Progress - At a price !

 The Sydney suburb of Randwick is popular as a residential location and one of its attractions is its famous racecourse in the middle of the suburb.  This provides a vivid patch of green and the new light rail connection provides a fast and comfortable journey into the city centre,.

Land in Sydney is becoming a very valuable commodity and now the Australian Turf Club has set its sights beyond merely running day time race meetings.  It is proposing to convert Randwick racecourse to night racing, and use the vacant ground in the middle of the track as a landing zone for skydiving.

These proposals are causing consternation amongst local residents.  For a start, night racing will require the ground to be lit and that will encompass the installation of seventy five light poles, each forty metres heigh at a cost of about $23.4 million.

These lights will turn night into day for a vast area around the track and that will not be welcome by some families,. It will be hard to get kids to go to sleep when light penetrates their rooms and this light source will make any form of astronomy impossible.

The ATC is proposing to hold sixteen night racing events at Randwick, between 6 pm and 10 pm, during the October to April period.   During race times, attendees usually park in nearby streets and this will create a shortage of parking space for residents who can not park on their own properties.  It is common for there to be more than one car based at each house.

The proposal to use the track centre as a landing ground for skydivers has many residents worried as it is intended to become the premier tandem skydiving landing point.  Sudden wind gusts can throw skydivers off course and this suggests damage to surrounding homes.  There is also the privacy aspect.  Backyards will no  longer be private if people are hanging in the air above.

The proposal suggests skydiving would operate about four times a month on Sundays and public holidays, from 8 am to 5 pm.  These are changes that alter the complexity of the suburb and were not present when most residents made the buying decision  on their homes.

Obviously, two different objectives are in play here.  The ATC has a valuable asset which would generate a higher profit if its time of use and complexity was extended.  The residents simply want to enjoy this suburb of their choice without the necessity for change.

Such is life in this twenty-first century.  If it is not the government compulsorarily acquiring your home for a car park it is commercial interests intruding with developments which will upset the equilibrium.