Auckland Mayoral candidate Craig Lord will be fighting to keep Speedway at its historical home of Western Springs after meeting with various parties to discuss the situation.
He outlined his plans via social media on Monday evening.

“There is a way to fight against the proposals put forward by the Council and RFA and I will cover that in due course. For now, I have simple plans that can be taken forward from here to keep Speedway at the Springs”

His plan is to have the existing worn out clubrooms demolished with a simple replacement built on the front fields to cater for the rugby. The area that the current building occupies would be used to expand the pits.

The current front gates would be moved across and that area converted to a cul-de-sac to allow the trucks a place to park and turn around.

“By moving the gates and creating a park and turn spot it benefits both the racing and concert industries. It’s a win-win situation”.

He also believes some form of grandstand or viewing platform could be built in proximity to where the current clubrooms are, but elevated to allow the cars to travel underneath.

“It’s a simple plan, remove one building, move things around, update some facilities and it can service the community for another 90 years, just like it already has done”.

Lord was initially thinking that a purpose-built facility elsewhere would be of the best benefit for the sport, but at the time he was taking into account that the decision makers had confirmed Speedway’s removal.

“Since the racing has been extended by what seems to be at least two more seasons, I’m now confident that with this modification to the venue, along with the other plan soon to be announced, that we can make things work”.

Given that the cost to convert the venue to a cricket ground was estimated to be around $100 million, plus the costs to relocate elsewhere, he believes this to be a budgeting no-brainer.

“Speedway stays. NZ Cricket doesn’t need Auckland ratepayers providing it with a brand-new free venue. RFA will learn this the hard way. The back-room deals need to stop. Along with that we also need to modify the way Eden Park works. Having to apply for a resource consent every time they wish to host a major concert is unacceptable. This entire situation is unacceptable”.

Next on his list of to-dos’ is assisting the sporting groups that were kicked out of the Mt Wellington park by Panuku so that Auckland Transport could use the land for roading. Now that AT no longer need it, Panuku should return it to the sporting clubs immediately.

“It’s disgraceful. Panuku have treated the Auckland constituents with disdain, they have hidden agendas and deserve to be lambasted for it. The problem is that it doesn’t end there though. Waikaraka Park has been left in limbo with a historic grandstand that is unsafe to use, and a whole lot of Aucklanders wondering whether their particular sport will be in the firing line next”.

Lord is also sure that both Panuku and RFA are being deceitful in the promotion of their public image, and is shocked that among all their sporting plans the Council have no options for the motorsport community.

“They have great marketing material telling us all about how fantastic they are. They also have brilliant PR buzzwords so that the general public see nothing but rainbows and unicorns. But I see straight through that guff, the way they are trying to justify their empires and keep them alive is obvious to see. But I’m working class, I did my time in dirty overalls and greasy tools - I can smell their BS. They’re not going to get away with trying to fool me and they are in for a hell of a fight”.

“They have absolutely no idea how big the petrol-head community is in Auckland. They will soon”.

The video may be viewed on either the YouTube or Facebook Page.

Youtube: http://bit.ly/YoutubeKeepSpeedway
Facebook: http://bit.ly/KeepSpeedway

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