New track in Perth

[stoned pony]

Does anyone have any updated information about the new track mooted for Bunbury in Western Australia?
Perth International Motorsport Management made a lot of noise about it in August/September last year but now the silence - at least here in the Eastern states - has become deafening.
Their plans and prospectus looked good and everything seemed to be favourable. Hell, they even had the local council on side!
By the way, the planned complex for the Hunter region (a 3.8km circuit, separate drag strip and speedway track) was knocked on the head by Port Stephens Council mid-December. The developer is now planning to take the matter to the NSW Land and Environment Council in March, I believe.

[RaceTime]

Information I was given last Friday on this was that - yeah, well - it's nice to plan a circuit and say you have 'permission' from such-and-such - but to get that permission you are supposed to actually talk to them.

Basically - the story goes - the ideas are there but the actual planning with the relevant authorities has yet to be started ie contact hasn'teven been made.

It was also suggested that the people behind this plan have been in similar plans before...

[prn 31]

Maybe they can resurrect the old Bunbury street circuit - there are two to chose from. The first one around the city centre was a bit tight (and there is a lot of "road calming" stuff there), but the second one on the outskirts of town (at least in the 60's) was pretty quick. Pity it was only used once in 1963! BTW, I've "driven" both circuits and many other "roaund the houses" circuits in WA.

As for the Hunter racing circuit at Raymond Terrace I had not heard that it had been knocked back by Council, though I'm not surprised. There has been no publicity at all about this. Was your source the Council?

[Bigguy]

Originally posted by bedeme
SNIP
By the way, the planned complex for the Hunter region (a 3.8km circuit, separate drag strip and speedway track) was knocked on the head by Port Stephens Council mid-December. The developer is now planning to take the matter to the NSW Land and Environment Council in March, I believe. [/B]

Hmmm, I had a very interesting drive in my STi round the off road circuit at Raymond Terrace. I don't think the lap record was threatened due to the number of times I had to stop and walk over the tricky bits to find a way through which wouldn't remove the exhaust! The myriad of kangaroos watching were highly amused... But I would be ticked off if the plans were knocked back because of "environmental concerns" as the place is truly in the sticks.

[Nivola]

I find it funny that it has takern a someone from the other side of this land to ask these questions!

Go to www.pimm.org and some questions will be seen.

Race Time it is good to see people still love to say things like you have said. When will people try and research something first?

[Morris 1100]

Wow, they are realy going to run a round of the Formula Nippon in Perth in 2003!

[GTRMagic]

The day after Paul Newman drives at Bathurst?

[Nivola]

prn 31 looks like your a real racer at heart.

They still ran the bikes down there till about 1996. The final meet was on the same day as the York Flying 50.

I gather you got your hands on the "Round The House's" book then?

[RaceTime]

Originally posted by Nivola
Race Time it is good to see people still love to say things like you have said. When will people try and research something first?

Well like it or not, that informaiton has come from inside the WASCC Inc - so sorry if it doesn't please you.

[stoned pony]

Yes prn31, my source was Port Stephens Council and many others. I have all the background on the track plus the 18 actual reasons the council knocked the track back. A real pity given that a protest meeting held a couple of years ago attracted about 150 people and a meeting held by those in favour of the development brought 1200 like-minded souls together.

[spook]

Perhaps the money people behind Ringwood could offer to build a circuit elsewhere in Australia where a local authority/council would support their type of development.

Does anyone know if they are fixed on the idea of a circuit in the Hunter, or are they open to offers from "open minded" councils elsewhere in Australia - like on Qld's Sunshine Coast.

[stoned pony]

No, Newcastle area only. The land (about 120 hectares) is owned by Newcastle MG Car Club which has a hillclimb track already on site.
Great location. Would have been a hell of a track. Hope developer Peter Lee has success in the Land and Environment Court.
Locals have been starved of any sort of "real" motorsport since David Lander sold Newcastle Speedway for use as an industrial development site.
Hillclimbs are still happening, of course, but geez its hard to get really excited about one car on the course at a time. Such limited passing opportunities!

[RaceTime]

Originally posted by bedeme
but geez its hard to get really excited about one car on the course at a time. Such limited passing opportunities!

But just think of the problems it would solve for Colin Bond and Tim Schenken - no more deciding if the car was past the B pillar; no more worrying about being nudged up the boot.

But ahhhhh, maybe this is what they are trying to head for anyway - single car at a time V8 Soupcars????

[stoned pony]

heh, heh, heh!!!

[prn 31]

Originally posted by Nivola
prn 31 looks like your a real racer at heart.

They still ran the bikes down there till about 1996. The final meet was on the same day as the York Flying 50.

I gather you got your hands on the "Round The House's" book then?

Nivola, I am a real racer at heart. 31 is the race number I'm using but I'm taking this year off as I'm using my budget to fix my Alfa after an argument with a concete wall at Eastern Creek last year.

The circuit I was referring to at Bunbury was Casey Park, and yes I do have Terry Walker's "Round the Houses" and "Fast Tracks" plus Ray Bell's "Closed Circuits" articles. I did 9 tracks in all from Albany (my Father's birthplace) to Geraldton (where my Aunt lives) and recorded it in writing on a thread on the Nostalgia Forum at Atlas F1. That was in 2002 and I did the South Australian road circuits last year and the thread is still running on that one - all about WA's greatest racer Allan Tomlinson and conquering Lobethal in the '39 AGP.