Motorplex facility costing under wraps

Ratepayers may have to wait until March to find out how much the City of Albany will spend buying the Great Southern Motorplex site.

In rejecting a request to reveal the land’s price tag — which one former councillor said could be as much as $1 million — the City’s freedom of information officer said revealing the figure could “jeopardise the purchase”.

“The proposed Albany Motor Sports Park is a long-awaited facility supported by a large number of residents,” she said.

“It would be very disappointing to the community and stakeholders should the negotiations fail or be impeded due to the premature release of details regarding the funding agreement and purchase price.”

The document said the land purchase was anticipated to be completed “no later than March, 2019”.

The City of Albany council voted unanimously to assist the Great Southern Motorplex Group’s purchase of the lot for the venue in October.

Once finished, the GSMG plans to develop a 3.2km track, ⅛ mile drag strip, motocross track and off-road driver training on the site.

Update: The print version of this story said the GSMG will have a ¼ mile drag strip. That is incorrect. A ⅛ mile drag strip is planned.