Night Racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse

The racecourse events already provide significant disruption to the local community and night racing will cause an unacceptable level of significant further disruption.

We strongly object to night racing and, in particular, in the extreme manner proposed. This would have an enormous affect on local living communities and family living standards in the local area.

For example:
- After each current race-day, there is already rubbish littered throughout the neighbourhood. We constantly have beer bottles littered on our streets and in our front gardens (among other rubbish and pollution). We currently have to clean up this mess. The racecourse needs to arrange cleaners to remedy this as it's not local individuals’ responsibility to clean up their neighbourhood where the racecourse is responsible and makes profit from the events. The racecourse currently doesn’t remedy or mitigate this significant issue and night racing will only exacerbate this problem. The racecourse should first be required to show a track record or remedying these issues before it should be permitted to contemplate extending race events late into the evening.
- Noise on the streets after race-days and into the night is already present. Night racing will significantly extend the hours that this occurs. The Council needs to be very careful not to further disrupt locals who are already bearing the brunt of this. This is a family area. Recently there was a physical fight out the front of our house, so this is not only a noise pollution issue but a safety issue. We all know too well that there will be drunken patrons leaving the races and at such late times this cannot be accepted by locals. Currently the racecourse allows drunken patrons to leave into the local neighbourhood and washes its hands completely of any responsibility of them after they leave their premises. This should not be permitted by Council.
- Notwithstanding the above, if night racing is approved, entry and exit via the Doncaster gates MUST be prohibited. The main entry on Alison road needs to be used to transport all racegoers immediately onto public transport and to prevent (at least to some extent) racegoers walking directly into the local residential area.

Kind regards
Andrew Johnston

Dear Department of Planning, Industry & Environment,

RE: STRATA PLAN 55999 – 274-300 ANZAC PARADE, KENSINGTON NSW 2032
NOTICE OF EXHIBITION – NIGHT RACING AT ROYAL RANDWICK RACECOURSE

We write as the Strata Managing Agents of the above-mentioned Strata Scheme, under instruction from the Owner Corporation. The Owners Corporation (SP 55999) write to you in response to your letter dated 24 May 2021 (attached) ‘Notice of Exhibition Night Racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse’ in relation to the following concerns of the Owners.

Except for the racecourse, this is a residential area and night-time noise restrictions need to apply – this Strata Scheme has thirty-seven (37) units and accommodates a lot of people. There are residential buildings all around the racecourse - including residential colleges at UNSW.

Clearly these plans are for commercial activities so the aim will be to attract as many people as possible - up to 15,000 are estimated, creating more traffic, parking problems and noise in the area at night as people arrive and disperse. Trackside lighting will be intrusive as will loudspeakers/amplifiers and generators. If there are 16 events in the summer months, this means at least two weekends out of every four will have disturbances for residents.

The Owners are very concerned to see the creation of a barbeque/refreshment area beside the fence to our private property and immediately below several balconies on our property. Inevitably there will be noise/music and barbeque smoke/smells.

These events are planned for summer months when residents want to enjoy their balconies and have windows open. The Owners have by-laws in place, which are enforced, regarding smoke and noise drift interfering with residents’ enjoyment of their property. How will barbeque smoke/smell drift and noise be managed so as not to disturb or discomfort our residents or negate our Strata Schemes by-laws?

The Owners can also predict rubbish being thrown over the fence into the Common Property garden area and do not wish this to occur. The Owners strongly oppose this facility being situated in such close proximity to our property and would like the Department to reconsider the location of this area or implement strategies in order to compensate for the peaceful enjoyment of the Owners which will be impacted. Perhaps one strategy would be planting trees and/or installing noise buffering solutions to the proposed area.

The Owners consider this project to be likely to have a detrimental impact on the value of the property and make it a less comfortable, attractive place to live. The Owners of Strata Plan 55999 look forward to the Department’s response to their concerns outlined in this correspondence.
Should you require further information regarding this matter, please contact our offices via 02 8218 9999 or via email at [email protected].

