Protected trees to be pruned for V8 supercar race

By BERNARD ORSMAN

A row of protected London plane trees in Victoria Park will have to be pruned to make way for the V8 supercar race.

The pit area on Fanshawe St is under the dripline of the category A heritage trees, according to the resource consent application for the race lodged today.

The trees, up to 100 years old, will need to be pruned to allow a 3m clearance for tent garages. There are 13 trees along the northern boundary of the park fronting Fanshawe St - eight plane trees, three pohutukawa and two other trees.

Auckland City Council arborist Mark Bowater said the pruning was minor. He said the council was still looking at the full impact of tents under the dripline, including the effect on root systems from driving pegs into the ground.

The council and event promoters IMG have sought resource consent to hold the three-day street race in the April school holidays for seven years from 2006.

The 2.6km race circuit around Victoria St West, Beaumont St, Fanshawe St and Hobson St will be closed for three-and-a-half days from 7pm on the Thursday until 6am the following Monday. The exception will be Halsey St, between Fanshawe St and Victoria St West, which will be closed for five-and-a-half days from 7pm on the Tuesday.

The circuit, ringed by a 1.8m high security fence, will enclose a number of other streets and lead to restrictions on the park for up to 10 days and the closure of sports fields for four weeks. A fuel tanker containing 20,000 litres of 98-octane race fuel will be located near the Grafton Cricket clubrooms at the park. Two stages will also be set up for entertainment.

The effects will be felt for five weeks leading up to race day and three weeks afterwards.

The resource consent application shares the view of Transit that about half the 155,000 vehicles using the Harbour Bridge each day will have to stay at home to avoid gridlock.

Transit has said it will continue to oppose the event unless Auckland City and IMG can win the support of other councils and come up with a viable traffic management plan.