Racing boss' response to criticism over flood walls

Racing Victoria has defended the determination to flood-protect the Flemington Racecourse, aft its flood walls resulted successful h2o being diverted to adjacent homes.

After aggregate days of dense rainfall passim Victoria, areas with adjacent rivers and creeks person been dealing with floodwater each week.

The Flemington Racecourse, wherever the Melbourne Cup is held, is situated adjacent to the Maribyrnong River. Despite overmuch of the surrounding assemblage being severely impacted by the floodwaters owed to its proximity to the river, flood walls built successful 2007 person protected the racetrack itself.

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Racing Victoria CEO Andrew Jones expressed sympathy to those impacted by the floods this week, but defended the Victoria Racing Club's determination to instal the flood walls astatine Flemington.

"It's a hard situation," helium told Nine's TODAY.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 14: Residents successful the suburb of Maribyrnong canoes down a flooded thoroughfare connected October 14, 2022 successful Victoria, Australia. An exigency informing was issued for Maribyrnong this greeting with residents adjacent the stream told to evacuate homes arsenic flood waters emergence pursuing dense rain. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images) (Getty)

"The VRC took steps to flood-protect its spot 15 years ago, which it's entitled to bash (and) that's evidently had unintended consequences for neighbouring residents.

"Obviously determination was nary volition of the VRC to origin harm. They tried to support the outpouring carnival and the Melbourne Cup carnival, which is simply a massively important portion of Victorian beingness and the Victorian economy, truthful I deliberation this is an unintended consequence."

Jones added that determination were "no large fears for large meetings" during the outpouring carnival, including the Caulfield Cup which volition tally connected Saturday evening.

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"Racing Victoria has invested precise heavy alongside clubs for a fig of years to marque definite that the drainage astatine our tracks is arsenic bully arsenic possible," helium said.

"We're successful reasonably bully signifier and surely washed retired contention meetings are astir apt not (at) the apical of the database for the radical who are experiencing floods, truthful we're truly reasoning of them and radical who are trying to negociate horses successful antithetic conditions."

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