Speedway appeals noise limit

The Western Springs Speedway will go to the High Court in a bid to raise the Auckland stadium's noise limits, which threaten its future.

Speedway promoter Dave Stewart said an appeal against an Environment Court decision issued late last month would be filed in the High Court this month.

In the meantime, racing would go ahead on Saturday with the opening night of the World Midget Series.

The format would be adjusted to make sure racing complied with the 85-decibel noise limit but Mr Stewart promised a worthwhile event.

"The racing is going to be pretty good just purely based on the calibre of the drivers."

Another "experimental" race meeting was held last Saturday night to provide data for upcoming court cases as well as to give drivers experience.

But only 200 people turned up to watch, said Mr Stewart.

"I would say the fans are pretty cross about what is going on and are quite keen to get back to some realistic racing.

"It will be interesting to see how we go this weekend as far as noise levels go because we have got to put on some decent racing."

Mr Stewart said the disrupted season had made finalising the New Zealand team for the series a difficult exercise. How and when the squad was selected would be determined after the series format was finalised in the next two days.

"Not only is the make-up of the New Zealand team the subject of debate, there is also a lot of talk about their readiness to take on the overseas drivers," Mr Stewart said.

"While our guys have spent most of their time fine-tuning their mufflers, the overseas drivers have had a power of racing."

The High Court appeal is against Judge Craig Thompson's decision that Springs Promotions has no enforceable existing-use rights.

The judge had been asked to scrap or vary the December 6 interim order requiring Springs Promotions to comply with the noise limit.

Mr Stewart said the appeal would probably not be heard before the substantive Environment Court hearing set down for early next month.

Auckland City Council's stance on the appeal is not known but Scott Milne, the leader of the Citizens and Ratepayers Now team on the council, said they supported the move.

Meanwhile, C&R Now councillors were investigating a district plan change that would allow speedway to continue at Western Springs.

Mr Milne said five-car race fields would be "a slow lingering death for a 75-year-old icon".