"At Bass Hill, where the Dunc Gray velodrome sits amid hockey and football fields, the question of who will pay for hefty maintenance bills is threatening the future of track cycling in NSW.
After the Olympics, the state government gifted the $42 million velodrome to Bankstown Council. The council subsequently signed a lease with Bankstown Sports Club to operate the venue, but that lease expires in 2019.
The new council of Canterbury Bankstown, therefore, will inherit the venue in three years. That means it will inherit its estimated $400,000-$500,000 annual maintenance bill, on top of a need for another $1 million in capital works in the next few years.
Mr Colley has commissioned a report into the future of the velodrome. "There are a number of options … ranging from a 'do-nothing through' to a modification of it, through to the nth degree - which is demolition," he said.
Mr Colley's argument is that the burden of paying for track cycling in NSW should not fall only on the ratepayers of Canterbury Bankstown.
But for Phil Ayres, the chief executive officer of Cycling NSW, not having an indoor velodrome would "decimate" his sport."
It will be sad to see it demolished if it happens.
For those that are unaware, that's the van that has the video equipment (among other stuff) that is used for checking close finishes. And usually with Ron somewhere close by.
