Wow! Where do we start? You may have been struggling up to this point in time trying to get the actual truth about what is happening with the land at Barrabool.
Truth number 1 is; Don't believe what anyone tells you! It's more than likely wrong! Take it from the horses mouth to get the facts!
It is not an easy story to tell (fact is we are still struggling trying to work it all out!), but here goes;

Firstly, let us say that although it has been a long and hard 'Saving Barrabool' campaign to date, the more it goes on, the more confident we are of achieving our dream of saving McAdam Park!
The key lies in you, the people, to support us. If we have the support, we are saved, guaranteed!

Here's some key points about how we are going thus far;

• Our situation here at McAdam Park Barrabool is simple;
• The land is up for sale, and we need to buy it, or go! Dollars = Future!
• Yes. It is private land. We have been self sufficient for the last 43 years.
• The landowners, the McAdams, want us to buy it if at all possible.
• The McAdam Park farm is 300 acres, now split into 3 lots.
• The only real long term answer is to acquire all 3 blocks.
• By acquiring the whole 300 acres, the club would keep it's existing noise buffer zones.
• The club has been given extended time before any land comes up for sale.
• All we need is the money! Nothing else stands in our way.
• We have support from the local Shire.
• There are only a few neighbours, all of whom are happy to see the club survive.
• SMCC has undertaken a massive fundraising campaign, called the "Big Picture" Wall. Since its beginning in May 2006, funds raised to date total well over $100,000 in cash and pledges.
• Membership in 2006; 650 members and growing.
• NO. There is no highway going through the track!
• NO. There is not going to be any housing developments now or in the foreseeable future! With all those hills between Barrabool and Geelong, it makes it nigh on impossible to get services like water and sewerage linking back to Geelong.
• NO. We are not getting shut down by the Shire, or anyone else!
• We will not get ALL the money from any ONE individual source, so we need the motorcycling public to donate to the "BIG PICTURE" Wall to give us a leg-up!
• Monies are refundable if the club does not acquire the land.
• The future prospects are looking very bright indeed!
• It's simple, all we need is cash!

McAdam Park

Our wonderful patron, Clive McAdam, allowed us (Sporting M.C.C.) onto his land in 1964 so we could rip around on motorcycles. In those days 4 strokes ruled, just like now. We have been so lucky in having the use of that land ever since then. Over the years we have used not just the MX track, but have run many other events like Hare and Hound Enduros, Moto Trials, Grasstrack MX, Hillclimbs, Cross Country Speed Trials etc. The McAdam farm is 300 acres of the most fantastic riding country, and the scenery is just magic!

The Impending Sale

Clive died a few years back, and in the meantime the family have decided to sell, hence the need for us to acquire the land. Simple as that! Again, we are very lucky in having very agreeable landlords who actually want us to be the buyers, and are giving us time to find the backing we need, but time is dragging on and like anyone would in the same situation, they are getting a little edgy! We understand they can not wait forever. In fact, we only have this years lease left, if we can not at least get part of the funds required, either via our Big Picture Wall or private / government funding, the lease will not be renewed in 2008!! Time is running out!
It is prime land, with a prime price, nearing $10,000 per acre! That may sound outrageous, but it is a fact. No point in arguing.

That's hard enough, but this is where it starts to get complicated. At the end of 2005 the farm was divided into 3 separate titles, each with a permit to build a house, hence the lofty prices! The MX track is on one of these blocks.
Luck was on our side when at the end of 2006, when the first of the allotments (next to the track) was put up for expressions of interest, as our bid had to be withdrawn because our expected backing fell through.
They were nervous times indeed, we thought we were dead ducks in the water, but luckily no other bids came close, so we were saved for the time being! Having a noisy motorbike track next door is a sure way of turning off buyers!

At the beginning of our 'Save Barrabool' campaign, we were hoping to raise $1M to go towards our block, but the plan for the allotment sales is to sell the others first, so our block isn't really even up for sale yet! The owners do not want to sell us our one block before the others sell, but there is a catch, the other blocks may not sell as long as there is a motorbike track next door to them, but our lease may run out this year! Tricky eh?

As well as that, we do not want more newly created neighbours right next door to us because we all know how neighbours and motorbikes go together, Not! We have been very fortunate over the years in having no conflicts with our existing neighbours (apart from us leaving the gates open and letting the sheep out, or the sheep crapping in the canteen!), and we need those other 2 blocks for buffer zones to protect our future.
Our history is having the use of all 3 blocks (the old farm), and we would like to acquire all 3 so we can realise our dream of being able to cater for all off road users. This place is just too good to let go! (see Future Vision section)

So now we are aiming for all 3 blocks, and have found in our negotiations with shire and M.P.s that it is an easier sell to promote McAdam Park as a facility that caters for all. As stated earlier, what we need now is to get to that 'first base', that is to raise some substantial cash so we can start proceedings. We are aiming for $500,000 as a starting block. Once we get that far we are confident we can attract private and government assistance. Dollar for dollar funding is highly on the cards, so the first $1M is very achievable.

Government Help

But wait, there's more! A further complication is that we are in the country Surfcoast Shire. Because we are in close proximity to Geelong everyone thinks that City of Geelong should be helping us; not so! We are outside Geelong boundaries and hence there is little chance of City of Geelong helping us, so we don't get the support of a big city council and their associated powers.
On the flip side, Surfcoast Shire has no spare cash, and their priorities lie in the major seaside town of Torquay. They are fully supportive of our ideals though, and are ramping up their efforts to help us win State Government support. We have strong support from the necessary government departments to smooth the application for funding processes.

What's that, there's more? Another Club?

In our efforts to gain funding to save McAdam Park, there is another complication we have been grappling with, a problem greatly affecting S.M.C.C. but travelling in parallel with ours!
You may have heard of the other MX club in Geelong, the Geelong MX Club, who just happen to be in peril at the same time as us! They are on City of Geelong land, but their problem is they are to be relocated because of noise problems and a new road going through their land. The lease terminates end of December 2007.
It is City of Geelong's responsibility to relocate them to new premises, and to accommodate this they have allocated $800,000 in the 2007 / 2008 City budget to relocate the clubs track.

On the face of it, the logical answer may seem to be for the two clubs to join and live as one happily ever after. Pooling funds, more members, stronger volunteer base, etc. If only it was that easy!
City of Geelong have an obligation to relocate GMCC to a site within their own boundaries, and C of G are determined to investigate all possible sites before even contemplating spending money outside of town at Barrabool, which is in Surfcoast Shire. As of July 2007, they have narrowed their search down to one remaining possible site within City of Geelong boundaries. Viability studies have to be done, and at the earliest, a decision on the sites availability will not be made until at least late August 2007.

All the while this has been making it doubly difficult to seek funding for ourselves. On a local level, everyone knows about the two clubs being in trouble, and no matter who we approach, (i.e. M.P.s, industry, private financiers etc.) they always looks sideways and say 'What about the other club, aren't they in trouble too? Why don't you get together and combine your strengths?" Those are simple questions with no easy answers, as you can see from the above!

So as far as a merger between the two clubs goes, or any possible funding a merger may or may not bring to Barrabool, the answers are still some time away. We do know though, once a decision is made either way, that complication will be gone. Then at last we can progress with confidence!

There is one clear answer though, which we have already from this "parallel problem"; That is any possible City of Geelong funding is not enough to get us anywhere near past the post, so whatever happens, we must forge on with the Big Picture Wall to stand on our own two wheels!

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