Mildura eyeing title as motorsports capital of Australia
Published on 16 July 2014
It’s estimated the local motorsports industry brings around $21.4million to our region each year; and with this in mind, Mildura Rural City Council is celebrating the Victorian Government’s announcement of $103,000 help establish a dedicated motorsports precinct in the municipality.
The funding, which was announced today by Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan, will be used to finalise a business case and investment prospectus for the future Mildura Motorsports Precinct.
Council has already earmarked a potential site, located at Mercer Street Koorlong for the motorsports precinct on 552 hectares of Crown Land as a possible future home for many existing local motorsports organisations.
Mayor Glenn Milne said the funding is an important step towards establishing a much needed bitumen raceway in Mildura. He confirmed Council recently established an industry reference group with representatives from each of the motorsports clubs in the region and from peak Australian Motorsports bodies.
The aim of the reference group is to investigate options to reduce the costs of maintaining several different sites, maximise development potential across the local motorsports industry and encourage participation in the new motorsports hub.
“Mildura needs to press hard now to make the sealed raceway a reality,” said Cr Milne.
“We have invited each of the local clubs to be involved in the planning and design of the precinct, as well as national input from organisations such as, Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA), Motorcycling Australia and Australian Formula Jet Sprint Association to name a few.”
“The job of the reference group will be to work with Council to design a motorsports precinct that can cater for all the groups – speedway, karts, moto-gp, drag racing and motorcycles, as well as provide facilities if necessary for the boating groups too.
“They will also have input into the business plan and will look at ways of attracting government and private sector funding to the project,” Cr Milne advised.
The major project has been through the initial assessment stages and the latest report indicates Mildura is the prime location for such a venue with close links to three states and an already strong reputation as a popular motorsports locality.
“In 2011 we undertook a feasibility study which considered the viability of a regional motorsports hub,” said Cr Milne. “The results were very encouraging and since then, we have been finalising a benchmarking review of major bitumen raceways around Australia.
“This review has given us some fantastic data and some ideas on how to best capitalise on the passion this district already has for motorsports.”
The benchmarking review looked into a number of issues including technical and design plans, funding options, management arrangements and location.
“The review had a number of findings, but one of the major conclusions was that with strong management, marketing and scheduling, as well as access to a bitumen raceway and a skidpan, the value of this industry could potentially grow locally to in excess of $61million annually,” Cr Milne said.
The 2011 North West Victorian Motorsports feasibility study indicated participation levels in motorsports in North West Victoria are four times greater then the national average. Mildura has the added advantage of being reasonably isolated in terms of drive-in/drive-out competitors, with most racing teams having to stay overnight in order to compete.
“The feasibility study indicated this land has significant potential for expansion,” said Cr Milne. “The site is already being successfully utilised by several groups and there is scope to grow this further. Having said that, Council is still open to other suggestions and will investigate options as they arise.”
While the reference group has been established, Council is quick to point out this is a long-term plan and any move to the proposed precinct would be completely voluntary with no club being forced to move.
“Obviously Council and the local motorsports industry have invested significant funds in the current facilities and the planning and development of a motorsports precinct will need to be a staged project over a number of years,” Cr Milne said.
“This is certainly not something we want to see delayed any longer. Our reputation as a motorsports town is already very strong and we need to capitalise on this.”
Mildura currently hosts more than 90 motorsports events each year.
ENDS
Media enquiries
Angela Umback
p) (03) 5018 8689
e) angela.umback@mildura.vic.gov.au