From Hansard (19th February,2012) –
Caulfield Racecourse Centre Park: opening
Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield)—It is my great pleasure to rise to address the Minister for Environment and Climate Change in my adjournment matter tonight. The action I seek is that the minister attend my electorate on 12 April to open the new Caulfield Racecourse Centre Park. The Caulfield Racecourse is Crown land, granted in 1885 for use as a racecourse and public open space. There is no doubt that previous governments have delivered in creating a racecourse that is recognised as a premium racetrack on the world stage and is an international icon. However, previous governments at all levels have missed the opportunity to provide public access to this Crown land for the residents of Caulfield in the form of open space and a public park. The failure to deliver public space at the Caulfield racetrack has been evident for over a century.
One of my major priorities since coming to office has been negotiating a better deal for residents to access Caulfield Racecourse. I have been working closely with the City of Glen Eira and the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) to achieve this result. This has led to a $1.8 million investment by the Melbourne Racing Club to create a new park in the centre, which will feature five recreational precincts and great amenities, including a junior footy oval, a 1.6 kilometre running track, exercise stations, a dog-off-leash park, a boardwalk, a barbecue area and toilet facilities, to name a few.
I am pleased to report that on 21 April this new park will be open, providing a great new recreational facility for my electorate and for the wider community. To celebrate this I am working with the MRC, the Rotary Club of Glen Eira and the Caulfield Park Community Bank to host a community day and fun run as a fundraiser for local charities and organisations. This will be known as the Caulfield Racecourse Run and Community Day.
Charities struggle to raise funds to carry out important work in difficult economic times. I know this is a challenge, and I thought it would be good to bring all these community organisations together for one big fundraising push. The fun run will consist of a 3.5 kilometre walk and an 8.5 kilometre run around the Caulfield Racecourse. Charities, community groups, schools and clubs can register, create a team and fundraise for their own organisation. This will be a great community day which will celebrate the redevelopment of the park in the centre of the famous Caulfield icon, the racecourse. The day will see the community come together for a fun run, entertainment and festivities to celebrate what will be a memorable occasion.
We hope this facility will be the beginning of a conversation to bring local Caulfield residents to the public open space at the racecourse and create further interest in developing this great public asset for community benefit. Most importantly, many residents who I meet are still unaware that this public open space within the Caulfield Racecourse exists, and events like this are an ideal way to inform them. The City of Glen Eira has the lowest amount of open space of any municipality in Melbourne. What we have done will hopefully make the best of this new park at the Caulfield Racecourse, and this event will help to deliver this.
I repeat my call on the minister to join me at this new park in the centre of the Caulfield Racecourse on 21 April and share in this historic moment.”
PS: Council does not appear to have any problem in doing the bidding of the MRC, via publishing the Agenda for the next trustee’s meeting on their website. This is set down for March 27th – five weeks off! Yet, they cannot inform the public of the above event. Residents have to learn about this by scouring Hansard!
Glen Eira Debates 
February 20, 2013 at 11:17 AM
Poor ol Southwick. Can’t ever get things right. He’s invited the minister twice or stuffed up on the dates. Burkey and his mates deserve congratulations too for keeping their pathetic record of “good communication” with residents intact. From no ball games in the agreement we’ve now gone from soccer pitch to footy.
February 20, 2013 at 4:28 PM
Oh Jeez, cut the Southwick some slack will ya. The guy can’t remember his election promises (opposition to C60) or his own qualifications so it shouldn’t be a surprise to find dates are also a challenge for him.
February 22, 2013 at 12:13 PM
What a joke… The generous MRC has just spent nearly 3Million on a new track which is soft and cosy for the horse’s precious legs but guess what we have a new concrete running track.!
February 23, 2013 at 9:42 AM
$3m on a new track – yep they really do intend to move training away from Caulfield.
It’s also very refreshing to see that the $3m is spent on the new track (which further diminishes public open space) yet improvement for the public open space (150 years overdue) in the centre are $1.8m. Keep up the good works boys!!!!
February 23, 2013 at 12:59 AM
Get rid of Southwick in 2014 and bring a new M.P. Southwick should go back to school!
February 23, 2013 at 9:47 AM
By the way when is the MRC to stage it’s first community day?
The racecourse special committee heralded getting the MRC to sponsor community days as a major achievement – yet like so many other things this Council does, once the spin has been spun it’s consigned to the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet in the unlit basement.