Sir Barry in bid to get V8s on his turf

Barry Curtis

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis is looking into grabbing the V8 Supercar race for his city.

After meeting an official of the event promoter, IMG, Sir Barry said he expected to spend about two weeks exploring all the issues of having the race in Manukau.

"I'm doing my best now that Auckland has decided to dump the V8 race to see whether or not it can be hosted in Manukau for the benefit of the people of the Auckland region and New Zealand."

But Sir Barry's move is likely to be seen as unpopular, especially among councillors concerned at the cost of staging the event.

IMG general manager Dean Calvert, who met Sir Barry, said that unless Manukau could come up with millions of dollars, he was doubtful the city would get the race.

The only reason Wellington was still being looked at was that no resource consent was required.

Mr Calvert said he and Sir Barry wanted to hold the V8 race in New Zealand. "All we are doing at the moment is looking to see if there is any possibility anywhere to come up with something, but at the moment it is not easy."

He said Manukau would have to undergo the same resource consent rigmarole as Auckland, as well as stump up with millions of dollars.

Mr Calvert said a number of New Zealand cities had contacted IMG about holding the event, but after the costs were explained to them they had suddenly understood they needed a significant population to get a good return.

The race would cost $13-14 million in the first year and $9 million a year after that.

But Manukau would still have to deal with issues such as noise in a resource consent process.

"There is no way we will go through another torrid time of costs and resource consents. It's gone into the too-hard basket now."

Mr Calvert said that in hindsight, all Auckland councils should have got together to host the race.

As for Manukau's interest, "We are trying our hardest, but I am not optimistic at this stage."

Sir Barry said Manukau City had several possible race circuits.

Officials would be canvassed on economic, social and environmental costs of holding the race in Manukau.

Sir Barry said he believed the Auckland region, with Manukau as the event capital of New Zealand, was the rightful home for the race.

Wellington City Council has confirmed it will meet event organisers next week.