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Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) has awarded Civcon WA the contract for the re-development of the Bunbury Turf Club racing and training tracks.

Specialist sports turf company Evergreen Turf will be extensively supporting Civcon WA with their vast experience in building racetracks throughout Australia and McMahons will support construction of the fibre sand training track. 

From 31 May 2021, Civcon will commence mobilisation onsite at Bunbury Turf Club, with racing expected to return to Bunbury in late 2022. 

The overall redevelopment project will include the rebuild of the turf racing track, construction of new horse stalls, raceday pavilion, and development of an all-weather trial and training track to enable racing and training all year round. 

RWWA Chief Executive Officer Ian Edwards said the organisation was pleased to have awarded the tender contract and to be proceeding with the project. 

"It is exciting to be able to progress with the Bunbury Turf Club redevelopment project to deliver a quality thoroughbred racing and training venue, which also has easy access for participants located in the South West and surrounding regions," Ian said. 

"The expected build time is approximately twelve months plus a growing and consolidation period to allow for the main turf surface." 

"The project will support the future of racing in Western Australia as well as provide important economic benefits to the local community." 

Following further consultation with local Trainers, the following arrangements will be implemented for trackwork once the Bunbury Racecourse closes. 

Collie Racecourse 

Collie will be open for training on the following days: 

Tuesday Wednesday Friday 

Lighting towers will be deployed at this site allowing training to be open from 4am to 9am each morning with the below facilities available.   

Course Proper (Sand) – 20 metres wide Inside Jog Track (Sand) – 5 metres wide 80 stalls Wash down areas Toilets and amenities available 

Tracks will be groomed and watered (if necessary) before every day of operation and trackwork will be overseen by a BTC Trackwork Supervisor.    

A travel subsidy of $25 per horse will be paid to Trainers travelling horses to Collie to be worked.  This will be managed by BTC and numbers recorded each morning with payments made monthly. 

A travel subsidy of $50 per day will be paid to freelance trackwork riders attending Collie Racecourse to ride work on these days. 

Capel Private Track  

Ross Price will make his private track available from Monday through until Saturday and lighting towers will also be deployed at this site allowing training to be open from 4am to 9am each morning.  

Initially 24 temporary stalls will be provided and depending on demand it may be necessary to manage sessions times for Trainers to limit congestion.  Toilets and amenities will be available. 

The track will be groomed and watered (if necessary) before every day of operation and trackwork will be overseen by a BTC Trackwork Supervisor.  No travel subsidy is applicable for Trainers working horses at this property. 

Lark Hill Training Centre 

Lark Hill is available to all WA Trainers Monday to Saturday at the following times: 

Monday – 5.00am to 8.30am Tuesday (fastwork) – 5.00am to 9.00am Wednesdays – 5.00am to 8.30am Thursday – 5.00am to 8.30am Friday – 5.00am to 8.30am Saturday (fastwork) – 5.00am to 9.00am 

All fees and charges, including for barrier trials, will be waived for Bunbury based Trainers during the period of the Bunbury Racecourse training closure.  A travel subsidy of $25 per horse will be applicable for Trainers travelling to Lark Hill on fast work days only (Tuesday & Saturday). 

These initial alternate training arrangements will be reviewed on a monthly basis. 

A recent economic study of the project revealed that by FY2029 the project will produce $36.2 million in direct expenditure for the local region each year as well as sustain 253 full-time-equivalent roles. 

Venues for transferred race dates historically allocated to Bunbury Turf Club will be announced as part of the 2021/22 race date fixturing process. 

Economic Benefits: 

It is estimated the Bunbury redevelopment project will deliver the following economic benefits by FY2029: 

292 additional horses in training at Bunbury Racecourse. 253 full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs generated by the project (uplift in 87), with an additional 67 FTE's being created by the once-off construction component.  $8.8 million total export value (or new money generated for the Bunbury economy) per annum, with a $37.5 million cumulative economic uplift over the eight-year period. $33.7 million in total value-added contribution generated by the new development at Bunbury racecourse (uplift of $11.6 million), with a $62.9 million cumulative economic uplift over the eight-year period. $36.2 million in total direct expenditure generated by training, raceday related and wagering activities conducted at the Bunbury Racecourse per annum (uplift of $12.5 million), with a $53.4 million cumulative economic uplift over the eight-year period.