BATTLE-LINES DRAWN AT TOOWOOMBA

The Downs and South West Trainers’ Association (DSWTOA) is on the march in Toowoomba – and they are marching to the beat of war drums!

At a meeting of the Association yesterday, it was agreed to call for a Special General Meeting of the Toowoomba Turf Club (TTC). A requisition to this effect (signed by more than the required percentage of members) has been lodged with the club. Association members John Dann and Gary Wells handed the relevant documentation over to the Secretary of the TTC shortly after lunch time today.

Under the TTC constitution the Club must convene the meeting no later than 14 days from the date of lodgement of the requisition. In other words the Club now faces a January 20 deadline.

The requisition lists four resolutions for consideration: That Neville Stewart be removed as chairman of the TTC committee; That Neville Stewart be removed as a member of the committee; That the construction and installation of a cushion track on the course proper be deferred so as to allow either a sub-committee or independent expert to investigate and report on the impact of a cushion track course proper; That after such investigation, members be given the opportunity to vote on the issue.

Dann pointed out that the DSWTOA had done everything to avoid such a confrontation, but had been frustrated in their efforts when dealing with the Racing Minister (Andrew Fraser) Members for Toowoomba North (Kerry Shine) and South (Mike Horan), and Queensland Racing.

"We will not be surprised by any strategy from the TTC or Queensland Racing to torpedo our requisition, but at the end of the day the Club is bound by its constitution to call the Special General Meeting and give members the opportunity for open and transparent debate."

"We have instructed our lawyer to be vigilant and to act immediately in the event of
any stalling tactics on behalf of the TTC or QR," Mr Dann said.

TCC Chairman Neville Stewart, who confirmed that the Club will abide by the fourteen day ruling, was disappointed by this latest development, but hde was ready to defend his position.

“When the Cushion Track was first proposed, I sent documentation out regarding the matter to all TCC members. Seventy percent of the surveyed documents returned to us, which have been retained in case of any legal action, gave a clear indication they wanted the committee to proceed. Then the committee, of which there were nine members present when the vote was taken - eight out of nine voted in favour of it. Those eight committee men are still in favour of it.

“On that basis, I think it is very disappointing that they are using this issue to victimise me personally. I think it is pretty important to note that my job is to chair the committee and report the facts. You know, every bit of information I have ever received has been fully disclosed to the committee and I have kept members well informed.

“In fact there is a meeting this coming Monday for members of the TCC to meet with Bob Bentley (QRL Chairman), Reid Sanders (Chief Steward) and Paul Brennan (QTL Racing Manager). Again I’ve given all members of the club an opportunity to put their questions, any questions regarding the process or the future of the synthetic track in writing – and I have an undertaking from Mr. Bentley that he would be available to answer all the questions they have.

“So far as I am aware, they (Meesrs Dann and Wells) would have known about that meeting because they would have received their notices yesterday, yet they have gone ahead and called the Special General Meeting which is paramount to a witch-hunt, victimisation of me ... whatever you want to call it.

"That’s very disappointing, given that I’ve only been doing my job. I've taken everything step by step, to the degree that the committee commissioned research by the University Of Southern Queensland into synthetic tracks, which has now been taken over with approval by Queensland Racing. So it is not as if I just woke up one morning and said, ‘I think we should have a synthetic track’.

“I might not be here when the dust settles. But let me just make two other pertinent points. The $10 million proposal made to the TTC by Queensland Racing was not just for the Cushion Track. The TCC was going to get other benefits out of the deal, such as the upgrading of our lighting system, which is eighteen years old, to a state of the art system ... so the proposal is about much more than just the Cushion Track.

“The second point is ... we don’t have any water. We have no water in Toowoomba. The TTC is carting six semi-loads of water, six days a week to put on the track, and we have been doing that for the last eighteen months. That carting equates to one million litres. It is on-going at the moment, but we were told, six months ago already, that the carting can only be a temporary fix and that we had to find a more permanent solution to our problem. We tried to drill another bore at the Turf Club. There was no water there. There is no water near us, and the cost of carting the water, as you can imagine, is significant. So water is a very real problem.”

There will obviously be further vigorous debate from both sides of the argument over the next fourteen days in the build-up to the Special General Meeting, which will decide the future route followed by the TTC.

This is not the end of the story. Watch this space.

*For the record, the only contract that exists for the installation of the Cushion Track at Toowoomba is one signed by the TTC and Queensland Racing. The TCC has not signed any contract with the Cushion Track company, which, in theory, does allow for the Cushion Track contract to be passed on to another location should the TCC members ultimately change their stance and reject the proposal.