'Bullying' claim as V8 rivalry revs up

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Auckland Mayor John Banks has accused mayoral rival Bruce Hucker of bullying tactics for threatening to cancel the V8 supercar race if he wins October's local body election.

Mr Banks, who is regularly accused of bullying tactics himself, was aghast at Dr Hucker's "bullying attitude" over the proposal to attract the V8 race to Auckland for seven years starting in April 2006.

Dr Hucker said the inner-city race circuit round Victoria Park was in the wrong place, consultation was appalling, an internal peer review of the project was flawed and he would consider reviewing the contract if City Vision and Labour won power.

This prompted an angry response from Mr Banks, a self-professed "petrol-head" and Ferrari driver, who has until December 31 to gain resource consent and sign a contract with the Australian motorsport organisation Avesco, needed for the racing to start.

"I can't allow the mean-spirited and miserable attitude by the leader of City Vision-Labour to get away with these veiled threats [and] the bullying attitude that they will ride roughshod if they have the numbers," Mr Banks said.

The testy exchange underlined the divisions in the council over the event, which requires an upfront contribution of up to $5.4 million by ratepayers. This includes a $3.5 million interest-free loan costing ratepayers $888,763 over seven years; $250,000 to $500,000 on traffic management and communications; and $1.4 million of roadworks.

The council has also released the findings of an independent cost-benefit analysis which showed the net benefit of the three-day event was between $40.2 million and $40.7 million for the city.

This drew scepticism from Dr Hucker and other City Vision councillors, who questioned the environmental and social impacts and argued that the impact from closing motorway exits had been downplayed.

The councillor leading the push for the race event, Scott Milne, said it was tragic for the city when councillors turned down an opportunity to pump tens of millions of dollars into the local economy for a small investment.

The council plans to form a partnership with event promoter IMG, but has backed away from a risky option of sharing the profits or losses. Instead, it has chosen a second option where IMG carries all financial risks. Under this plan, the council would have to put its first $250,000 share of any profit back into the event.

The North Shore City Council has voted unanimously to oppose the race because of concerns over traffic control and congestion.

"If there is a recipe for disaster, this is it," said Shore Mayor George Wood.

The owner of the New World supermarket in Freemans Bay, Rob McGregor, has also clarified his position on the event. Mr McGregor told the Herald he was neither for nor against the race but was concerned about traffic disruption for eight weeks surrounding the event, and the effect on business.

"During that time they say there are not going to be any lane closures, just partial lane closures. Well, partial lane closures in this area are enough to cause bottlenecks," Mr McGregor said.

Submissions on the resource consent application close on June 30 and will be heard by independent commissioners in August.