Racehorse TALK

Hounding for a win
By MARK FLACK
Track to
go ahead

OFF AND RACING: Alberton greyhound trainer Paul Felgate is happy about the Slacks Creek development.
GREYHOUNDS Queensland
(GQL) is just one step away
from beginning construction
on a multi-milliondollar
racing facility at
Slacks Creek with the proposal
now hinging on a final
tick of approval from the
council.
The group announced this
week that it would lodge a
development application
with Logan City Council
within the next two weeks
in a bid to get a decision in
the first quarter of 2010.
If approved, work on the
facility could begin in June,
with the first race meeting
just nine months later.
GQL general manager
Darren Beavis said getting
council to tick off on the
proposal was the last hurdle
in a plan which had
spanned more than two
years.
He said the group would
spend $10 million on the
first stage of the facility
using compensation from
closure of the Parklands
track last year.
‘‘It’s been a long, involved
process that probably goes
back to 2007,’’ he said.
‘‘The industry has certainly
been hanging out for
it and it’s great to see it
come to fruition.
‘‘We’re going to have a
facility which we are going
to own and it’s something
the industry desperately
needs.’’
Mr Beavis said while the
group would meet with the
State Government this week
the plan had already received
interim approval
which would see the land
transferred to GQL.
The Cronulla Park site, at
the corner of Kingston and
Compton roads, passed extensive
soil testing earlier
this year allaying concerns
over its former use as a
council dump.
The facility will host two
meetings a week once completed,
easing the industry’s
reliance on tracks at Albion
Park and Ipswich.
Veteran greyhound
trainer Paul Felgate from
Alberton said racing would
provide great benefits for
the community and national
exposure for Logan.
He said the track would
also be advantageous for the
city’s greyhound racing
community, which he believed
was the largest in
Queensland.
‘‘It would honestly be the
best thing for the area,’’ he
said.
Logan City deputy mayor
Russell Lutton said council
had already given the proposal
‘‘in principal‘‘ approval.