Some Lessons other Clubs & Associations can draw from the Save McAdam Park experience

• First and foremost, if you are planning to create your own club motocross track or venue Purchase Your Own Land!
  
  
• Any improvements your club makes to a privately owned or leased property will only increase the property's value for the owner (potentially making that property more expensive should your club ever wish to buy the property).
  
  
• Work to get the local community and council to support your project. Do whatever it takes to make them feel a part of what your club is doing, and promote the project's local, regional, social and economic benefits.
  
  
• IMPORTANT!
  Get the support of local business by way of sponsorships, providing advertising opportunities and offering Naming Rights.
  
  
• Actively promote your sponsors and advertisers so that they feel that their financial support is truly worthwhile now and into the future.
  

Setting up your own club, Association and dirt bike venue will require dedication and no small amount of effort .

Also, there are some very real and significant legal and taxation aspects once you go down the road of acquiring property.

This is not generally something you can do on your own or for that matter, quickly. So make sure that you have dedicated associates who will commit to being there with you for the long haul.


090912 - Editor
   

McAdam Park in Barrabool, Geelong has been Saved!

The significance of the fight to save the McAdam Park complex goes far beyond any Australian state or territory boundaries.

All Australian dirt dike riders, whether they realise it or not, will ultimately benefit because of this outcome. Why? ... Because it shows that the dirt rider community does have a voice, and importantly, can get organised and get things done!

The 'successful outcome' that has been achieved at McAdam Park is not the result of any one group or course of action (though there were certainly principal players without whom a less auspicious outcome would have been more likely).

The success of this campaign is the result of a concerted effort by Motorcycling Clubs and Associations, helped by their supportive private and commercial communities, to bring on board both local and state government ... and convince them that a need exists that should be met. And that, is the real success story.

Hopefully the alliances forged to achieve this victory won't be overshadowed by the politics of running the McAdam Park venue into the future.


Some History ... or ... what actually happened?

The Sporting Motorcycle Club of Geelong (formed in 1932) has had use of the land at the McAdam Park site in Haines Road, Barrabool (near the town of Ceres) since 1962, thanks largely to the generosity of motorcycling enthusiast, the late Clive McAdam, who passed away in 2003.

Not long after Clive's passing, his surviving family indicated their wish to sell the purpose-built McAdam Park Motocross venue, that sits on around 121 hectares (300 acres) in the grazing region of Barrabool near and just a little south-west of Geelong (see area map below). The family have however continually maintained a strong desire to see the venue retained as a motorcycle complex in Clive's honour.

Since the early 1960s the venue has hosted many prestigious local and national Motocross events. The 2005 Oceania Motocross Championship held at McAdam Park was the high profile event that heralded the start of a series of serious fundraising efforts (the Oceania Motocross Championships were held at McAdam Park again in 2007).

As with most success stories, perseverance and effective networking are the key components. The fight to save McAdam Park was begun at the proverbial grass-roots level by getting riders, their community and related businesses to support the Save McAdam Park venture.

The challenge to keep the Geelong Motorcycle Complex at McAdam Park was headed by:
Sporting Motorcycle Club Geelong (SMCC), Geelong Motocross Club (GMCC) and the Barwon Recreational Motorcycling Council (BRMC) . With the staunch support of the Member for South Barwon, Michael Crutchfield and assistance from the Minister for Sport, the Honourable James Merlino.

Some rather substantial assistance from the Victorian government (an original pledge of $1mil in May 2009) greatly helped, but by no means saved the project. To succeed the venture still required the support of the City of Greater Geelong and substantially more funding.

Even though there was a groundswell of local support and a strong social and financial case for keeping McAdam Park, the local government bodies involved were reluctant to commit the remaining funds necessary to save the venue.

The additional funding eventually came (quite literally at the last minute), when Australia's peak motorcycle racing body Motorcycling Australia (MA) chipped in with a further $1.1 mil along with the Victorian State Government's $1.2 mil, the City of Greater Geelong ($600k) and the Surf Coast Shire to purchase the McAdam Park facility for a total asking price of a hefty 3.2 million dollars.

So to be honest, it was a very fortunate outcome that could very easily have turned into a failed venture. The dirt bike riders of Victoria, and particularly those of the Geelong region owe the SMCC, GMCC and BRMC leadership a huge vote of thanks for their tireless and truly outstanding efforts to see this project through.

091108 - Editor