Sincerely,
JOSEPH AKKARY
STRATA MANAGER

Funding of animal cruelty and horse racing must stop - it is completely outdated and barbaric. Instead of phasing out, like other progressive countries, we continue to fund these events which is completely unacceptable. These funds should be allocated to something better and ethically acceptable to the community.

Randwick and surrounds have been vandalised over the past years with the 3 billion $ lemon of a light rail losing thousands of significant trees many of which are around randwick race course area despite many objections of the public so yet more noise is UNACCEPTABLE no matter how the your dept spins what they assess is acceptable - if the people who work in nswdpie think this is acceptable it should be moved to the pittwater area and lets see how much support it gets there



as per your website documents and appendixes below highlight how little is known about impacts on neighbouring suburbs from noise, light or traffic

The lighting review below that your dept has posted is concerning

“While we believe neighbours may find acceptable an additional 10 lux in habitable rooms till 10pm at night, a high luminance along with the intensity, will not be tolerated. The brightness of LED luminaires in the field of view for nearby residents requires consideration”

The Noise Review is Concerning

“A noise assessment and reporting will be undertaken in accordance with the methodology presented in Section 2 above.
Where required, should the noise emission from the proposed night racing exceed the relevant noise emission criteria, GHD will work in conjunction with the ATC to determine suitable mitigation options to reduce noise levels to acceptable levels.”



Its is impossible to justify giving the project a State Significant assessment and we would like to see this go to an NSW Upper House Inquiry for future scrutiny and transparency
This project in NOT in the public interest only more developers or gambling already at horrific levels and should be rejected

I am very concerned about the implications of the proposal to initiate night racing at Randwick.
I cannot see any positives in this proposal.
There will be deleterious impacts on the amenity of local residents if night racing is introduced - high wattage lighting and increased traffic will impact the local area.
There is no need for increased horse racing which already causes untold damage to the lives of the horses who are compelled to run the races and also to the livelihoods of people who gamble on the races.
I sincerely urge you to reject this proposal.

I am very concerned about the proposed night racing events at Randwick Racecourse. The racing industry has a poor record for animal welfare, with 7 deaths, 124 injuries and 317 horses overwhipped in NSW in May alone. Night racing has been shown in Queensland to add more risks, due to the high staff turnover, which leaves horse with less experienced handlers. In addition, horses are sensitive to bright lights and will be enduring longer days, both which increase the risk of injury and death.

I have been a high school teacher for 18 years, 14 of which have been spent in Sydney schools. I am well aware of the impact of alcoholism and gambling on families, and the impact of normalising access to it. People tend to drink and gamble more at night or evening events. This is utterly inappropriate in an area with so many large local schools and a university. Our young people should not be taught that drinking and gambling around the clock is normal and socially acceptable. They certainly should not see that local politicians think that this is acceptable and to be encouraged.
At the supposedly family friendly event at the racecourse before Christmas there was a fight where children narrowly escaped getting hurt and were very distressed. It's not appropriate to have regular large events where people drink and fight late at night in an area with so many young families.

As someone who goes past the racecourse to go to and from work every day, I am very familiar with the area and feel sorry for the people who live nearby. I note that measures have been taken to mitigate the impact of light on nearby homes but they will still suffer some impacts. Having endured a year of roadworks and other night time works on Brook Street during the past two years, I am fully aware of how intrusive and disruptive it is. Randwick is an expensive area to live in and many local residents are paying high rent to live in the area, in order to serve our community by working in our universities and hospitals. They don't deserve to have their home life disrupted in this way an average of once every two weeks during the racing season.

I would appreciate it if you would consider the impact on animal welfare, young people in the area and local residents whose homes will be disturbed by the lights.

