A MULTI-MILLION dollar drag racing facility appears to be in the home-stretch, with enthusiasts urging council and wider community to get it over the finish line.
Five years since it was identified as a priority in Swan Hill Rural City Council’s community meetings, council is now preparing an application for $2 million in funding previously promised from the Victorian Coalition.
Together with about $450,000 from council and other local in-kind and financial support, the current plan is for a $3 million nationally-accredited quarter-mile track to be built.
In future it is hoped the track would be upgraded to a ‘Motorsport complex’ — including grandstands and administration buildings — totalling about $6 million, through Federal funding or corporate support.
Swan Hill Drag Racing president Gary Rovere said he recently received written assurances that a national event would be staged at the track.
“It’s going to be included on the national calendar the instant a completion date is on the track,” he said.
With this in mind, and a groundswell of public support shown in the community and social media, Mr Rovere said there was now increased pressure on council to finish the crucial funding application.
“Timelines are getting very crucial now, and the community should know it’s now up to council to get the documentation in,” he said.
“The process was voted through council to go ahead in February, so it’s now August and they still haven’t made the application.”
For more of this story, see Friday’s Guardian (August 9).
