New recipe

By Kath Gannaway
THE ROLE played by the Yarra Valley Racing Centre during the 2009 bushfires sowed the seeds for increased community and commercial use.
Under a $2 million overhaul announced at the Yarra Valley Cup meeting on Sunday, Racing Minister Rob Hulls announced the centre would become a multi-purpose community and business hub.
Mr Hulls also flagged the development of a four star hotel and conference centre on the site.
The $2 million redevelopment is the first under the racing industry’s Regional Racecourse Revitalisation (RRR) project which aims to increase the use of racecourses as multi-purpose community facilities.
The project is a joint venture between the State Government ($750,000) Racing Victoria and Country Racing Victoria ($750,000), Yarra Valley Racing ($350,000) and Yarra Ranges Council ($150,000).
Yarra Valley Racing CEO Brett Shambrook said the club was delighted with the announcement the RRR project would not go ahead as planned.
He said the over-riding objective was to improve the use and sustainability of the racecourse and to create an inclusive community asset which would benefit the racing industry and Yarra Valley residents and visitors to the region.
“After a number of years of hard work by many people stage one of the project will be the creation of a Community Event and Emergency Centre,” Mr Shambrook said.
“It will provide all the necessary upgrades to infrastructure that will enable the centre to meet all the potential needs of community and emergency services in the future.
The stage one works will include landscaping and drainage works, upgrade of event and emergency space, power upgrades, flood lighting, storage, upgrade of IT and communications and pathway links to Yarra Glen township.
Mr Shambrook said the club was equally excited about stage two and said calls for expressions of interest would close on 9 April.
“The original master plan explored the option of constructing a hotel with 80 rooms aimed at the four star market,” he said.
“Ideally, this hotel would be fully integrated with the club’s existing facilities to tap into the conference and function markets.”
Mr Shambrook said the hotel would help address the proven lack of accommodation options available in the Yarra Valley and provided an exciting opportunity for prospective developers.
Member for Seymour Ben Hardman hailed the project as a local win saying it was a great example of the kind of teamwork that enabled the Yarra Valley community to band together during the Black Saturday bushfires.
“It will further link the racecourse to the Yarra Glen community and will develop the area into a popular open space for local sport and recreation such as cycling and walking,” he said.
RVL CEO Rob Hines said the RRR aimed to unlock the unrealised potential of country racecourses on Crown land and that the Yarra Valley was a model project.
In another welcome announcement, Mr Hulls also announced a $188,000 grant to install plastic running rails at Yarra Glen.
The funding is part of a $2.3 million state-wide rollout of running rails which he said would revolutionise safety in the racing industry.