I strongly object to the application for night racing to be held at Royal Randwick Racecourse as it is not in the public interest.
Racing generally is dominated by the gambling and gaming industry. Any increase in the number of racing events increases the exposure to people to gambling and cannot be in the public interest. As evidenced by the number of gambling/gaming advertisements on television, often in times slots watched by children and young adults, our government has no interest in controlling this gambling epidemic. Studies show that gambling addiction, particularly when introduced at a young age, is extremely difficult to break and can lead to a lifetime of gambling.
Studies also show a serious consequence of gambling has been an increase in domestic violence, particularly against women, which occurs when the partner losses one's wages.

Events held at night at Randwick Racecourse necessitate the introduction of lighting for the whole track and amplification of the event.
The lighting report has little by way of recognising the adverse impact on the surrounding homes. Light spill, as has been evidenced in many night venues, is a serious consequence of events held at night. It is not reasonable that the community should have its residential amenity adversely compromised by this intrusion.

The Noise Review is of concern.
Its wording clearly recognises there will be adverse impacts- 'where required, should the noise emission from the proposed night racing exceed the relevant noise emissions criteria, GDH will work in conjunction with the ATC to determine suitable mitigation options to reduce noise to acceptable levels'. This clearly indicates further reviews are necessary. Our experience with concerts, events at the stadia etc, do not decrease noise levels when complaints are made. By the time the report is examined and assessed the event is over. Additionally, there will be four diesel power generators running to whole period of the night racing and obviously, as a safety measure, for some time afterwards. This continual drone of the diesel is hard to avoid and is an extra impact on the surrounding residents.
Noise from the Night racing will impact of the birds and wildlife in nearby Centennial Park and on the pets of neighbours.

I find it difficult to accept the disproportionate amount of money poured into Royal Randwick by the Government.
Since 2003 the highest attendance figures were in decreasing order.
10/2019 Everest 40,912
10/2018 Everest 40,578
08/2018 Winx last race 11,792,
10/2020 Everest 11,000
It should be noted the Everest event is very highly advertised and promoted as the richest horse race in Australia and Winx was a magnificent once in a lifetime winning horse.

These are very poor figures and indicate the racing industry is desperate to increase attendances . If people do not flock to the races on fine sunny afternoons why would they attend meetings at night.

There is no way one can classify this as a project of State Significance and it is certainly not in the public interest.

I am a resident with a young family that lives next to the racecourse. Our house sits immediately next to the racecourse, and we are affected by all race related activities. I have a young baby which I often have trouble getting to sleep, and the noise created by night racing, particularly the announcing over the speakers, is extremely likely to wake my child up. Normally this happens during the day only, and at night we have a reprieve, but approving night racing will change this.

The increase in race traffic influx will overlap with the peak hour traffic exiting the suburb after work in the afternoon, which will cause total traffic chaos. I am also a doctor who works at the nearby Sydney Children's Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital, and need to rapidly make my way to work in emergency situations when on call. Extra traffic will impair my ability to exit my driveway, which has already occurred previously before any additional traffic has started.

The constant flow of patrons from the racecourse to the nearby pub The Doncaster Hotel also poses problems. The overwhelmingly inebriated crowd are very loud, and leave rubbish such as half drunks alcohol bottles all bout the streets, and even in my garden and front fence. Pushing this occurrence later back into the evening yet again causes unacceptable noise problems.

The proposed light poles to be installed to allow night racing also represent an unacceptable level of light pollution. The suburb is already heavily light polluted after hours, and this will make things worse. Kensington is meant to be a suburban area, not an all night entertainment precinct like Kings Cross or Darling Harbour.

All up, the proposed night racing provides absolutely no benefit to the people who actually live in the suburb. There is no increase in amenities, no compensation. Racing still happens, and can happen during the day as it currently does. The whole project only serves to inconvenience the residents, and should be thrown out completely.

