Supermarket seeks car race compo

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The New World supermarket in Freemans Bay wants compensation for loss of trade during the proposed V8 street car race.

The supermarket says road closures will keep customers away and result in a significant financial loss for the Franklin Rd business, particularly during its busiest trading on Saturday.

The request for compensation was made yesterday in a submission on the council's draft annual plan. It was presented by lawyer Daniel Clay on behalf of the company.

Mr Clay said the supermarket was not opposed to the car race itself.

There were two ways to ease its concerns: amend the plans to ease financial losses or set up a compensation fund to acknowledge financial losses.

"If, as has been predicted, the city will benefit financially from the race, funding for compensation for those who do not benefit would presumably be available," Mr Clay said.

But the council officer in charge of the race, Cameron Parr, said there was no way the council would compensate businesses affected by the three-day event.

The council did not compensate businesses affected by other activities, such as road works, he said.

Mr Clay's submission, which also criticised the council's lack of consultation and lack of a cost-benefit analysis, drew a surprise reaction from councillors who believed they had overcome the supermarket's initial opposition to the event.

Replying to a question from Mayor John Banks, Mr Clay confirmed he had not spoken with the supermarket owner, Rob McGregor, since the submission was prepared on May 21.

IMG event promoter head Dean Culvert said he had spoken with Mr McGregor since the submission was prepared and after talking through the issues, Mr McGregor had become supportive and was invited to join a watchdog group for the event.