Sprint car action at opening night at Baypark Speedway in 2018. Photo / Andrew Warner
Speedway groups are considering legal action against the Tauranga City Council over a plan that could see significant changes at the sport's local home ground, Baypark Stadium.
A steering group made up of three speedway organisations has engaged a lawyer to help fight the plan, which the group says proposes to "evict" speedway from Baypark - what they believed to be its "forever home".
The council says no final decisions have been made, while Baypark operator Bay Venues says it has engaged with the Bay of Plenty Speedway Association and will continue to do so.
Last week Tauranga City Council commissioners signed off the Active Reserves Masterplans for Baypark, Blake Park and Tauranga Domain.
The plans propose relocating some sports and activities. These include moving the athletics track from the domain to Baypark, temporarily relocating the speedway's pit area within the site to make space for extra community sports, and moving Tauranga Lawn Bowls and the Tauranga Croquet Club from the domain to new locations.
New services could also be developed, including a proposed community stadium at the domain.
The council is partnering with Sports Bay of Plenty, Bay Venues and economic development agency Priority One on the project.
The next step is for detailed design and project feasibility investigations with further consultation with stakeholders and mana whenua.
The executive summary of the council's masterplans document indicates the long-term preference is for the speedway to relocate elsewhere "no later than 2029".
The Bay of Plenty Speedway Association, Speedway Racing Ltd and Speedway New Zealand created a steering group to represent and protect their interests during consultation, which started in July.
In a written statement sent to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, the group alleged the council decision was "rammed" through without "proper" consultation and the process had been "unfair, extremely rushed [and] one-sided".
In its opinion: "We strongly believe the decision made by the council was pre-determined and illegal because Baypark Speedway has a lease agreement until at least 2029.
"Moving our pits even temporarily within the next 12 to 24 months will be detrimental to our sport."
The group said Baypark was "purpose-built for speedway from the outset, yet designed to enable other community uses".
"The lease was transferred from [Bay of Plenty Speedway Association] to [Tauranga City Council] in 2007, in good faith that speedway would be the forever home at Baypark..."
"We are willing to coexist with other codes for the good of our wider community but believe it is unfair to evict us."
The group believed moving the speedway would spell the end of the sport in the Bay of Plenty.
It said it only saw the masterplan on Thursday, September 29 and "immediately registered objections through our lawyer" but commissioners signed off the plan the following Monday.
The statement said speedway activities made a "considerable" financial contribution to Tauranga and legal action would be a "last resort".
The group also said it had provided concepts showing how it could to coexist with other users, including a reduced footprint.
It claimed Bay Venues "failed to entertain those options".
Former Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson built Baypark for $24 million and sold it to the council in 2007 for $12m.
Clarkson said he always intended speedway should have a home there "indefinitely".
In his response, council commissioner Stephen Selwood said the masterplans were part of a wider plan for investment in reserves to ensure they met the needs of a growing city.
"It's important to recognise that these are outline plans which are just the first step on this journey," Selwood said.
"We have listened to the feedback from the groups whose activities could potentially be affected and we are committed to working with all stakeholders... before any changes are implemented.
"The intent of the masterplans is to improve active recreation facilities and opportunities and as such, our expectation is that the changes outlined would create positive outcomes for clubs, other stakeholders and the community."
He said no final decisions had been made and the council would meet with speedway representatives and work to find a "mutually acceptable pathway forward".
"We've made it clear that this is a long-term masterplan and is subject to meeting all of the council's obligations to engage, consult and meet all lease and legal requirements."
Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker said speedway was an important activity at Baypark and Bay Venues was committed to fulfilling its obligations to the association.
He said when consultation began, it and mana whenua were the first parties Bay Venues met with.
"We have met with them numerous times since and with [the council] we have engaged two different consultants to work through this process and understand their requirements, and to explore future options," Hooker said.
"We acknowledge change can be unsettling and we will continue to engage with the speedway organisations and listen to their views."
He reiterated no decisions had been made.
"The discussions to date have been in good faith and we will continue talking with speedway to ensure they are aware of the long-term plans for the site and are involved as much as possible in the process."
He said any relocation of the speedway would take "several years" to plan and implement.
"In the interim, we will work with the speedway to identify how we can provide the facilities they need to continue operating while working to accommodate other sporting codes on the site."
It was looking forward to the upcoming speedway season and working with all parties to "provide great racing and the best possible spectator experience".
Other users have a say
Tauranga Millennium Track Trust trustee Garth Mathieson said the all-weather track at Tauranga Domain was "world-class".
The trust opposed relocation of the track "unless the council at its own costs constructs a proposed new one at Baypark of the same quality or better before the old one is demolished", he said.
Mathieson said the council had refused to enter into a formal contract saying this and in his view, its decision on the masterplans was made without "proper due diligence".
He believed a new athletic track would not fit at Baypark without removing a hill of cultural significance to Māori.
Tauranga Croquet Club president Gretchen Benvie said the club was not totally opposed to a stadium being built at the domain but was concerned about the lack of consultation about where the club could move.
"It creates so much uncertainty about our club's future at a time when our membership is growing and there is lots of interest in the game," Benvie said.
"Some of the domain users made oral submissions to the commissioners on October 3 and we would have liked to have done the same, but we knew nothing about the meeting."
Benvie was told about it two days later by someone from the Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club.
Attached to the October 3 council meeting agenda were letters of support from Athletics Tauranga, Athletics New Zealand and the Tauranga Netball Centre.
The Tauranga Netball Centre's board chairwoman Nicola Compton wrote that the board fully supported the relocation and the Bay Park Masterplan.
Athletics Tauranga president Ruth Tuiraviravi also gave in-principle support for the Baypark Masterplan.
Bay Venues and the council did not respond directly to comments from Mathieson and Benvie.
Tauranga Domain
- Relocate the athletics track and supporting facilities to Baypark.
- Relocate Tauranga Lawn Bowls and Tauranga Croquet Club to alternative sites.
- Relocate two tennis courts to space vacated by the croquet club.
- Development of proposed Tauranga Community Stadium (pending business case).
Baypark
- Reposition Baypark Speedway's pit area (this financial year) to enable works at Baypark.
- Develop dedicated spaces and facilities for athletics and netball.
- New athletics track and essential support services, relocated from Tauranga Domain.
Blake Park
- Relocate Mount Playcentre to Golf Rd Reserve.
- Tauranga Netball moved to Baypark.
- Improved dedicated tennis court space.
- Additional grass playing fields at Blake Park
- Bay Oval pavilion extension (underway)
- Mount Sports Centre demolished for extra car parks
- Increase formalised parking onsite, and remodel entrance ways.
Source: Tauranga City Council
Usyk won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 116-112.