Greyhound Racing NSW says Coonamble's annual October Carnival will not go ahead in 2025, less than two months after the industry body confirmed it would.

Communication was received late on Friday 20 June from GRNSW that the annual Gold Cup Carnival would not be allowed to proceed.

This was followed on Saturday 21 June by a media release from GRNSW confirming that "the famous October long weekend carnival at Coonamble, an institution in NSW Greyhound racing for half-a-century, has run its last race."

The GRNSW statement said "support for the carnival had been withdrawn and as such the Carnival won't progress in 2025."

The body's new CEO Steve Griffin said "poor communication" led him to incorrectly tell media in May that the 2025 October carnival would run. 

"The decision was made in February/March this year, and I admit that due to poor communication to me from my team during the handover of the CEO role in March, there was confusion on the matter, and the incorrect information was conveyed by our media team," Mr Griffin said in a letter to The Coonamble Times on Friday 20 June.

Mr Griffin took over from Acting CEO Wayne Billett, who was in role after Ron Macaulay resigned in July 2024.

Then Acting CEO for GRNSW Wayne Billett, at the Coonamble Gold Cup Carnival in October 2024.

"GRNSW is embarking on a Racing Optimisation Footprint as all stakeholders in the industry understand we have too many racetracks to be sustainable and viable in the future."

Mr Griffin this week claimed there were safety concerns around the Coonamble track, citing a greyhound death at the 2024 carnival, and that an audit in January 2025 found it would cost $800,000 to bring up to standard.

He said the cost "could not be justified" without local council funding.

Coonamble Greyhound Racing President Graham Pickering said the audit was "nitpicking."

"Everyone's disappointed about it here, and especially after they send us an email in writing telling us that that it was all going ahead," Mr Pickering.

"Sponsors and everything had all been contacted.

"We've already even got some who put them put their sponsorship money in the bank."

Some of the crowd at the 2024 Coonamble Carnival.

He also said that the club did not receive a copy of the audit until Saturday morning 21 June, after the announcement, and weren't provided an opportunity to find solutions.

Barwon MP Roy Butler expects to raise the matter in the NSW Parliament next week.

"I have had multiple assurances from Greyhound Racing NSW that the October Carnival was going ahead. And that after, GRNSW would come to Coonamble to discuss future possibilities," Mr Butler said on social media on Friday.

"I have been given information late this afternoon that is inconsistent with what I was told by the CEO. I will be following this up as a priority."

The backflip follows a summit held in Sydney on 27 and 28 May to discuss and plan for the future of the industry with Greyhound Racing NSW.