Dapto dogs to call $11 million facility home in future

Greyhound Racing NSW has acquired a 28-acre parcel of land on Bong Bong Road, opposite Reed Park, for $4 million.

"We want to build a brand-new track with the very latest design and technology in it, specifically to get the best possible safe results," Greyhound Racing NSW chief executive officer Rob Macaulay said.

Read more: Wollongong start-up to share in $18m in hunt for green hydrogen

He said this would be a large, two-turn track with wider turns and larger cambers to make racing safer for the dogs.

The new facility will also include the first Greyhounds as Pets site co-located with a track, from which greyhounds will be adopted out to new homes.

But it is planned that the wider community will also have use of and benefit from the site.

Mr Macaulay said Greyhound Racing NSW was looking at co-location with other organisations to ensure the facility was used throughout the week and not just on meet days.

"What we're hoping for... is an ability to have facilities there that are multipurpose, or multi-user," he said.

With so much land, Mr Macaulay said, the space could include bike paths, or environmental riparian land along Mullet Creek.

Greyhound Racing NSW hopes to have a development application pre-lodgement meeting with Wollongong City Council within a month.

Read more: Parents feel the sting of creeping school supplies bills

Mr Macaulay said the new facility would guarantee security of tenure and ensure the long-term survival of Dapto dogs.

There were only two years left on the lease with the Dapto Showground, he said, and it was hoped that the new track would open before then, to ensure a smooth transition.

Mr Macaulay said Greyhound Racing NSW had been looking for a new site since it "became clear" that the Dapto Agricultural and Horticultural Society had a "different vision for the showground".

Three years ago, Mr Macaulay spearheaded the litigation against DAHS after it got into a dispute with Greyhound Racing NSW and announced the immediate end to greyhound racing at the showground in November 2019.

Greyhound Racing NSW said DAHS was pushing out the dogs to make way for its redevelopment of the showground, but the society said the racing body had known of the plans for months.

The following month, the two parties reached agreement on a commercial settlement, allowing for the continuation of greyhound racing at the showground.

Read more: Call for minister to help re-open road

That is not the only tumult Dapto dogs have experienced over the past several years - they also faced closure in 2016 when the NSW government led by Mike Baird announced a ban on greyhound racing, a decision that was reversed just three months later.

Mr Macaulay said the new project had bipartisan support, particularly from Hospitality and Racing Minister Kevin Anderson, and Shellharbour MP Anna Watson.

The first greyhound meeting was held at Dapto on February 25, 1937, the year after a sub-committee of the DAHS was formed and work started on the track to allow for the dog racing.

The showgrounds were taken by the army in 1942 as part of the war effort but racing resumed in 1944 and from then on, Dapto dogs became a Thursday night institution.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.