I oppose the submission due to increased noise,light and traffic congestion.
This is an addition to the ongoing issues which are still affecting my property of Unit 5 36 Doncaster Ave

Impact on human rights regarding both night racing and sky diving proposals

NIGHT RACING

Noise pollution
* Noise tannoy, crowds, music, car traffic and drunken footpath traffic will have a detrimental impact on residents with children, their quality of life for sleeping, studying and relaxing
* Generator noise impact and location have not been considered

Light pollution
* This is a residential area and the “spill” light described will have a direct and significant impact on our living and sleeping spaces
* This is not feasible for young children and family living
* Dimming the lights between races is an inadequate solution to this problem and will not mitigate the impact.

Traffic congestion
* Doncaster Avenue is already overused and not intended for the current volume of traffic, let alone increasing it
* This has been exacerbated by the introduction of the Tram line which redirects traffic from ANZAC Parade to Todman Avenue to Doncaster as the only route (right turn) to Alison Road and Randwick

Impact on residents parking
* There is already a lack of parking in the area and it is consistently difficult for residents to find on street parking after 5pm
* This will be exacerbated by the proposed residential towers on Todman/Anzac (Todman Square) with 1500 additional residents and limited parking facilities and is the night racing proposal taking this into consideration?
* Adding additional pressure on an already highly congested area is poor planning and highly insensitive to residents, specifically elderly or young families who will struggle to park close to home

Safety & Anti-social behaviour
* Noise, Littering, Loitering, Drunken behaviour, Abusive, foul Language, Broken glass, Damaged cars are already highly undesirable issues on race day in this residential area.
* Footpaths are currently unsafe on race day for unaccompanied young teenagers to be taking the dog a walk, cycling or running.

Environmental impact
* Non renewable energy sources being used to run generators and power lighting. Lack of sustainable development consideration

Dangerous precedent
* We are concerned the investment and installation of night lighting will set a precedent and encourage additional night time entertainment activities in the future

SKY DIVING

Noise pollution
* Impact of noise from circling airplanes, event music will be incredibly intrusive
* Skydiving planes reach over 100 decibels and cause vibrations. Does this meet environmental noise regulations for residential area bearing in mind that authorities are granting licences but don’t test aircraft noise at full throttle which is what planes fly at.
* Creates a disproportionate sonic footprint on our community and has a profound degradation of the local environment
* Reports from existing sky diving residential communities document this impact clearly.

Visual intrusion
* Impact from circling planes and 40 skydivers and parachutes

Sunday drop day
* This is a day of rest and relaxation and not in keeping with Christian values

Supporting research
* There is extensive research and reports detailing the nuisance of skydiving in particular the noise made by circling aircraft.

Andrea & Derek Davidoff
Night racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse (SSD-8707)

