far exceeding the originally anticipated spend for this project.
According to GRV “construction costs have escalated dramatically in recent times as a result of the global economic climate, rising costs of materials and labour, exacerbated by site access restrictions at Cranbourne impacting work schedules”.
GRV believe that the cost to redevelop Cranbourne greyhound track does not represent a sound investment at this time, noting that redevelopment of the current site at Cranbourne has significant inherent challenges.
GRV claim that those challenges include:
- limitations impacting the optimal design for the track at the current site, located inside the harness track
- restricted access times to use the track for training, trialing and racing purposes due to requirements of the harness and thoroughbred clubs
- the proximity of the track to the kenneling area
- construction modifications required to ensure unimpeded line of sight for the harness and thoroughbred tracks
- estimated construction duration of 18 months plus the time needed to procure the best quality quotation, and availability of the contractors
- daily “make good” requirements for the harness and turf tracks during construction.
Receipt of the QS report coincides with GRV's new strategy which identifies the need for careful prioritisation of GRV's future infrastructure investments due to a significant recent downturn in wagering revenue whilst maintaining base stakes levels and the roll out of a number of other essential major projects.
GRV state that “future investments into racing assets need careful evaluation to ensure long term sustainability, suitability to participant needs, value for money and best animal welfare practices”.
GRV added that they are “committed to exploring all options to ensure high-quality greyhound racing and training facilities are available to service participants in the south-east region of the state”.
GRV have commissioned a report to identify alternative options for the potential construction of a new purpose-built greyhound racing and training facility in the south-east region, with the potential to be expanded into a precinct servicing the needs for multiple racing and training aspects of the industry.
This work will include identifying suitable land and funding options.
The first draft of the report will be complete during November after which time GRV will engage with industry and all key stakeholders to evaluate the available options, to clarify requirements and create an action plan for next steps in the design and development of any potential new site.
GRV say that they “recognise that the large participant base in the Cranbourne and surrounding areas has been operating without access to a local track for training and trialing for a long period of time, however it is critical that we ensure that before decisions about investments of this magnitude are made, that we are fully informed of all options and that the right decisions are made for the future needs of the sport”.
The end of the Cranbourne greyhound track marks the death of the few “tri-code” racing facilities in Australia.
I think they would better serve the industry by looking for suitable land in their area and building a dedicated educational and trial track with additional facilities of competition sprint lanes, heated lap pool and a video surveillance bullring , all to assist trainers without such facilities for fitness & education of pups and racedogs