V8 roadblock great news for Wgtn: Greens

Green MP Sue Kedgley says she is delighted that officials at the Wellington City Council have seen the light and called for the controversial V8 race to be canned once and for all.

A council report released this afternoon recommends to the city's councillors that the 'Supercar' event should not proceed in 2007 because the consent process is uncertain and unlikely to be completed in time.

"The likelihood of a long RMA process is a sign that something is a bad idea," said Ms Kedgley, the Green Party's Wellington Transport Spokesperson.

"When the Mayor announced a few weeks ago that the track was being moved out of the CBD, the Greens predicted that it was doomed because the fair and reasonable consent process that is necessary was unlikely to give it the go-ahead or even be complete within the tight time frame required by the organisers. So we're not surprised that the council's officials have basically come to the same conclusion today.

"Only this week the council revealed that the 'overwhelming support' it had claimed in its initial spin on its submission process had melted away once they had actually done the numbers. Fifty-five percent support from residents after the race backers' concerted and well-funded advertising campaign calling for pro submissions reveals that, at best, the city can be said to be split on the issue, and, more likely, that the proposal would face real opposition from the ratepayers being asked to foot the bills.

"Then today, the Auckland City Council revealed it spent $750,000 on its aborted bid for the same race. We await with interest their Wellington counterpart telling us how much they've wasted on its attempt, Ms Kedgley said.

"When will people get the message that the cosmopolitan residents of our major cities don't want to subsidise noisy, environmentally destructive events?"

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