Members of the Australian Turf Club (ATC) have voted against the sale of Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney’s west, bringing an end to plans to build 25,000 homes and a metro station on the site.
The proposal, backed by NSW Premier Chris Minns and ATC chairman Peter McGauran, was controversial with the club members, with the vote over the sale delayed multiple times since the plan’s inception in 2023.
Today at a meeting in Randwick, the club voted to reject the $5 billion sale of the site to the NSW government.
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The ATC board had planned to redevelop Warwick Farm racecourse as a replacement for Rosehill, at an estimated cost of $800 million.
ATC members also stood to receive free drinks and a five-year membership subscription.
McGauran had planned to safeguard the future of racing with a $5 billion windfall from the sale.
Of the members, 56.1 per cent voted against the sale, while 43.9 per cent voted for it.
“That means it’s finished, taken off the table, it will not proceed in any shape or form,” McGauran said.
“I personally am disappointed,” he said.
“The member’s vote is supreme, it’s binding, I respect it and the club now has to look to the future.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was disappointed by the result, but said the NSW government would double down on ambitious proposals to fix the NSW housing crisis.
“The closeness of the result makes it more difficult ot take, not easier,” he said.
“It feels like a golden opportunity that has slipped through our fingers.
He thanked the ATC board for pursuing bold reform.
“We should be taking more risk when it comes to housing,” Minns said.
“We’ve been far too timid for far too long.
“More proposals like this are needed.”
Minns said his government were looking at alternative plans for housing projects.
The vote comes as a blow to Minns, who had backed the sale as a means of easing the NSW housing crisis.
The vote getting knocked down means the potential Metro station on the Metro West line will not be built.
Minns said there would be no metro station at Rosehill, with no houses to be developed to make it economically viable.
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