Licence puts club back in harness

"We are ready to race" is the message from the Albany Harness Racing Club after Racing and Wagering WA's decision to grant the club a provisional licence last week.

The first meeting of the pacing season is now less than three weeks away after RWWA's Integrity Assurance Committee confirmed it had accepted an application to provisionally re-register the club after it was stripped of its licence following the issue of a show cause notice two months ago.

The club, led by new president Jim Swann, was already putting the wheels in motion in anticipation of the news it was hoping for.

With the first meeting of the season scheduled for Sunday, December 20, the track at Harold Reid Paceway has been graded in readiness and a new food and beverage manager has been appointed.

RWWA will review the grant of provisional re-registration after the club's first two meetings, but Mr Swann was confident in the processes the new committee had put in place.

He said the club now needed support from the community to help produce a successful local pacing season.

"I was always confident we had supplied the information they (RWWA) required," Mr Swann said. "There has been a lot of hard work put in.

"We are ready to race."

Mr Swann said secretary- treasurer Adrian Marshall, committee member Terry Rolfe and club members Tubby Meston and Les Hallows had been instrumental in establishing a new beginning for the club and was also thankful for the support of Albany MLA Peter Watson.

He said the club was moving forward in attracting new sponsors for the season.

"There are some existing sponsors but quite a number have jumped off. We want sponsors to jump back on," he said.

Entry to each meeting will be gold coin donation, with proceeds to be shared between the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Albany Community Hospice and the Make a Wish Foundation.

"The club is part of the community and we want to give back to the community," Mr Swann said.