Mildura Rural City Council is partnering with local clubs and groups to develop the region's first ever Regional Motorsport Strategy to take motorsport in our region to a new level.
Mildura Mayor Liam Wood said the strategy was aimed at capitalising and building on the Mildura region's reputation as an internationally recognised centre of motorsport excellence.
"This new approach to driving growth in motorsport in our region will be very much based around increasing the capacity of our local motorsport clubs. At the end of the day, they are the groups we have to thank for establishing our region's enviable reputation as a motorsport mecca," Cr Wood said.
"The end goal here is to empower and enable our local motorsport clubs, with our support, to attract and conduct more and bigger events through improvements to their facilities, as well as growth in their membership bases.
"This will in turn build on the already massive economic benefit our local motorsport clubs generate for our region every year through visitor numbers, and the flow-on benefits for our community."
Cr Wood said local motorsport clubs had already shown their early support for this new approach, including meeting as a group for the first time last night with Council staff and McLaughlin Sports Consultancy, which has been appointed to lead development of the strategy.
McLaughlin Sports Consultancy has previously worked with clients including Motorsport Australia, Motorcycling Australia and the Federation of International Motorcycling – Oceania.
Last night's stakeholder consultation session was attended by about 50 representatives from the majority of Sunraysia motorsport clubs, who were asked for their vision and ideas for the future of motorsport in the region.
They were also provided with an outline of the aims and proposed steps to establish the strategy over the coming 12 months.
Cr Wood said this new approach, which had already attracted financial support from the Victorian Government, followed a comprehensive review of motorsports in our region last year, which included joint assessments of local clubs' needs, wants and priorities.
This process revealed the following three key opportunities:
- Improve local facilities with a view to attracting and conducting more major events
- Improve the standard of local facilities to ensure their future viability
- Explore options for grass roots development at club and community level.
Development of the Regional Motorsport Strategy will include the following key steps:
- Individual site visits/assessments and one-on-one meetings with local motorsport clubs
- Engaging with the Victorian Government and state and national motorsport bodies
- Development of strategic, facility and growth plans for each local motorsport club
- Distribution of the draft Regional Motorsport Strategy to Mildura Rural City Councillors and stakeholders ahead of finalising the strategy.
Motorsport Australia Chief Executive Officer Eugene Arocca indicated his support for the new approach to developing motorsport in the Sunraysia region.
"Motorsport Australia is pleased to support and work with Mildura Rural City Council on this project," Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca said.
"We know that permanent motorsport facilities are such an important asset to our sport and it is pleasing to see plans being made to further develop more venues for our clubs, regions and competitors.
"Track time is at a premium around Australia, and given Mildura's rich motorsport history, we believe this project is a significant opportunity for the region and our sport."
The final draft Regional Motorsport Strategy is expected to be presented to Council in November this year.
