Albany race track to step closer to reality

The next step towards Albany getting a motor-racing venue is set to be taken this month, as the council prepares to permit the land to host motor-racing events.

On June 25, the City of Albany council is set to request public comments over the rezoning of the Drome site, 20km north of Albany, from an agricultural zone to a designation that would permit motor racing.

If approved, the proposal will first head to the Environmental Protection Authority and the WA Planning Commission, before residents get 60 days to voice concerns over the change.

A City report into potential environmental impacts from the venue’s construction and operation suggests little chance of negative side effects.

It said the cleared land was used for livestock grazing and other agricultural work, and no threatened species would be in danger through development.

A wetland at the centre of the lot was also not under threat, and there were no “unacceptable impacts” on plants and animals, the report said.

The State Government last month signed more than $1.4 million to cover the purchase of the land, the first instalment of a pledged $5.75 million for the project.

At the time, Great Southern Motorplex Group chairman Theo Newhouse said he hoped the venue could attract the Supercars series.

The circuit is planned to be a 3.5km, 12m-wide anticlockwise track with 12 corners, and would sit alongside a burnout pit, 200m drag strip and motocross track.