Racing: Changing face of Ellerslie Racecourse

With so many great moments in the racing world last weekend it was hard to select the most important.

Was it the last leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes? Or the English Derby from Epsom?

Maybe the rejuvenated Stradbroke Day from Brisbane.

Or the lodging of Private Plan Change 168 ...

Eh?

Maybe you missed the last one. It wasn't covered on Trackside, didn't make it into the newspapers and unless you religiously scour the Auckland City Council website you probably still have no idea of what Private Plan Change 168 is.

But if successful, it might be the most important event to happen to Auckland racing in the next five years. Or the next 100 years, for that matter.

Friday was the day the Auckland Racing Club's application for rezoning of a near-300m long stretch of land bordering the front straight at Ellerslie became public.

The club wants the land rezoned so it can be developed, with a hotel and luxury apartments the most likely option.

Friday's public disclosure of its application for rezoning is the first step on a long road. Residents will complain, consents will be required, tenders will be sought and complicated deals will need to be made.

But eventually, maybe five years from now, the face of our most famous racetrack is likely to start changing forever.

Plan 168 covers land right alongside the front straight, from around the 200m mark back to home bend.

If everything goes to plan the rezoning of that land will lead to it being leased and providing a long-term income for the ARC that could grow to several million dollars a year.

It replaces plans to develop in the base of Ellerslie's famed Hill, with those plans shelved for the foreseeable future.

That will please local residents and many racing purists. But the idea of 300m of developments, some as high as six storeys alongside the track, will not.

Without the rezoning, however, without the development, Ellerslie will start to stall.

The Racing Board payouts for next season are certain to drop and Ellerslie faces cutting stakes, possibly by as much as 15 per cent for some days.

It is not alone, with most racing clubs nationwide facing the same problem.

But Ellerslie has the advantage of being in the middle of a rich real estate zone and it has a lot of land that rarely gets used.

"Most racing clubs are asset-rich but cash-poor," admits Ellerslie chief executive Chris Weaver. "We are still doing well because we have other business interests here away from racing, like our function centre, but to secure our future we need to grow our long-term revenue streams.

"If we can lease out this land to be developed then we will have income to improve our facilities - and our track - and keep going forward.

"It is crucially important to the future of the club."

For Weaver and the ARC board, not affecting racing is one of the most important factors in the development. The other is maintaining some control.

"By leasing out the land we have a say on how it is used so the developments fit in with the track and don't detract from Ellerslie.

"We would require developers to leave a huge green belt of trees, we won't be having significant raceday shadows on the track, we won't be ignoring our residential neighbours.

"Ellerslie will remain the special place it is, but we will have more financial stability so that whoever is running this club in 20 or 50 years can keep going forward."

* Plan Change 168

Stretch of land bordering Ellerslie home straight, starting at 200m point.

If rezoned likely to be used for a 150-bed hotel, plus up to 395 residential units.

Previous plans to develop at base of Hill shelved indefinitely.

Retention of mature trees, front road and making that area more accessible to public.

Development close to existing houses at bottom of home straight to be kept low-rise.

Leasing of rezoned area to provide long-term income and control over development.