We wish to object to this project proposal on the following grounds:
Night Racing Objections
1. EXCESSIVE TRAFFIC CONGESTION
The immediate area is already under extreme pressure from congestion due to the current frequency of race meetings and other events held at the site> Congestion has been exacerbated by the Light Rail route which funnels all traffic onto Doncaster Avenue. Our family has owned property on Doncaster Ave for 60 years and the congestion now is so extreme that the street is a carpark on race days. The roundabout at the junction of Doncaster Ave and Ascot Street coincides with the entry/exit to the racecourse carpark and creates a bottleneck and long delays. Doncaster Ave has historically been a residential street and is not equipped to deal with the traffic that it is required to carry. The proposal is expected to bring up to 30,000 people to the area. This is clearly alarming for residents as it has a significant impact on their amenity.
2. EXCESSIVE NOISE
There is already excessive noise on Race days and local residents have the right to expect some reprieve in the evening when families are putting their children to sleep. The noise is a huge problem as there is no way to filter it out and it is at times distressing and detrimental to family life.
3. INCREASED FOOT TRAFFIC
The expected and very substantial increase in foot traffic is highly undesirable. Currently, residents have to put up with large volumes of people exiting the venue on foot and creating excess noise and congestion which impacts on their amenity. Increasing both the number and scale of race meetings will create an unreasonable burden on residents.
4. INCREASED DISTURBANCE
Due to the large volume of foot traffic residents are already having to deal with drunk and disorderly behaviour on a very regular basis. At times we have had to deal with drunk patrons vomiting on our front garden and waking sleeping children. This is a problem with day Race meetings. Allowing Night Racing will substantially exacerbate the problem as patrons are more likely to drink excessively at these events and attendance numbers are projected to be far greater than what is already a significant problem.
5. EXCESSIVE LIGHT EMISSIONS
The erection of 79 light poles is an alarming prospect for local residents. This is clearly very unreasonable to expect a residential neighbourhood to endure light emissions on this scale. There will be no way to filter out the light (and noise!) . Families will again be expected to carry this burden which will significantly impact on family life without any recourse. This is NOT an entertainment precinct like the SCG and Football stadium. How will the light emissions be ameliorated??
6. SECURITY CONCERNS
Encouraging large numbers of people to the area will exacerbate safety concerns both due to the proposed Sky Diving Events and Night racing. We have had to put up with intruders on our property numerous times as people look for a quick entry into the venue by jumping our back fence. This is clearly frightening and unacceptable particularly for young families and elderly residents.
7. PARKING
The area already has significant issues with parking which is very limited after 5pm. Currently, our family struggles to find off street parking to unload young children and prams and is sometimes forced to park many blocks away from home. The proposal will in our view severely exacerbate the parking difficulties in the area.
8. INTANGIBLE IMPACTS ON AMENITY
Residents have the right to reasonable expectations of neighbourhood amenity. Turning our residential street into an entertainment precinct will severely affect the desirability, attractiveness and 'liveability' of Kensington.
9. SETS A DANGERGOUS PRECEDENT
We are concerned that once this proposal goes through this will establish a dangerous precedent to additional night-time entertainment which will be intolerable for residents.
SKY DIVING OBJECTIONS
We find the proposal to hold skydiving events to coincide with race meetings absolutely outrageous.
We offer the following objections:
1. EXCESSIVE NOISE
The idea of flying small planes over a built up area at night is unreasonable by any measure. This is when young families are trying to settle children to sleep and they have the right to peace and quiet in the evenings. Light planes circling and doing climbs during skydiving events can produce very high levels of noise pollution (up to 100 decibels). There is NO way to filter out this noise. This will have considerable adverse effects on the health and well being of residents and will significantly affect the amenity of the local neighbourhood.
2. EXCESSIVE LIGT EMISSIONS
The amount of light produced by the installation of 79 light poles will have adverse effects on local residents and fauna.
3. POLLUTION
There is likely to be increased CO2 emissions from from the skydiving planes. Skydiving is well known to be one of the most environmentally damaging activities. Burning fossil fuels for fun and profit seems very insensitive both to the needs of residents and to the environment.
4.SAFETY CONCERNS
Residents have legitimate safety concerns as Skydiving is a high risk activity. As our property is within the drop zone location, we are very concerned about this and believe it is NOT a suitable activity for a built up area. Skydiving planes doing repetitive climbs pose a significantly greater mid-air collision hazard than other aircraft. Who will indemnify local residents in the event of an accident?
5. VISUAL INTRUSION
There will be significant visual impacts from strong light emissions and circling planes. Residents should not have to carry this added burden.

We urge the Department of Planning Industry and Environment to REJECT this proposal as it will have profound and large scale impact on local residents. Once approved, the area will just drown in noise and congestion. Our neighbourhood does NOT need more commercial activity driven by nothing more than the profit motive. How does the ATC plan to compensate local residents for loss of amenity?

