AJ Sadauskas<p>Remember how NSW Premier Chris Minns promised redeveloping Rosehill racecourse would cost taxpayers "zero, nothing"?<br><br>Turns out taxpayers will potentially spend $2.2 billion over the next 15 years just to buy the land.<br><br>And that's just the start of the issues: <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sydney-housing-plan-we-ll-be-paying-billions-for-until-2041-20250506-p5lwy5.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-sydney-housing-plan-we-ll-be-paying-billions-for-until-2041-20250506-p5lwy5.html</a> <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/tags/nswpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nswpol</span></a> <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/tags/auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>auspol</span></a> <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/tags/planning" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>planning</span></a> <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/tags/parramatta" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>parramatta</span></a> <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/tags/sydney" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sydney</span></a><br><br>"NSW taxpayers could still be paying billions of dollars in 2041 for the Minns government’s plan to buy Rosehill racecourse, and development of the historic site into 25,000 new homes may take up to 40 years to complete.<br><br>"Despite the premier initially saying the deal would cost taxpayers 'zero, nothing,' because the [Australian Turf Club] would sell it to a private developer, the plan changed. In March, the ATC updated its proposal by asking the government to buy the land, a step that allows the racing club to avoid the risk of developing it.<br><br>"Before a vote on the [ATC]’s contentious plan to sell Rosehill to the NSW government later this month, a proposal sent to members on Tuesday details a 15-year payment plan for taxpayers to outlay $1.9 bn within five years of a deal being struck.<br><br>"Then the government would pay the ATC 'no less than' $100 million a year for a decade, with a potential $2.2 bn payment at the end of the 15-year agreement in 2041."<br><br>That $2.2 bn figure is before the added costs and delays for the Sydney Metro West line.<br><br>Much of the tunnelling and construction of station boxes at other stations, like Burwood North, is already complete:<br><br><a href="https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/804223533180374989" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/804223533180374989</a><br><br><a href="https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/804258676529499057" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/804258676529499057</a><br><br>Starting design and construction on an additional station at Rosehill will almost inevitably cause significant delays and cost blowouts to the project:<br><br>"The 111-page document says a decision on a new metro station at Rosehill is 'due in the coming weeks' and that without it, the 'value and viability' of the track would be 'materially diminished'."<br><br>Then there's the matter of how the Rosehill proposal came to be, which has been referred to ICAC following a Parliamentary inquiry:<br><br>"The Rosehill redevelopment proposal was first brought to the government’s attention after a meeting between Minns and the ATC's head of corporate affairs, Steve McMahon, in October last year.<br><br>"Minns and McMahon served together on Hurstville Council and have been friends for some 25 years, and the committee found the premier 'should have declared' a conflict over the matter."<br><br><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/minns-should-have-declared-conflict-over-rosehill-deal-inquiry-20241206-p5kwck.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/minns-should-have-declared-conflict-over-rosehill-deal-inquiry-20241206-p5kwck.html</a><br><br>The proposal moved from nonexistent to a planning application in just 2 weeks, following the meeting between Minns and McMahon:<br><br>"Documents reveal a remarkably short turnaround between an October 25 meeting in which ATC officials told the NSW Planning Department it had no interest in shifting the historic course, and the racing body’s proposal on November 8 to develop the track into a massive 'mini-city' for 25,000 new homes.<br><br>"The proposal moved at a rapid pace after the meeting with Minns. The documents show three days later, on November 3, McMahon was discussing a 'potential metro box' in 'Camelia/Rosehill' with an assistant secretary of the NSW Cabinet Office. On the same day, the government was asking Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan for his thoughts on the ATC’s proposal.<br><br>"By November 8, the ATC had formally lodged its proposal with the government. Emails between the NSW Cabinet Office show that the proposal had already been given a code name – Project Wattle – before the meeting had taken place."<br><br><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-inside-story-of-how-rosehill-got-on-sydney-s-housing-map-20240416-p5fk9u.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-inside-story-of-how-rosehill-got-on-sydney-s-housing-map-20240416-p5fk9u.html</a><br><br>Still, despite the massive number of new homes, it's still a large number of homes near a new metro station just east of the Parramatta CBD.<br><br>Isn't that good?<br><br>Well yeah, except it suffers from the same issue I discussed yesterday: <a href="https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/@aj/statuses/01JTG9KFNJRXWCAQCTCYJN5DH0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://gts.sadauskas.id.au/@aj/statuses/01JTG9KFNJRXWCAQCTCYJN5DH0</a><br><br>There's a reason why a horse racing track was built at Rosehill, rather than housing, despite its location immediately next to the Parramatta CBD.<br><br>It's because the area immediately east of the Parra CBD, and along the Parramatta River, is a floodplain. It's prone to flash flooding.<br><br>Significant parts of the site are only 3–4 m above sea level.<br><br>By contrast, the area of the Parra CBD around the station, and north of the river, are around 20 m above sea level.<br><br>When there's a downpour, a lot of the water that lands on hand surfaces will want to run downhill, towards the river and the race track.<br><a href="https://en-au.topographic-map.com/map-wwbmt/Parramatta/?center=-33.82479%2C151.02695&zoom=16&popup=-33.82558%2C151.02721" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en-au.topographic-map.com/map-wwbmt/Parramatta/?center=-33.82479%2C151.02695&zoom=16&popup=-33.82558%2C151.02721</a><br><br>Sure, those new homes may flood. But at least the premier's mate got a great deal for the ATC from taxpayers.</p>