Build it and they will come: push to upgrade Oakburn Park into motor hub

Tamworth Motorcycle Club has teamed up with EDALS Group to put together a "comprehensive masterplan" for the proposed redevelopment of the site, to take to state and federal governments.

In a sit-down chat, committee member of Tamworth Motorcycle Club and founder of consultancy/construction services company EDALS, Hamish Slade told the Leader the release of the state budget this week shows just how "hard" it will become for regional areas to secure funding for projects.

"(We) want to make it into a precinct, that hub, that we have for other sports in town," he said.

The first stage would include "tidying up" of the site, including the construction of a new canteen, toilet blocks, a "massive big arena shed" for the pit, another storage shed, and the installation of LED lights.

Mr Slade said it would make the site look more professional, and allow them to host more events.

"We want to do more out here. Tyre torture was a major event and having drag racing and drift racing up top was something that does not really happen in Tamworth," he said.

Plans to upgrade the motor park have been on the cards since 2016, but the idea to transform it into a motor hub has been around since the late 90s'.

This would include building a world-class drag racing strip and circuit set to international standards.

It is estimated the first stage would cost $2.5 million, and $8 million for the entire expansion.

"It is all well and good for council to have their facilities like the AELEC, the sports dome, and all this aquatic stuff," he said.

"But motorsports, especially after COVID-19, gives more benefit to the community."

The motorsports complex relocated from Moore Creek to the outskirts of Tamworth in the late 90s', after Tamworth Regional Council identified Moore Creek as a prime spot for housing.

Mr Slade said the majority of the complex infrastructure has been built with donated materials.

"Everything we have done is basically secondhand, so we have to look really hard to find a lot of the stuff we find out here," he said.

However, the once-niche sport has continued to build an audience, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has exploded into mainstream popularity.

"Post-COVID, the number of women who drive has gone up; we have people of varying levels, abilities, and even disabilities who ride," Mr Slade said.

"It is more-often-than-not a real family event. The dad will race, the kids will race and even the grandfather.

"Compared to baseball or basketball, where families come out to see one person play, a lot of the time, it is five or six people who do the motorsports and they love it."

The Tamworth and motorsports communities want to see this complex brought to it's full potential, Mr Slade said.

Mr Slade has worked on plans for complex upgrades for the last three to four years.

"I am currently developing a business case, a sort of masterplan for the place to layout what we want to do," he said.

"We're getting some plans drawn up and some cost input in, so put it all in this bundle and sit down with the relevant people."

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson, a self-confessed petrol-head himself, has thrown his support behind the project.

And Mr Slade says he will continue to apply for grants and explore every avenue to get the project funded.