Derek & Andrea Davidoff

I live a couple of blocks away from Randwick Racecourse, near the Randwick bus depot. The unruly behaviour of the people leaving the races is unpleasant to see during the day, but the same thing at night would be feel unsafe to be around. There are groups of drunk men walking home from the races, often sexually harassing groups of young women who are dressed up for an outing and also drunk. The flavour of this at night would be very different and quite threatening. It would make the neighbourhood feel unsafe for women who are heading home alone after dark, including residents (I say this as a woman who lives in the neighbourhood). I have several times seen people urinating on the nature strip. Again, gross during the day time, but it would be quite threatening as a woman to be walking home at night and walk past a man with his pants undone.
People don't just get drunk at the race course, they get drunk in advance on their way to the race course, leaving empty alcohol cans and bottles as litter along the street. All of this happening at night will be a horrible burden on the neighbourhood.

Saturating an area, such as Randwick with one industry such as racing is interfering with the present balance within the area.

Residents have had to endure the issues associated with the establishment of Light Rail in the area. Centennial Park has had many of the trees removed for the sake of the Light Rail and a section of Public land removed from public use.

Extending the influence of Randwick Racing Industry with the installation of lights for Night Racing will provides a catalyst for resentment among residents. The Good Will that has been fostered over many decades has the potential to be eroded.

Over the years residents have had to endure traffic issues associated with Randwick Race Meetings. Now, residents have to compete with the usual Race Meeting traffic, as well as the Light Rail impact. The close proximity of the traffic lights to each other, dramatically impacts on traffic flow. The thought of Night Racing at Randwick Racecourse adds to the negative influence on local residents. Thus, planting the seed for resentment and lowering the inviting atmosphere of the Randwick precinct.

Randwick has the potential to become an unfriendly suburb in which to live caused by the effects of the possibility of Night Racing.

Where is the justification for this proposal to be a State Significant Development? It clearly does not meet the guidelines sent down by the Dept of Planning, Industry and Environment so how can .the Dept even consider this project.
The ATC continually state that night racing will continue at Canterbury, but having so many night meetings , approx 25, over the period between October and April, means that there will be nearly one night meeting a week during that period.
How can the ATC be taken seriously, to say that they will run night meetings at both Racetracks.
Your Dept should consult the racing industry, ie talk to the people who will be actively involved, eg trainers, strappers and jockeys on their thoughts. Controlling 500 kg horses is not easy.. There are health implications if there are that many night meetings. I am sure that nobody would want to be responsible for any accidents.
The pen pushers or those that sit in their high chairs in the Chairmans Lounge in the Queen Elizabeth II building should not have any input or have their opinions considered.

