Auckland Mayor Phil Goff 'not satisfied' over multimillion dollar speedway blow-out

Friday, 16 November 2018

Council voted to move Speedways out of Western Springs in June.

Auckland's Mayor and Deputy Mayor appear to be moving to different sides of the Speedway debate after a massive cost blow-out with the project.

The council will be asked at a meeting on Tuesday to green-light almost $30 million in ratepayer funds to finance speedway's exit from Western Springs - a vast increase on the $11.5m price tag announced when it was first proposed.

Colin Dale Park identified as new home for Speedway in Auckland.

Waikaraka Park Speedway president Frank Irvine said Speedway plans were 'f…ing out of control' while Mayor Phil Goff said he was also 'not satisfied'.

But Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore defended the increased costs, warning Speedway fans: 'Speedway will not have a future at Western Springs'.

**READ MORE:

The cost of building infrastructure from scratch at Colin Dale is driving up costs.

* 'Betrayed': The secret speedway deal that left fans gobsmacked

* Speedway's Western Springs exit: has council made best deal?

Bill Buckley from Speedway Promotions and Sir Don McKinnon from RFA sign the Memorandum of Understanding.

* Auckland speedway stadium to be funded by millions from city's parks**

'The politics will be the politics.'

'Tuesday will resolve this matter one way or the other'.

Last week, Stuff revealed the council's venues arm Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) was short of $5m to fund the move, with the extra millions likely come from the city's parks budget.

Auckland Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Western Springs promoters Springs Promotions in June, to shift speedway from Western Springs to Colin Dale Park.

Now, councillors are being asked to approve an expanded budget of $29.9m to pay for the stadium, with $5m coming from RFA, $4.9m from the 2019-2020 annual council budget and another $20m after that, according to the briefing document.

The briefing warned councillors of a 'reputation risk to Auckland' if the council did not follow through with the deal.

Councillor John Watson, a key figure in a group of councillors intending to vote against the plans on Tuesday, said as some people predicted, 'it is blowing out, and blowing out big time'.

'This is unfortunately typical of the way RFA operates … they come in at a very low cost to advance a project and get initial funding. And then usually, in a very short space of time, these projects are seen to blow out massively as we start to get a reflection of the true cost.'

The ratepayer would end up picking up the cost, he said.

'There is no free lunch here, if money of this magnitude goes to Colin Dale Park, it will be at the expense of something else.'

Watson said he and other councillors felt excluded from 'backroom dealings' around the council's stadium policy.

The council briefing said much of the increased costs were due to the level of infrastructure needed at the largely-undeveloped Colin Dale precinct. Watson said these were 'not exactly unknown costs'.

Deputy Mayor Cashmore said the costs were not just for constructing a Speedway but a whole raft of motorsport and water-sport activities.

'Some are for progress and for getting things done others are from a world where they think Speedway can stay at Western Springs which, in my opinion, will never happen'.

But Goff said he would be asking 'hard questions' of officials on Tuesday saying 'there is a limit' on what could be spent on the move to Colin Dale.

'I'm not satisfied with the advice I've been getting from officials which differs considerably from the figures given earlier.'

Ōtara-Papatoetoe's local board's chairwoman Lotu Fuli favours a move to Colin Dale but said the rising cost 'doesn't surprise' her.

'That seems to be the way of things now in Auckland, the longer a decision takes to happen the more the bill goes up.'

'Of course I'm concerned on behalf of the ratepayer but I do believe the pay-off for the ratepayer will be big.'

That pay-off included an 'international standard' motorsport park near the airport and easy to access for international visitors, she said.

Ron Salter, of Salters Cartage, is a member of the speedway community in favour of a move out to Colin Dale Park but laughed when told of the $29.9m blow-out.

'I think it's going to cost more like $50m.'

'The ratepayer shouldn't fund it, the promoter should.'

Irvine, of Waikaraka Park Speedway, said much of the infrastructure driving up the bill for Colin Dale Park was already in place at Waikaraka Park.

Moving Western Springs operations to share Waikaraka Park with Irvine's Stock and Saloon club was originally RFA's preferred alternative to Western Springs.

RFA stadiums boss Paul Nisbet appeared on television one month before the MOU was signed to assure the public the move from Western Springs to Waikaraka would happen.

In a letter delivered to all Auckland councillors on Thursday afternoon, Irvine said he only heard Waikaraka Park was off the table after he received a 'courtesy' phone call the evening before the MOU was signed.

Others in the speedway community proposed keeping speedway at Western Springs or asked for an open tender process for the Colin Dale Park contract.

Watson said he had 'absolutely no doubt' further cost blow-outs would happen at Western Springs once work began on moving cricket there.

He expected questions to be asked at the November 20 meeting, not just about the blow-out but about the circumstances around a council contract being used to sustain 'a private promotions company'.

The Colin Dale deal offers a lease of up to 30 years to Springs Promotions, a private company owned by millionaire businessman and speedway enthusiast Bill Buckley.

Councillors will vote on Tuesday for the first stage of the deal which will release $5m for work on the Colin Dale site.