Wakefield Park: Forging fresh ties

Wakefield Park’s new owner, Steve Shelley, spoke to AUTO ACTION about mending the strained relationship between surrounding residents and the raceway.

Shelley has started a pro-active campaign in fixing the disconnect that has developed between the surrounding residents of Wakefield Park Raceway in the Goulburn region.

The Cronulla born owner recently purchased the raceway from the Benalla Auto Club (BAC), after the Pheasant Wood Circuit owner had been proposed as the ideal person to invest in, understand, and reinvigorate the raceway by Darrell Weekes – the CEO of Goulburn’s Chamber of Commerce – who organised a meeting with then Liberal MP Wendy Tuckerman, with the pair then introducing Shelley to the BAC.

Wendy Tuckerman (L) Steve Shelley (centre) and Steven Whyte (BAC), at the Shelley owned Pheasant Wood Cicruit in Murulan NSW

Shelley explains that there’s a lot of passion for NSW’s second major circuit, as he strives to fill the missing void that is both an important contributor to the local economy and the motorsport community. 

“What I found was that there was a very big disconnect between the management and owners, and the local residents,” he explained.

“Not only that, but that disconnect had started a lot of animosity, so I set about trying to understand how deep that issue is, and I’ve since spent a lot of time with those residents trying to understand that, because those issues are very real.

“What created those issues was that there was no genuine sympathy for the problems that the track was causing.

The new owner explained that some of those residents were generational owners, with one family having lived there for six generations, and that they had to be heard.

That’s why Shelley, who has a long history with the track and good knowledge of the area, has been listening to the people who need to be heard.

Shelley is opening a dialogue with the surrounding residents of Wakefield Park

“some people presumed, and overtly stated, that the residents moved in after the track was built, which is simply not true. One family has been on the same property for six generations, and those people need to be heard.

“They weren’t listened to and they weren’t respected, and their concerns were never addressed. Their main gripe, apart from being ignored, and I’ve heard it over and over, is the level and frequency of noise, and that’s what we’ll address…from the source of the noise.

“I’ve been speaking to the neighbours, and most of them aren’t against Wakefield at all. They all recognise the financial benefits that the floating population brings to the area, and that people have set up their business around that.

“Not only do the local residents recognise that, but they are supportive of reopening Wakefield! And apart from using things like attenuation barriers, new technologies and barrier walls to combat the noise, we’ll also go to the source to tackle that issue, which also includes restricting noise modified vehicles.

”we’ll also look to reutilise the land we have available, so that the areas that cause the most noise are used more infrequently.”

Follow AUTO ACTION for updates regarding Wakefield Park, as Shelley strives to reignite operations at the socially and economically important NSW facility.

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