By Esther Lauaki
Upgrades to motor sport tracks supporting young rev-heads to be competition-ready could be the pledge that gets Labor across the line with Moorabool voters this month.
If re-elected, the party will invest $5 million for a Motor Sports Upgrades and Equipment Fund, providing grants of up to $500,000 to upgrade tracks and buy new equipment.
The fund would be set up to help transform racetracks around Victoria improving safety with new barriers, and providing more facilities and amenities to increase participation.
The funding could also bring Moorabool council’s bid to make Fiskville a regional motor sport hub even closer.
In May, the council pushed forward with plans for a regional motorsport track at the former Fiskville CFA training site.
Remediation works at Fiskville are expected to be completed in the next two years and a proposal to turn it into a racing track has started to gain traction.
Ballarat council and the state government spent $90,000 to develop a feasibility study for a regional racing precinct in 2015.
Moorabool council set aside $100,000 in its 2018-19 budget for a business case for the site.
Moorabool mayor Paul Tatchell said the council would chip in with Ballarat and Geelong councils, as well as the state and federal governments, to develop the business case.
He expected it would cost about $400,000.
“Every shire is facing the same problem with these [motor] sports which are difficult to host in town,” he told
Star Weekly earlier this year.
A plan has been formulated for a motor sport track but land was never formally identified for the project, Cr Tatchell said.
In its feasibility study, Ballarat council found the facility would need to be built outside of the municipality to accommodate the 240-300 hectares of land required.
Fiskville was identified as a favourable location because it is government owned.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the investment could go a long way to helping find the next Daniel Ricciardo.
“The cost of upgrading Victoria’s racetracks can be expensive, that’s why we’re helping these clubs to grow for the future,” Mr Andrews said.
“A large number of these affiliated clubs are based in regional areas and have been held back for too long.”
