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Change on the way for Wentworth Park

After a long gap, the Society once again has a convenor dedicated to pursuing our interests with regard to Wentworth Park. This appointment coincides with the initiative of the Wentworth Park Sporting Complex Trust to develop a management plan for the central area of the park where the greyhound racing track is located.

Anne Fraser, who joined the Management Committee only at the 2005 AGM, took up the role in September and while she admits she is on a steep learning curve, she is rapidly familiarising herself with the issues.

Wentworth Park, which was managed by an administrator for the past four years, had a new 10 member Trust appointed in May this year. It has three community representatives, and there are representatives from the National Coursing Association, Greyhound Owners Breeders and Trainers Association, Sydney City Council, Department of Gaming and Racing, and Greyhound Racing NSW.

The Trust wishes to open the Complex to other more diverse activities and has arranged community consultations as part of the process of developing the management plan. Submissions are also being invited from the community generally. The Society’s submission is reproduced below.

The consultants are working in partnership with the City of Sydney Council which has care control and management of the adjoining parkland. The draft Management Plan will be put on exhibition for final comment from the community prior to being put to the Trust for adoption.

Wentworth Park Sporting Complex Trust Plan of Management

Submission by The Glebe Society Inc

The Glebe Society Inc welcomes the decision of the Trust to prepare a plan of management for the area of Wentworth Park managed by the Trust, and the opportunity to make an input into the plan.

In preparing the next Management Plan, the Glebe Society believes the Trust should review the previous unimplemented Plans for Wentworth Park (dated 1989 and 1990) that received the support of local residents. Specific issues which the Society requests be considered are:

1. The plan should seek to reintegrate the area currently dedicated to greyhound racing with the northern and southern sections of the park managed by the Sydney City Council. This will involve the demolition of the unsightly walls now surrounding the complex. Given the fact that gate takings at race meetings make a minimal contribution to the revenue generated by the complex, we believe it is no longer necessary for the area to be enclosed. Public access should be maximised, and security should be limited to high-value individual assets within the complex

2. Buildings of established or possible heritage significance within the complex should be restored and protected.

3. Disused and unsightly buildings should be demolished.

4. Landscaping of the complex should complement landscaping of the surrounding area, particularly the areas managed by the Sydney City Council.

5. Traffic and transport arrangements for people attending functions at the complex should not impact adversely on local residents, and parking on the areas of the park outside the Complex should be forbidden.

6. Community groups should have access to facilities within the complex free or at concessional rates.

7. Commercial activity within the complex should be strictly limited to community and sporting activities. In recent years the difference between sport and business has become blurred, and we oppose any use of the office and function facilities within the complex by organisations which are not clearly within the limits set in the legislation governing the Trust.

In the longer term the Society believes greyhound racing should be relocated away from Wentworth Park, and unsuitable buildings should be removed to allow the three areas of the park to be reunited and returned to community use. While we have no objection to greyhound racing per se, we believe the requirement to provide open space recreation facilities for the residents of the densely populated Inner West outweigh the interests of an industry with very limited public following.

Article reproduced from the Society's September/October 2005 Bulletin.

Change is afoot at Wentworth Park, and while there is no suggestion that greyhound racing will be relocated in the near future it seems likely that the appearance of the central section where the dog track is located could be greatly improved.

This section, which is referred to as “the Complex” to distinguish it from the park overall, is managed by the Wentworth Park Sporting Complex Trust. The Trust recently began preparation of a Management Plan for the area, and the Glebe Society was one of a number of stakeholder groups invited to a workshop on 14 September at which consultants began teasing out a vision for the future of the Complex.

Trustees of the Complex told the workshop that the Trust already has plans to improve the Wentworth Park Road entrance by pulling down the existing turnstiles and providing a clear view of the heritage-listed tower which is to be restored. There was general agreement that many old and disused buildings could be pulled down and a better setting provided for the heritage buildings within the Complex.

The Alcatraz-like fences around the Complex also came in for dishonourable mentions, and the workshop agreed that the central section devoted to greyhound racing should be better integrated with the northern and southern ends of the park. However it appears that the grandstand is not negotiable at this stage.

Wentworth Park was proclaimed in 1885 and is one of Sydney’s oldest parks. It was built on reclaimed land and originally was an integrated park with gardens and a cricket pitch complete with picket fence. It is said the first game of rugby league was played there, and it still contains many fine examples of original plantings, particularly the figs on the margins of the park and near the dog track.

The division of the park into three sections came in the 1930s when the dog track was created. The park is now administered by two different authorities, with the central section under the control of the Trust (chaired by Susan Cleary, a member of the Society), and the two other sections under the control of the Sydney City Council.

It was apparent at the workshop that any plans for the future of the park as a whole will need to take into account a wide range of community needs, and that any thoughts of dedicating the area to passive recreation only will meet a lot of resistance.

While greyhound racing is the main activity on the central section, there are also many other users, including the Eastern Suburbs rugby league club, local schools and community associations. Events that have been held the over the years range from Christmas parties for Glebe senior citizens, Spanish and Jewish celebrations, antique fairs, fetes and The Teddy Bear’s Picnic.

Representatives from Pyrmont remembered the time when Wentworth Park was referred to as “the big park” and was the centre for many community activities, and even circuses. The construction of the large new grandstand with its offices and function rooms had alienated the park from the people, and they would like it to become a people’s park again.

A representative of the greyhound racing interests recognised the need for the Complex to become better integrated with its surroundings, and that many facilities need to be renovated. However he stressed that community use needs to be balanced by income-producing commercial activities, and satisfactory transport arrangements for patrons of race meetings.

Since the Department of Sport and Recreation will move out of its offices in the grandstand in 2007, the Trust will have to find substantial revenue from new tenants. This might not be easy as legally the only uses of the area are for community or sporting purposes.

It appears that the greyhound racing community would like to hang onto Wentworth Park for as long as possible. The current licence agreement runs to 2007 with an option to extend for another 20 years, and the industry regards the ‘Wentworth Park brand’ as a valuable commodity.

Given that the industry regards crowds of 500 to 1500 as “viable”, compared to crowds of 15,000 in the industry’s hey day, and its admission that 90% of its income comes from “off course” (presumably the TAB), one might wonder whether the dog track is not merely a huge outdoor television studio situated in the middle of a once beautiful park.

While the improvements that are likely to emerge from the Trust’s Management Plan will be welcome, I doubt that they will diminish the Society’s desire to return the park to the residents of the Inner West.

- Bruce Davis