{"id":190731,"date":"2025-12-18T22:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/190731\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T22:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:35:11","slug":"government-gives-20m-loan-to-build-new-racecourse-in-flaxmere-by-2029","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/190731\/","title":{"rendered":"Government gives $20m loan to build new racecourse in Flaxmere by 2029"},"content":{"rendered":"

The remainder of the racecourse cost will be borne by $57m in co-funding from HBRI and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Incorporated.<\/p>\n

Debated for many years, relocation of the racecourse now stems from its closure since October 2024<\/a> because of safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Track reinstatement currently taking place<\/a> will see racing return late next year, filling a void pending the opening of the new facilities.<\/p>\n

The track in recent years has had about 14 race-days annually, and is now expected to stage the three-day Hawke\u2019s Bay Racing Spring carnival next September-October, and other races including the Hawke\u2019s Bay Cup Steeplechase and Hurdles races in 2027.<\/p>\n

\"AA view from above, the Flaxmere racetrack site as it will appear off Portsmouth Rd after a $77 million development on which work could start in 2026. Image \/ TW Property<\/p>\n

Peters said the closure is threatening the thoroughbred racing industry\u2019s $37m \u201cannual GDP contribution\u201d to the Hawke\u2019s Bay and Gisborne economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new venue will be a state-of-the-art hub for racing, equestrian sport, and community events,\u201d he said, adding it will be capable of accommodating up to double the race meetings held previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project enables the existing racecourse site to be freed up for more than 600 new houses, thanks to its existing residential zoning,\u201d Jones says.<\/p>\n

The project will create more than 400 full-time construction jobs during its four-year development phase and, once completed, the racecourse is expected to sustain around 270 jobs across the local racing industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative is about more than bricks and mortar,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt is a boost for the regional economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum said the next steps for the project will be the processing of a Plan Change application for the new racecourse and, subject to the outcome, Resource Consent applications to Hastings District Council and Hawke\u2019s Bay Regional Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a big moment for Hastings and Hawke\u2019s Bay,\u201d she said, highlighting that having well-located, already residentially-zoned land for housing so close to Hastings city, on the site of the current racecourse, is an important opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates opportunities that will have an impact well beyond the racing sector, particularly for employment during the construction phase and then housing availability, as well as the economic benefit that will come with having a quality racecourse that will attract visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

TW Property, the developer for both properties, said housing on the existing racecourse site would be \u201cquality residential\u201d, potentially combined with retirement village living.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Waipukurau is continuing preparations for the second of three race-days allocated to keep racing going in the region in the 2025-2026 season.<\/p>\n

The first was the Waipukurau Cup meeting last month<\/a>, the next is the Wairoa Cup meeting on February 15, and the Hawke\u2019s Bay Cup will be run on the course on April 26. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The remainder of the racecourse cost will be borne by $57m in co-funding from HBRI and New Zealand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21417,18479,7793,3269,3595,87054,5346,9850,71,295,738,20733,266,7237,1976,42,78,1702,18060,1132,3234,117,43,9849,5914,4497,61,40,38,41,39,10119],"class_list":["post-190731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-21417","tag-20m","tag-bays","tag-build","tag-by","tag-enable","tag-expected","tag-flaxmere","tag-from","tag-fund","tag-funding","tag-gives","tag-government","tag-governments","tag-hawkes","tag-headlines","tag-in","tag-infrastructure","tag-loan","tag-million","tag-months","tag-new","tag-news","tag-racecourse","tag-regional","tag-start","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-within"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}