Could a motel be built at Warrnambool's racecourse

Racing club chief executive officer Luke Cann said he had raised the prospect with council staff a couple of times but stressed it was just an idea that was very much in its infancy.

"We've had some initial chats with the council," he said.

"It was a brief discussion. It's just an idea, the very seed. It's in its infancy."

Mr Cann said there was a gap in Warrnambool at the moment with a lack of accommodation and the idea of accommodation at the racecourse had certainly been raised.

While they haven't even talked about what type of accommodation, he said the racecourse location was suited to the conferencing and event market.

Accommodation such as a hotel on course similar to what was next to the Bathurst motor racing track was something that could be considered, with land available at the racecourse that could be leased to a developer.

"Given the resources that we have on course and the ability to host those larger groups it could work well," he said.

"To me, without working through the logistics of it, on face value it seems like a great concept to at least explore a little bit further."

Mr Cann said the club had spare land that could be used but the idea hadn't even been talked about at committee level.

"When I say infancy, that's exactly what I mean," he said.

Mr Cann said the club was doing a lot of work behind the scenes with short-term accommodation providers to shore up accommodation for the May Racing Carnival.

"The lack of accommodation does hamstring us a little bit but we're working on some concepts to try and alleviate that as much as we can," he said.

Mr Cann said with the two hotels being razed to make way for the new Officeworks and JB Hi-Fi stores, had left a fair gap in the market.

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