Fears for the safety of horses and a concern that thoroughbred trainers will be deterred from Albury are among the objections laid out to the city council over a plan to turn stables into an industrial property.
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Albury racing figures have lodged objections, including a petition with trainers' names, to the council over the revamp of the complex at 46 Racecourse Road which was home to top horse handler Brett Cavanough.
Its current owner, builder Neil Sawyer, plans to demolish the stables and other buildings and replace them with three large buildings which would be divided into 16 sections.
Albury Council will determine his development application at its meeting on Monday, May 27, with staff recommending that it be approved.
Senior council town planner Robert Duncan noted objections but concluded "the development is considered appropriate to the context and setting of the site".
However, Albury Racing Club chief executive Steve Hetherton and its former presidents David Wallace and Mark Cronin disagree and submitted formal objections.
A petition was also lodged and included the names of trainers Donna Scott, Garry Worsnop, Kym Davison, Ron Stubbs and Kevin Hanley.
They believe "industrial use of the land and its days and hours of industrial activity and operation will unreasonably impact on existing adjoining horse stabling and horse training associated with the Albury Racecourse, including noise (all noise audible to horses, not just including noise audible to humans) and traffic generation and horse jockey safety".
The petitioners also argue "the area is long-established as a horse stabling area and industrial land use in terms of its adverse amenity impacts is incompatible with horse stable land use".
Mr Hetherton told The Border Mail that if the development proceeded it would make neighbouring stables "almost unusable due to noise and traffic".
"It will have a massive flow-on effect right throughout the Racecourse Road precinct, which will negatively impact revenues and opportunities for revenues for our racing club," Mr Hetherton said.
Mr Sawyer said he had offered the club, through a committee member, the opportunity to have the boxes occupied.
"We said 'we would assist you in any manner we can, you can rent the stables, you can buy the stables at a fair market price'," Mr Sawyer said.
"We said 'we would hold on, dependent on when on-course stables are built' and they said 'that could be four years away' and we said 'we're happy to wait', but we didn't hear back."
Mr Hetherton said he had received no formal approach and it would be a board decision if that offer was taken up.
Mr Sawyer bought the property in the second half of last year.
He said if council approval was granted he expected work to soon begin on the site with the eventual aim of selling off the sheds to tradies.
"We've had strong interest and I would say there are at least four that are earmarked for sale upon completion," Mr Sawyer said.
He said that a traffic management plan, completed as part of his development application, had stated there would be less transport movement than there is now with jockeys and trainers.
