Stop the Tweed Greyhound ‘Death Track’
Shamefully, Australia is the world leader in greyhound death tracks, and of the 64 Australian tracks, 32 are located in NSW.
NSW doesn’t need or want any more greyhound industry death tracks.
How can you help?
If, like us, you believe animals should not be forced to run for gambling profits and public entertainment, please add your name to oppose another NSW Greyhound Racing death track.
NOTE: By signing this petition, you will receive ongoing updates and effective tools of engagement to help you lodge a formal objection when the Development Application for the proposed Tweed track becomes public.
The greyhound racing industry will never be a safe environment for greyhounds, and yet, Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) and the NSW State Government have continued to demonstrate their lack of will and ability to implement meaningful animal welfare reforms for NSW greyhounds.
GRNSW and the NSW State Government continue to invest millions of dollars of public money into propping up an industry that causes significant suffering, harm, and death to greyhounds. This is despite numerous publicly financed and damning industry inquiries, ongoing horrific racing injuries and deaths, over-breeding, and missing greyhounds. The industry is unsustainable and while other countries are moving to close the last remaining death tracks, GRNSW and the NSW State Government continue to ignore greyhound animal welfare, and support and promote this dying industry with public money.
The Tweed Heads Coursing Club (THCC) is proposing to build a new greyhound death track at Chinderah in the NSW Tweed region to replicate the Murray Bridge, SA complex, including an oval track and a straight track. The grandstand complex will reportedly resemble the former complex at Albion Park QLD with office, and restaurant facilities above a 60m long kennel block underneath.
THCC and GRNSW have dubbed the proposed Tweed track as the first NSW ‘Centre of Excellence’, although they haven’t explained what a Centre of Excellence actually is.
On 10 February 2021, Greens Member for Ballina, Ms Tamara Smith, spoke in the NSW Legislative Assembly to voice the Greens’ strong opposition to the proposed Tweed greyhound track.
A 12 week NSW Parliament e-petition titled ‘A petition opposing the development of a new greyhound racing track (Centre of Excellence) in the Tweed region closed on 27 May 2021 after collecting just under 7,000 NSW signatures. Despite clear public sentiments, NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Mr Kevin Anderson, responded with a cursory reply on 13 July 2021, again demonstrating the Minister’s ongoing lack of interest and public concerns about the NSW greyhound racing industry.
Why it’s important to stop the track
Greyhound racing industry in the Tweed
Greyhound racing has existed in the Tweed region since 1908 but we can’t tell you how many greyhounds have been injured or died on previous Tweed death tracks. We attempted to source these statistics from Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) and they claim they’re not available.
The industry has demonstrated time and time again it’s incapable of reform, no matter how many damning government inquiries we have, or how much public money is thrown at the industry. No reforms and no amount of public money will ever make the greyhound racing industry a safe or compassionate environment for greyhounds.
More detailed information about greyhound racing can be found here.
The proposed Chinderah death track at Tweed
The Tweed Heads Coursing Club’s (THCC) previous 14ha Border Park greyhound track and trots venue, was purchased for 3,500 pounds in 1964. In 2016, the THCC track was sold to the Gold Coast Airport for $16 million.
Previous Tweed Heads Coursing Club’s Border Park death track at the Gold Coast.
THCC then set about searching for a new racing complex, spending a reported $20,000 inspecting other possible sites and undertaking due diligence.
In August 2020, the club signed a $2 million contract for a 32ha property at Tweed Valley Way, Chinderah. This Chinderah land parcel is zoned ‘Regionally Significant Land’ and is flood prone land.
THCC and GRNSW have dubbed the proposed Tweed track as the first NSW ‘Centre of Excellence’, although they haven’t explained what a Centre of Excellence actually is.
Based on media reports, THCC are planning to replicate the Murray Bridge, South Australia complex with an oval track and a straight track.
THCC intend to use 14ha of the 32ha site, which will leave another 18ha of usable land, and has indicated the grandstand complex will resemble the former complex at Albion Park QLD with office, and restaurant facilities above a 60m long kennel block underneath.
GRNSW has thrown their support behind the proposed development saying: “It’s critical that greyhound racing has a footprint in Northern NSW, as we have such a large greyhound population and strong participant base in the region,” and, “Not only will this be a state-of-the-art facility with straight and circle racing tracks, but it will also be a greyhound precinct which will provide other services to the industry.”
Of serious concern is that GRNSW has promised the THCC (in advance of any development plans), a racing license and race dates when and if the Tweed complex is completed.
Recent public opposition - raising awareness in the public & political space
Raising awareness – NSW parliament
On 10 February 2021, Greens Member for Ballina, Ms Tamara Smith, spoke in the NSW Legislative Assembly to voice the Greens’ strong opposition to the proposed Tweed greyhound track. You can view Ms Smith’s address here.