As a resident of Kensington, I am objecting to the proposal by the Australia Turf Club to host 16 nights of races here at Royal Randwick racecourse. There are several reasons not adequately or fairly addressed by the ATC as part of the proposal submittals. It is irrefutable that the ATC’s proposal for night races would further erode the liveability of this mostly residential area and jeopardise the well-being of many highly productive people who work in the nearby health and education precincts.
First and foremost, I believe it is vital to comprehend that this racecourse sits within what has become a densely populated residential area in Sydney – which has a diverse and productive work population – that primarily serves the health and education precincts of Randwick/Kensington. Royal Randwick Racecourse has five sides (or frontages, whichever term is the more appropriate here). Three of which are directly adjacent to medium density residential neighbourhoods (Doncaster Ave, Alison Road and Wansey Road) with minimal setbacks, another side faces the education and health precincts (High Street – which COVID-19 aside, would normally hosts up to 2,800 students living in student accommodation predominately facing the racecourse along High Street) and the final frontage being the smallest and least consequential of the five (5) frontages, Centennial Park. To keep things simple, I have broken my objection in the following 7 key points.
1. In several reports submitted by the ATC for their night racing proposal, the ATC has continued to use Canterbury and Toowoomba racecourse as a ‘supportive precedence’ for night racing without detailing and specifying the urban conditions that those two other racecourses are in compared with that of Royal Randwick Racecourse. The conditions are very different. Both those racecourses sit in areas that have a significantly lower population densities with the bulk of the dwellings being detached houses with private driveways and furthermore they are not within ‘arm’s-length’ of State significant health and education precincts as is the case for Royal Randwick Racecourse. There are very minimal setback distances between the racecourse at Randwick and the residential neighbourhoods that surround it. Similarly, the MCG (another precedent used by the ATC) does NOT sit within a predominately residential neighbourhood. It is surrounded by 35 hectares of green space on one side (Yarra Park) and then the Melbourne Olympic Precinct on the other side. Significantly fewer people are affected by events held at the MCG and the handful of dwellings that are built and/or sold are done so with the prior knowledge by the buyers/occupiers that they are near the MCG. Lastly, the MCG, Canterbury and Toowoomba racecourses do not sit adjacent to State significant health and education precincts like Royal Randwick racecourse, nor are they bounded by two main arterial roads that feed an entire LGA.
2. In August 2020, the State government gazetted significant amendments to Randwick LEP 2012 concerning Kensington & Kingsford. The amendments are substantial with dozens of new block controls allowing for high-rise development (up to 18 storey) at several key nodes and mid-rise developments on many other blocks (up to 9 storey). There are currently several DAs for 18 storey residential developments that have gone to the NSW Lands and Environment court for approval. With this knowledge, it is too soon to determine what consequences will arise as a result of the recent LEP amendments. However, these amendments aim to further increase the residential population density which will inevitably put increased pressures on an already frustrated road network, public amenity and an increase in pollution levels leading to a decrease in liveability. The LEP amendments for Kensington and Kingsford will not only affect the areas directly adjacent to Royal Randwick Racecourse, but the whole catchment area as Alison Road and Anzac Parade are the two main arterial roads feeding the entire LGA of Randwick City Council. Thus, some of the assessment reports supplied by the ATC (such as the one regarding traffic) will be incorrect and out-of-date once the amended LEP for Kensington Kingsford starts to physically manifest in built form.
3. The ATC has proposed the use of Diesel engines to power their lighting requirements. It is misleading and deceptive for the ATC to claim in one of their reports (in Appendix E) that their diesel engines conform to ‘Environmentally Sustainable Design’ (ESD) initiatives. There is nothing sustainable about diesel engines. There is conclusive evidence in many leading scientific reports that diesel engines are more harmful to the long-term health of humans than most other sources of non-renewable energy. Yes, diesel engines produce less CO2 than other non-renewable energy sources, HOWEVER, they produce significantly higher levels of by-products that are even more harmful to humans’ health such as Nitrogen Oxide, Nitrous Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide and high concentrations of PM 2.5 (the pollution that gets into people’s lungs and increases the likelihood of premature death by cancers). Thus, it is irrefutable that this needs further investigation as it is completely unfair and unreasonable to subject residents, students, patrons and workers of the nearby education and health precincts to extra pollution for the sake of a few people at the ATC increasing their profit margins to the detriment of others’ long-term health.
4. Have NSW EPA been informed of the proposal for night racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse with the explicit knowledge that the ATC propose using diesel engines across the site to fulfil their lighting requirement for night racing? Were NSW EPA requested to submit a report by the State government? No, they have not. Therefore, the NSW government has a responsibility and a duty of care to all those who live and work in the catchment area of Royal Randwick Racecourse to request NSW EPA do a report regarding this matter, particularly the use of diesel engines.
5. There is already significant congestion and frustration on the roads that surround Royal Randwick Racecourse (particularly Doncaster Ave) and this is independent of existing race meets. There is only one point of entry to the designated taxi drop-off and pick-up zone and the members car park for Royal Randwick Racecourse which is on Doncaster Ave. This is a single-carriage way that is already highly congested during daily peak-hours (again, even outside of race meets) that by adding night races to the equation would further exacerbate an already frustrated condition. Additionally, since the light-rail infrastructure now prohibits right-turns onto Doncaster Ave from Anzac Parade, the intersection of Todman Ave and Doncaster Ave (which filters traffic from Anzac Parade to Alison Road) has drastically worsened over the past 12-months – during peak-hour traffic, it will often take several traffic light changes to pass through this node. This is already an issue without all the new developments that are expected to take form in the near future.
6. The bulk of the dwellings that surround Royal Randwick Racecourse are NOT detached houses with private driveways like you would find surrounding Canterbury or Toowoomba racecourses. The dwellings surrounding Royal Randwick Racecourse are mostly apartments and depend largely on the limited street parking. Additionally, these apartments offer minimal architectural devices against noise and light pollution. Therefore, some of the purported ‘mitigation measures’ proposed by the ATC are nothing more than lip service. Residents would inevitably be affected by noise and light pollution. It is also worth mentioning once again that there are significant amounts of health care workers and students who add genuine value to our country; it is unfair to have these people’s lives inconvenienced and their liveability decreased for the sake of the increased profit margins by a few at the ATC.
7. When people choose to live and/or purchase a residential property in this part of Kensington and Randwick, they were aware that there was a racecourse that had day-time meets (races) BUT never did they choose to buy dwellings and live there with the knowledge of and the acceptance that they would be subjected to the inconveniences of night time races (i.e. the added noise, lighting, traffic, air pollution, diesel engines, etc).Therefor, it is fair and reasonable to ask whether the ATC would be offering compensation to people on the potential capital loss to all owners who bought a property in the nearby vicinity given that their purchase was made without the knowledge of and expectation that night races would become an occurrence.
In conclusion, as a resident of Kensington and someone who is genuinely concerned for the greater good for the many in our community and not for the sole benefit of a few, I object to this proposal for night races at Royal Randwick Racecourse and would hereby request that this matter be escalated to an NSW Upper House Inquiry for further scrutiny and transparency in facts given the significant implication and precedence this would have for Sydney and NSW.
It is not in the interest of the public to have the ATC opportunistically financially gain at the expense of the greater good and liveability of residents, students and health care patrons and professionals in the nearby Health and Education precincts. Furthermore, it is irrefutable to say that horse racing is not a public necessity that adds positive value to the community at large. In the simplest terms, it is nothing more than gambling and money extraction off the back of animal exploitation. It is drunk young men urinating on people’s fences. It is drunk woman taking their high heels off just to try get into a taxi. Randwick & Kensington in Sydney is not Meydan, Dubai. Nor should our government be aspiring to this.

