A Ballarat community motorsport club is concerned about the effect the plans to extend the airport runway and build a new access road could have on its facility.
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The Ballarat Light Car Club currently occupies a 16-hectare facility in the airport precinct and has been there for more than 40 years, but are worried about the possibility of the new Liberator Drive access road being built through the middle of their track.
Secretary Wayne Drew raised the club's concerns at Wednesday night's council meeting before the runway extension project was approved.
Speaking to The Courier on Thursday, Mr Drew said the club was concerned about a lack of consultation in the lead up, but wanted to work with council towards a mutually beneficial outcome.
"The current proposed road through which Development Victoria is doing as part of the Ballarat West Employment Zone, called Liberator Drive, will actually come straight across the middle of our existing leasehold or our motorsport complex," he said.
"If it was moved approximately 200 metres in a westerly direction, it could come down what was formerly known as Residence Road... there's already a road and a base there for that to occur.
"We want to be a part of all that discussion and we're happy to work with council to achieve some kind of resolve that's suitable for both parties."
Council's director of development and growth Natalie Robertson said the route of Liberator Drive is not a council decision as it is based entirely within Development Victoria land in the BWEZ development.
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The club also is also hoping to work with council towards a secure tenure at the site, which has not been under a formal term lease since 2006.
"Primarily, we want to stay where we are and we want a secure tenure there," Mr Drew said.
"We want to get a termed lease moving forward with multiple options to give us some kind of secure tenure into the future to help stabilise our future plans for the club and then we will be able to secure some additional funding and raise other funds to improve our facility.
"At the moment with no security, we're just a little bit conservative on improving things."
At the council meeting, council committed to working more closely with club in search of a resolution.
"This is not going to happen overnight and gives us opportunities to explore interim and future arrangements with the club," Ms Robertson said.
North ward councillor Peter Eddy said the club should have been part of the planning years ago.
"I'm probably of a view that had you been a stakeholder in some of the discussions going back number of years, we might have had an outcome that was being run in parallel to this, rather than creating one result and creating another problem," he said.
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