Raising awareness – NSW parliament petition
A 12 week NSW Parliament e-petition titled ‘A petition opposing the development of a new greyhound racing track (Centre of Excellence) in the Tweed region closed on 27 May 2021 after collecting just under 7,000 NSW signatures. In spite of clear public sentiments, NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Mr Kevin Anderson, responded with a cursory reply [here] on 13 July 2021, again demonstrating the Minister’s ongoing lack of interest and public concerns about the NSW greyhound racing industry.
Raising awareness in traditional media
We have continued to have effective media articles published expressing our strong opposition to the proposed Tweed greyhound death track.
Raising awareness - A4 posters
We have distributed hundreds of A4 awareness raising posters throughout the Tweed region and are working on more.
Greyhound racing industry in NSW
The greyhound racing industry will never be a safe environment for greyhounds and yet Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) and the NSW State Government have continued to demonstrate their lack of will and ability to implement meaningful animal welfare reforms for NSW greyhounds.
GRNSW and the NSW State Government continue to invest millions of dollars of public money into propping up an industry which causes significant suffering, harm and death to greyhounds. This is despite numerous publicly-financed and damning industry inquiries, ongoing horrific racing injuries and deaths, over-breeding and missing greyhounds, The industry is unsustainable and while other countries are moving to close the last remaining death tracks, GRNSW and the NSW State Government continue to prop up this dying industry with public money and ignore greyhound animal welfare.
In 2020, 202 greyhounds were killed at Australian racetracks and 9,861 were injured. So far in 2021, 125 greyhounds have been killed and 7,387 injured on tracks across Australia. In NSW alone, 48 dogs were killed and 2,228 injured at the track last year. When you add the greyhounds injured and then killed after leaving the track, the 2020 NSW death toll increased from 48 to 75 and in Jan-Jun 2021 from 36 to 49.
In fact, looking at the on-track carnage in the first half of 2021, NSW was a standout, recording an abhorrent 44% increase in catastrophic deaths over the same period last year.
The evidence continues to clearly demonstrate the dangers of oval greyhound tracks and yet the THCC have proposed building an oval track along with a straight track. Further, GRNSW has ignored a 2016 study undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) which concluded greyhound racing injuries and deaths can be significantly reduced through straight tracks and the re-positioning of the lure.
In spite of the overwhelming evidence of the industry’s own data, in 2021 alone, the NSW State Government has invested over $50 million of public money in propping up this unsustainable and cruel industry, while other countries around the world have continued to close the last remaining death tracks.
The NSW Planning framework
The NSW planning legislation and planning instruments are complex and large-scale planning assessments are never easy or fast.
The primary piece of legislation is the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and sitting under the Act is a maze of other Acts, State Environmental Planning Polices, Regional Planning Policies, and Tweed Council’s own requirements as outlined in their Local Environment Plan and Development Control Plan.
The planning pathway including the role Tweed Council and the Northern Regional Planning Panel will play will depend on the full nature of the Applicant’s proposal and that will include any classification of either Designated development, Integrated development or both, and any role other state government departments or agencies may play.
The onus is on the Applicant to lodge a proposal which identifies, responds to and addresses all risks and impacts and cumulative risks and impacts, and how adequately they can demonstrate how they would monitor, avoid, minimise, mitigate and manage these risks and impacts
Both the Applicant and any objectors are required to adhere to the constraints and parameters of the applicable planning legislation and planning instruments. The assessment review must remain independent, objective and informed during the entire process and key considerations during the assessment include:
the likely impacts of that development including environmental impacts on both the natural and built environments and social and economic impacts in the locality;
the suitability of the site for the Development;
any submissions made in accordance with this Act or the Regulations and;
the public interest.
What we know about the site and surrounding area
The proposed site is currently zoned RU1 (Primary Production) and is deemed Regionally Significant land.
Based on what we know to date, a greyhound racing centre of excellence, would best be defined under the current Tweed Shire Council Local Environment Plan (LEP) 2014, as “recreational facility (major)”, which is prohibited in the RU1 zone and would therefore require, a site specific LEP amendment or rezoning to proceed.
The site is flood prone.
The site includes Acid Sulfate soil.
The site is surrounded by biodiversity including koalas.
The site is surrounded by Aboriginal places of heritage and South Sea Islander places of heritage.
Cumulative risks and issues associated with the expansion of the BP Chinderah service station.
Please help us help greyhounds
People power is our strength. You can help us by:
signing the petition above, opposing the Tweed track,
becoming a supporter of Animal Liberation for as little as $5 a month;
giving a one-off donation gift to keep this campaign alive.