Goulburn's Wakefield Park receives state budget funding

The Braidwood Road raceway's future following its September, 2022 closure turned political in the the lead up to the March, 2023 election. Labor promised $1 million and the Liberals - $5 million

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The budget, handed down by Treasurer Daniel Mookhey on Tuesday, September 19 includes $1 million for noise mitigation works "to ensure key driver training and safety programs can resume."

Steve Shelley, the owner of Pheasant Wood motor racing circuit near Marulan, bought Wakefield Park earlier this year from Benalla Auto Club. Earthworks have already started on noise mitigation works. The owners are also working on a revised development application. In addition, Mr Shelley has met with neighbours about noise concerns.

He previously told The Post he'd like to re-open Wakefield Park in some form by November but this was dependent on council approvals.

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Mr Shelley could not be reached for further comment.

Meantime, the budget also confirmed $25m for Goulburn's new police station, previously committed by the coalition. A total $8.92m is allocated in 2023/24, with the project to be delivered by 2025.

The NSW Police Academy's gym and recreation area receives $4.7m in the next financial year, towards the $5.45m cost. A critical incident response training upgrade scores $1.5m. The $3m project started this financial year.

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In addition, the police driver training facility on Taralga Road will receive $2m in 2023/24 towards the $4m cost of improvements.

Several other allocations were already committed. These include $165m for Goulburn Base Hospital's redevelopment ($16.5m in 2023/24), $9.6m for "to improve the tourism experience" at Wombeyan Caves and $60m for the Police Academy's upgrade.

Other funding allocations include:

The region is also expected to receive a slice of a $390m fund for regional road repair for councils. This is in addition to $334m for regional roads.

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Mr Mookhey also announced $804m for energy transmission projects to harness renewable energy.

A total $1.4 billion has been allocated to replace the regional rail fleet.

The budget forecasts a $7.8 billion deficit this financial year, improving to a $1.5bn surplus in 2026/27.

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