Delays make mountain out of Gifford Hill

The dreamers behind the proposal and their supporters in local government, Regional Development Australia and the racing industry deserve a hearty slap on the back for their perseverence in the face of seemingly unending delays.

Murray Bridge Racing Club chairman Reg Nolan has called the interim “the most frustrating five years of my life” but, truth be told, it has been longer than that – a comprehensive plan for the racing and residential precinct was first made public in December of 2008.

Even the design of the stables the club hopes to build in the coming months was pinched by the Victorians, funded, built and opened a year ago.

It makes one wonder what else can be done to fast-track the project.

In the Victorian case, a supportive State Government helped.

Yes, Steven Marshall came to Murray Bridge promising a $10 million loan in the final days of his unsuccessful state election campaign, but bygones will have to be bygones until at least 2018.

The Federal Government has chipped in $5 million, and the Murray Bridge council has done everything in its power to expedite the process.

The local enthusiasm is certainly there for any project which will bring jobs and excitement to our rural city.

In fact, we should probably be wary about thinking of the racecourse development as a magic bullet that will solve all our economic woes.

There are plenty of exciting things in the Murraylands’ future, not least the motor sport park at Tailem Bend.

(We do like racing things, don’t we?)

But the trouble lies in the old saying “build it and they will come” – they won’t necessarily come until it is built.

Here’s hoping the appropriate administrative hurdles can be cleared in the near future so the vision on Murray Bridge’s western horizon, of an equine epicentre for South Australia, can finally materialise.

Peri Strathearn, senior journalist