TAMWORTH Greyhound Racing Club claims it has an uncertain future after upgrade works to the club’s track have been delayed.
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Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) suspended operations at the track after a dog had to be put down at a meeting late last year.
Following the closure, GRNSW called for an independent assessment of the track’s safety with works now scheduled to begin after the country music festival.
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Club president Robert Munn, who is one of only two volunteers who helps to maintain the track said, he wasn’t confident works would begin on schedule.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Mr Munn said.
“We were initially told works would begin on January 7, then on January 14 and now after the festival.
“I don’t know what to believe and to be honest I’m almost at the point of locking the gate and telling them [GRNSW] to deal with it, because I have no reason, personally, to put up with it anymore.”
“It’s only me and one eighty year old bloke who look after the track and I’m strongly considering walking away.”
Included in the works will be infrastructure renovations to the catching pen, track surface renovations and installation of impact attenuating padding.
A GRNSW spokesperson said greyhound welfare and safety was a “key priority.”
“The suspension of racing and trialling activity at the Tamworth track will remain in force until the necessary remedial work has been completed,” the spokesperson said.
“The status of Tamworth is that work is scheduled to commence at the track at the conclusion of the Tamworth Country Musical Festival, which runs until January 27.
“The works to be conducted are those recommended by the independent expert panel.”
The works will be the second upgrade of the facility in two years, after the track was resurfaced in early 2018.
“These latest upgrades are an absolute joke,” Mr Munn said.
“They were money well spent when they were upgraded last year, now though we are just going around in circles.
“We are pretty much are just re-doing what we did last year, but paying for it again.
“In my opinion it really is ridiculous.”
Mr Munn said the earliest could expect to race would be March this year.
“All things going well, the works they are proposing should only take about four days to complete,” he said.
“In saying that, it will take a few weeks for the new surface to settle, so if everything does go according to their plans, then the earliest we could look at racing would be March.”
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
