In an era where governments of all political persuasions think small and short-term, the proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse and turn the area into a mini-city of 25,000 homes served by a new metro station stands out as a rare big idea with lasting benefits for the city and the racing industry.

Under the scheme, announced in December amid skyrocketing concern about the housing supply and affordability crisis strangling Sydney, the Australian Turf Club (ATC) would sell the prized 60-hectare site to developers in deals worth at least $5 billion.

The ATC would in turn spend some of the proceeds on massively upgrading racing, training, member and spectator facilities at other venues in NSW, and bank the rest for a rainy day.

The idea was hailed by Premier Chris Minns as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to build more homes and secure the future of the industry. The premier is right. For those in doubt, we would encourage you to look at Rosehill on Google Earth and question whether the vast area in its current form is truly its best use in 2024.

Debate about Rosehill took a dangerous turn this week when a Parramatta councillor said the racecourse would become a “ghetto” under the ATC proposal. This was shrill, embarrassing and dangerous language. As the Herald’s Sydney editor Michael Koziol accurately observed, the broader debate over the Minns government’s housing reforms is stretching credibility in its claims and deploying inflammatory, scaremongering rhetoric.

A concerted effort is now underway to kill the Rosehill sale, and with it the opportunity to build more desperately needed homes smack bang above the $25 billion Metro West rail line. Some of those opposed to the proposal are doing what politicians so often do: acting in their own interests instead of the broader public good.

Some trainers such as the legendary Gai Waterhouse are strongly opposed to the idea. Waterhouse, who is based at Randwick, not Rosehill, is using her significant influence in the industry to build opposition to the sale.

The Herald last year agreed with Waterhouse that extending the tenure of the then Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding for a further two years, well beyond the maximum 10 years for statutory authorities, was a bad idea.