Avondale communities concerned over being shut out of racecourse plans

Thursday, 20 February 2025

Community organisations urged Auckland councillors for local input on the future of Avondale Racecourse land.

Rezoning the land for housing could increase its value from $77.5 million to $200-$400 million.

Auckland Council leases part of the racecourse for $28,000 monthly for community sporting activities.

A group of community organisations from the Auckland suburb of Avondale came together on Thursday to urge councillors to give them a seat at the table over what happens with the town’s racecourse.

The 35-hectare site is owned by the Avondale Jockey Club, but racing will end at the venue in July 2026 and the land then sold off.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) is going through a transfer process for the racecourse with the Avondale Jockey Club, and it will be NZTR that receives the proceeds of this sale.

NZTR and Avondale Jockey Club are aiming for the transfer to be completed by June 30, but representatives from the Avondale community told Auckland Council’s Policy and Planning meeting they’re worried that the future of the huge section of land will be decided without any local input.

The land is currently worth $77.5 million as it’s zoned for recreational use, with only limited residential properties allowed to be built on it.

However, the Avondale Jockey Club is asking for it to be rezoned to allow terrace housing and apartment blocks under the council’s PC78 Intensification process and if this happens the land is projected to be worth between $200m to $400m.

Around 80 people from the Avondale community packed out Auckland’s Town Hall and heard Jaclyn Bonnici from the I Love Avondale Charitable Trust raise concerns about whether locals will be shut out from discussions about the site, or if deals had already been made.

“Has the biggest race at Avondale racecourse already been fixed?” Bonnici questioned.

“Are we facing land grabs, backroom deals and a community being shut out?

“As community leaders, we’ve spoken with hundreds of locals and we’ve commissioned expert insights. So we’re here to build a table, to pull up a chair and make sure our voices are heard.”

Bonnici and the others who spoke at the meeting want the council to set up a working group to oversee what happens to the racecourse.

Bonnici and others in the community aren’t against further intensification of Avondale, but want some green spaces to remain and also want the famous Avondale Market to continue. Currently, the centre of the racecourse is used for community sporting activities, which Auckland Council leases from Avondale Jockey Club for $28,000 a month.

A new community centre and library are being built in Avondale by the Auckland Council-controlled organisation Eke Panuku, but the amount of land the racecourse takes up in the town would transform it depending on how it’s used.

“We have no masterplan for our suburb that looks at the connectivity, the existing infrastructure, public transport, community amenities and climate resilience,” Bonnici said.

“We are not prepared to talk about the volume of housing that we would see as realistic for that piece of land, because we want to shine a light on the fact that the conversations are already happening about us without us.”

Local councillor Kerrin Leoni says she supports the formation of a working group to look at what’s best for the Avondale community.

“We need to be front footing any of these issues, because it’s our city,” Leoni said.

“We need to make sure that locals are being heard, and we can’t just have people coming in and saying, ‘this is how things are done.’

“We know that there’s possibly going to be a hearing in the future, but in the meantime, there’s nothing stopping community groups coming together with those who are in charge to voice their concerns.

“So they’ve come to council. But actually, central government’s got a huge role to play in this as well.”

Leoni says she wrote to Racing Minister Winston Peters about the racecourse last year, but didn’t get a reply.

“I asked him if we could have a meeting and that there were concerned constituents around the future of the racecourse,” she said.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get a response. But I’m happy to pick that back up again and get some of the support from my fellow councillors to push that forward again.”

Councillor Angela Dalton, who was filling in for Richard Hills as chair for this part of the meeting, said the group’s concern had been taken on board.

“You have a commitment from Councilor Hills and I to progress what you are asking of the committee today,” she said.

“We won’t know where that lands, and we can’t make a resolution to it today, but you have a commitment. We have heard you and we’ll keep listening.”

After the meeting, Bonnici says she felt the councillors took onboard the group’s concerns.

“They’re elected representatives, but they live in neighbourhoods and some of them live in West Auckland.

“So they were receptive, and mostly positive and curious and that’s what we wanted most of all.

“We want that to lead to some more open forums so that it’s not private profit who has the biggest say in what happens next.”

In a statement, NZTR said no decisions had yet been made about the future of the market and green space on the site of the racecourse.

“The focus at this stage is on agreeing a transfer agreement. Nothing has been agreed or discounted at this stage,” the statement said.

Avondale Jockey Club did not respond to Stuff’s request for an email or comment.