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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-05 Daily Xml
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MURRAY BRIDGE RACING CLUB

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:23): I rise today to speak about the Murray Bridge Racing Club and the Gifford Hill development. On Wednesday 22 May, at the invitation of chairman Reg Nolan, I attended the Murray Bridge Racing Club's Hoteliers Race Day, and I would like to thank the chairman, the committee and racing club members for their wonderful hospitality.

The Murray Bridge Racing Club has embarked upon what I would like to call a visionary project which will have major community, economic, regional and tourism benefits for Murray Bridge and districts. I was accompanied at the race meet (at my invitation) by the Minister for Sport and Recreation, as I saw it as a great opportunity to present the Murray Bridge Racing Club's Gifford Hill project to the government.

Gifford Hill is the joint venture between Murray Bridge Racing Club, Burke Urban and a small number of private partners and is situated on the outskirts of Murray Bridge on approximately 800 hectares of freehold land. The project includes a new state-of-the-art racecourse, associated equine facilities and a modern multipurpose function centre. While an important development for the racing industry locally and statewide, Gifford Hill will provide significant flow-on effects for the rapidly growing regional centre.

The South Australian racing industry will reap huge benefits as a result of Gifford Hill. The development includes an equine precinct which will offer those involved in the racing industry the most modern and well-equipped location for their operations. The precinct includes equine allotments, training facilities, an all-weather track, an internal bridle path system which delivers horses to the new racecourse without crossing roads, impressive race day facilities and brand new stables.

A high level of biosecurity management will be another feature of the precinct, with horses kept secure and separated from other stables to prevent and reduce potential cases of cross contamination. Murray Bridge will also be a massive winner thanks to the Murray Bridge Racing Club's visionary project. The Murray Bridge local economy is set to be provided with great opportunities which include a new residential development close to the heart of the town with the demolition of the existing Murray Bridge Racing Club site, driving local population growth and the creation of local jobs. The Murray Bridge community will also benefit from the expected increase in tourism as the development will attract horse owners and trainers, racing enthusiasts and jockeys from across Australia.

I take this opportunity to provide an update on the project. To date, with the support of its private partners, the Murray Bridge Racing Club has spent just over $10 million on the development of the new racecourse site. Site works nearing completion include the trackside drive roadway which will lead up to the eventual multipurpose community and race day function centre, and stormwater and civil works including water retention basin which will allow for future water re-use.

The majority of the completed work has utilised contract services and suppliers of local and regional contractors. The actual racecourse has been nurtured from turf stolons sourced from local growers and is now beautifully established and consolidated. You can actually see the green grass of the track whilst flying over Murray Bridge. It is expected that the club will be spending another $2 million in the next six months on road works, car parking and a new horse stable building. The final step in the process will be the construction of the race day facilities and function complex.

Murray Bridge Racing Club continues to work closely with its joint venture partners—Burke Urban Gifford Hill Pty Ltd—on this next phase on a staged basis and in a fiscally responsible manner. The positive growth of the racing industry in South Australia and the creation of terrific new tourism opportunities linked with employment and economic opportunities plus population growth show how important this project is for Murray Bridge, surrounding regional areas and South Australia.

Once again, thanks to the Murray Bridge Racing Club Committee and members for their wonderful hospitality, and I look forward to watching this club's visionary project continue to develop which, over time, will include 3,500 new homes and essentially a new suburb in the Murray Bridge region. I congratulate the club and I congratulate the partners for their work. It is tough times financially but they are getting on with the job, and let's see the government get on board and give more support to this great club and this great facility.

Time expired.

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