Australian Turf Club members have voted against a proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse.
It’s understood the Extraordinary General Meeting in Sydney today became extremely heated at times, with 2GB’s Clinton Maynard reporting some members had even walked out of the meeting.
The State Government had been backing a plan that would see the historic race track closed and replaced by a mini-city of 25,000 homes.
Had the plan gone ahead, the Australian Turf Club would have received $5 billion over 15 years.
Rosehill would have still operated for a number of years with other race tracks in Sydney upgraded and a new course also built elsewhere in Sydney.
It was revealed recently that the Australian Turf Club had entered a Memorandum of Understanding with Penrith Golf Club to buy the site on The Northern Road to build a new racing facility.
While the State Government and key business leaders in western Sydney had backed the sale, the Australian Turf Club Board was split while members have always swayed against the idea.
Australian Turf Club Chairman Peter McGauran said the sale was now “finished” and was taken off the table.
“The members’ vote is supreme and is binding and I respect it. The club now has to look to the future,” he said.
“In the end it was big change. It wasn’t incremental or modest reform and that is always a challenge.”
McGauran said the Australian Turf Club was “viable and strong”.
“It’s a great race club, it has four racing sites, three training centres. It’s the biggest club in Australia,” he said.
“We’ll continue but we won’t be able to have the radical change.
“I am disappointed that the vote wasn’t successful but I understand why people opposed it.”
The no vote got up 56 per cent to 46 per cent.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.