No Street Race for Auckland :(

[Tracy]

Hi All

Resource consent has been denied for the proposed Auckland Street race

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...ection=general

I guess this means no V8supercars in NZ from 2006

[aj_308]

surely the V8's will stay?
If they don't go to NZ for at least one round thats stupid.

[Chappelli]

Disgusting!

It'll be very interesting to see how the different media outlets cover it...

[Evomike]

It is a disgrace, I am sure Mr Hucker will celebrate with a cup of tea and will go to bed after Coronation Street tonight. Ohhh and don't forgot to avoid Auckland this Saturday with the Santa Parade bringing the central city to a grinding halt.........

[Chappelli]

Just heard that The Rock will have Murph, Hubbard and the IMG guy on this afternoon... Interesting to see how diplomatic those three are towards each other!!

And don't forget to mention the noise Evo!

[Vee8]

AVESCO's response (press release):

New Zealand may be left out of international expansion plans of the V8 Supercar Championship Series following the perplexing decision to reject a race through the streets of Auckland.



Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO) Chairman Tony Cochrane was bewildered and amazed by the decision of the Resource Management Consent commissioners to veto the Auckland race.



“This is an incredibly bizarre decision,” Mr Cochrane said.



“It is bitterly disappointing for the sport in New Zealand and the hundreds of thousands of fans who are passionate about motor racing but now denied the chance to see the best touring car category in the world race at what would have been an incredible circuit.



“I can’t understand what sort of process would turn down an event like this based largely on objections that had been withdrawn during the resource consent process.



“Considering Transit New Zealand, whose traffic concerns began this whole process, had withdrawn all of its objections and agreed to support the event, I find the decision extremely peculiar to say the least.



“The other bewildering aspect is that the Auckland City Council bid for the race and was awarded it ahead of other New Zealand cities. Why stick your hand up for it in the first place if this is the outcome?



“It must also be remembered that this event was to be for three days out of 365 in a year. Sure there are going to be disruptions with an event of this size but they are far outweighed by the positives.



“We know that the region would have benefited from some $20 million economically each year, that Auckland would be showcased around the world and that New Zealanders would have prided themselves on it.



“We have seen the benefits in Australia through the three biggest sporting events we have – the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and the Gillette Challenge on the Gold Coast.



“These are three massive events that attract crowds in excess of 240,000 people each and input more than $40 million into each economy each year. And they are all street races, just like Auckland should have been.



“We would have at least wanted it to go before the council to vote on, at least then it is the voice of the city and those who represent the interests of it.”



Mr Cochrane said that with the expansion to China next year and the addition of up to two more international venues as part of the sport’s long-term global strategy New Zealand stands to lose.



“The Auckland street race was an integral part of our international expansion plans as it would have been such a fantastic event shown to more than 700 million people on television across the globe,” he said.



“Rarely do any cities across the world get an opportunity to host international events of this magnitude and the chance to showcase their attractions to a huge worldwide audience.



“I would now consider it unlikely that other major international events could with any confidence consider Auckland as a location as the process is not only costly but fraught with problems such as this.



“The damage this has caused may be irreversible.”

[Tracy]

Hi All

Tony Cochrane will be on Radio Sport very soon (just after 5pm NZ time).

[pete55]

700 Million people watching the event. Where does he pluck these figures from.
As for the Auckland street race, I was told a couple of days after it was announced it had buckleys of happening.

[Tracy]

Hi All

You can listen to TC's comments on radio sport by going to the www.radiosport.co.nz website, and clicking on the listen back option, then Tuesday, 17:45 - 18:00 (I found it is easier to save it - then you can go through it quickly until you get to the interview) which is only 30 seconds into the segment.

Murph is certainly not happy either - he was on The Rock (and apparently Radio Sport earlier as well).

[Vee8]

Add comments from IMG:

Street race promoter gutted by decision

Auckland V8 street race promoters IMG NZ Ltd are gutted and frustrated by the decision that resource consent has not been granted for their proposed downtown city proposal.

The independent planning commissioners declined the application for the proposal V8 Street Race for 2006 citing their concerns over whether traffic could be suppressed sufficiently, noise and amenity effects.