I object to the proposal by the Australian Turf Club to host night races at Randwick Racecourse for a number of highly valid reasons. Where Randwick Racecourse is located has many important institutions nearby that are highly important to our society. The traffic conditions on roads nearby are already extremely congested. I occasionally commute for work via car from Kensington to Sydney's north western suburbs and know from first-hand experience that Kensington and Randwick roads are signficantly more congested than the average across Sydney. Hosting night races at Randwick Racecourse would worsen the traffic conditions around Kensington and Randwick which are are already highly problematic roads during peak hour and major events at the SCG. It is absurd to think that out of the 10,000 -15,000 patrons expected to attend night races that the majority would use public transport, this is not even the case during day time races, night time races would have a significant increase in people wanting to drive or at least get home using one of the many ride-sharing apps available.
I have also read that the australian turf club propose using diesel engines for power source for lighting. This is extremely selfish, inconsiderate and careless of them as diesel engines produce many harmful pollutants that increase the possibility of people getting cancer later on in life.
There are a significant amount of students (literally thousands) who live nearby to the racecourse, it would be unfair to them, a complete disservice, given many pay vast sums of money for their education, for them to have to tolerate a race night either the night before or a few nights of a major exam or assignment submittal.
I would ask the politicians and whoever else will be assessing this proposal to genuinely and honestly to answer to themselves if they would be content and satisfied to live somewhere that one day did NOT have to be concerned with enduring 16 nights of a significant increase in noise, traffic, light, passerby, increase in pollution, drunk people either vomiting and urinated outside their property or somewhere on their street to the next day simply having to accept that it is something to tolerate so that a few already-wealthy people, can make more money of simple minded people. I think it is fair to say the answer is that you would not be content and satisfied.

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