Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) will turn to the community of the Illawarra and South Coast for consultation around its new racing and multi-functional facility.
In January this year GRNSW purchased land on Bong Bong Road for a new $11 million state of the art facility. At the time of that announcement GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Mr Rob Macaulay was adamant that the local community must have a say about other uses for the facility, and that will now be done through this community and stakeholder consultation process.
"We are very excited by the new centre of excellence planned for Dapto greyhounds, but also for what the facility can do for the local community as a multi-sports complex," Mr Macaulay said.
"We've done a lot of work that will be seen through a community consultation process and we look forward to engaging with locals about what they too would like the centre to be for the wider community.
"The site will not only be a racing venue with scope for significant community-based usage, it will be multi-functional with the potential for other sports to have use of the facility and we have already locked in a Men's Shed for the venue."
Local MP, the Member for Shellharbour, Anna Watson has been a supporter of the industry for many years, and she is encouraging the community to have their say and engage in the consultation process.
"The Dapto Dogs is a huge part of our community here in the Illawarra, and I'm happy to see that Greyhound Racing NSW are committed to building a brand new facility in Dapto," Ms Watson said.
"I encourage everyone to get involved with the community consultation process to ensure the best facility for all in the region."
The community consultation announcement comes as a recent IER report, which scoped the NSW greyhound racing industry, reported that the Illawarra and South Coast region provided $37.8 million in direct value-added contribution and $39.2 million flow on benefits to the NSW economy.
"The Illawarra and South Coast is a core region for our sport, with 865 roles occupied across breeders, owners, trainers, racing club and industry staff, volunteers and other deeply valued participants," Mr Macaulay said.
"These are the locals in a community who invest in the towns across the Illawarra, not to mention pay taxes and contribute to the State's coffers – both directly and indirectly – to the tune of $39.2 million per annum.
"The flow on effects from the region's greyhound industry touch a lot of other businesses in the community as well as providing livelihoods for many hard-working people."