IMG NZ general manager Dean Calvert said he was bitterly disappointed by the decision, and most significantly that another major international sporting event has been lost to New Zealand.

``We lost the Rugby World Cup co-hosting, the America’s Cup has gone, and this was a major sporting event presented to us that would have not only been a wonderful sporting spectacle but also brought huge economic benefit and worldwide tourism focus,’’ Mr Calvert said.

``It would have been a showcase motorsport event and a major sporting experience for this country.’’

The event had a proposed economic benefit of $315 million over seven years while the event would have been broadcast to 500 million homes across the world and a global television audience of more than 100 million people on race day.

``We have worked so hard on this for more than 12 months now and we believed that we had answered all the issues, especially with Transit New Zealand withdrawing their opposition.

``While I respect the decision made by the independent commissioners, this whole process has been an eye-opener to me. I’m saddened as a New Zealander that our regulations and processes are aimed at saying no, rather than finding ways to make good things happen.’’

Mr Calvert said motor racing is a major sport with a rich heritage in New Zealand but next April’s round of the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe will be the final time they will be seen in this country.

[Tracy]

Originally posted by pete55
As for the Auckland street race, I was told a couple of days after it was announced it had buckleys of happening.

Hi All

Yes, many people thought it had "buckleys of happening" but that doesn't make it any less disappointing to us Kiwi fans who now look like not having a round here at all!

If the original timeframe for the race decision had been stuck to, maybe there would have been time for another venue to be sorted out, but it looks pretty unlikely now

[pete55]

Tracy, I know overall that no race is not good. Hopefully a race can be arranged for a permanent circuit in the near future.

[Kerri]

Well doesn't that suck

[nicko]

It just shows you how f**ked our country is. Nothing gets resource consent in this country, nothing goes ahead. I feel like packing my bags and heading to oz.

By the way is there any chance of manfield getting a v8 race?

[stmookeyj033]

Get a permanent circut ready to race on for heaven's sake. New Zealand is 7 x infinite more important to the sport than China ever will be.

[Kerri]

Totally agree stmookey.

[ozemailrox]

Its a fine example of ******s with a bit of power going to their head, then they forget whats good for this country and whats not. Totally ****ed off, as must be the many team members who have family here, and that is their one chance to see them.

[Armco Bender]

It was a dead horse right from the start,now its had a good flogging they've proved its a dead horse.
Whats wrong with Pukekohe that some $$$ can't fix,and don't bring up the horsey thing,thats another dead horse.

[pete55]

Originally posted by stmookeyj033
Get a permanent circut ready to race on for heaven's sake. New Zealand is 7 x infinite more important to the sport than China ever will be.

Trouble is it's not 7 x infinite more important to TC's pocket.

[tanalised]

I am dismayed by the outcome; not going to watch and listen to the V8's and photograph them, sucks. Sure it was gonna be disruptive to Aucklanders. God yes it was gonna be noisy, I wish it was louder. Too bad. well it has set a precedent for our country, don't spend any money investigating whether or not to hold a sporting event, you'll probably get turned down by the resource consent people. What a freakin'joke. I sick of all this PC ****e we put up with in NZ

[GTRMagic]

And we are surprised by this professional NIMBYism because??

It is disappointing, absolutely, but for reasons beyond me, the entrepreneurial spirit that once lived in the land of the long white sheep appears to have disappeared....

[fordo]

Originally posted by Armco Bender
It was a dead horse right from the start,now its had a good flogging they've proved its a dead horse.
Whats wrong with Pukekohe that some $$$ can't fix,and don't bring up the horsey thing,thats another dead horse.

Hit it right on the head Armco Bender. That is what I have said all along.

[promax]

Originally posted by Armco Bender
It was a dead horse right from the start,now its had a good flogging they've proved its a dead horse.
Whats wrong with Pukekohe that some $$$ can't fix,and don't bring up the horsey thing,thats another dead horse.

i agree! hrug:

[Crowestar]

So Tony went to Auckland instead of Manfield for $$$. Well I wonder if he will learn his lesson from this

[Crowestar]

but i'd doubt it