Chaos at Auckland Council meeting over speedway’s future at Western Springs Stadium

Thursday, 24 October 2024

Councillor John Watson revealed vital information from Speedway, New Zealand, asserting their lack of support for closing Western Springs Speedway. The letter clarifies misinterpretations regarding funding and ongoing investments at Waikaraka Park.

Auckland councillors are being asked to vote if they agree on $11 million being spent to upgrade Waikaraka Park.

Speedway NZ is against this happening if the sport moves out of Western Springs Stadium as part of the deal.

But the Western Springs speedway promoter says he doesn’t want to continue at the stadium beyond this summer.

Plans to move speedway from Western Springs Stadium to Waikaraka Park were thrown into turmoil on Thursday.

Councillor John Watson dropped a bombshell at a Governing Body meeting when he revealed that a letter from Speedway NZ believed to be supporting the move had been misrepresented by council officials.

The main item on the agenda was the proposal for Tātaki Auckland Unlimited to spend $11 million improving Waikaraka Park, exiting the sport from Western Springs Stadium and consolidating speedway at one Auckland venue - Waikaraka.

This summer could be speedway’s last at Western Springs Stadium.

The $11m from the Council Controlled Organisation would be spent on improved track lighting, a new track wall and safety fence, an upgraded pit area and refurbishment of the toilet block.

However, a revelation by Watson that Speedway NZ is against the sport leaving Western Springs Stadium could derail the whole process.

Waikaraka Park is owned by the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board and at the meeting board members spoke in support of the council’s proposal.

In the meeting’s agenda, it stated Western Springs operator Palmerston North Speedway Limited and Waikaraka Park operator Auckland Stock and Saloon Car Club both support the consolidation.

It also stated Speedway NZ backed this, and that a letter written in August by the organisation confirmed it.

Western Springs Speedway manager, John McCallum believes it’s time to move to Waikaraka Park.

However, Watson said that while the letter may have been in support of upgrading Waikaraka Park, it wasn’t in favour of ending speedway at Western Springs.

“This morning, I and a couple of other councillors received a communication from Speedway New Zealand from their general manager, Aaron Kirby,” Watson said before reading out the email from Kirby.

“We would like it noted for the record that Speedway New Zealand has, at no time, ever considered supporting the closure of Western Springs Speedway and to date, have not formally been informed that this was an option being considered,” Watson said Kirby had written.

In the letter, Kirby wrote: “The sole intent of the letter was to support the ongoing investment by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited to upgrade the facilities at Waikaraka Park.

“To have the letter recorded in the agenda and its attachments as support for the consolidation of speedway at Waikaraka Park is a complete misrepresentation of the intent of the letter.

“Speedway NZ Incorporated does not support the closure of Western Springs Speedway for numerous reasons that we feel we have not been given the opportunity to speak to, let alone consult our members or the wider speedway community on.

Auckland Council Albany ward councillor John Watson says Speedway NZ’s concerns about Western Springs Stadium is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Should the true intent of our letter not be conveyed to the members in attendance at today’s meeting we would like it noted that we withdraw the letter of support altogether as we believe the implication that, we support the ‘Master Plan’ will have far-reaching consequences of both, our organisation, and the sport.”

Several councillors looked stunned as Watson read out the letter, and Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, who was chairing the meeting, called for an immediate halt to the debate.

Around a dozen council officials went into a huddle to discuss how to proceed after a key piece of evidence being used to persuade councillors to approve the moving of speedway from Western Springs had apparently been misinterpreted.

Around 10 minutes later, Simpson said the decision was to adjourn the item for a week so council staff could clarify the matters raised in the letter.

There had already been concerns among some councillors that they were given little notice about the item being Governing Body meeting agenda.

Council staff explained that the reason for this was because they were up against time to get the improvement work for Waikaraka Park signed off as if there was a delay it couldn’t be completed for the 2025-26 season.

While some could see this as a reprieve for speedway at the city fringe stadium, Western Springs Speedway promoter Bruce Robertson says he’s not interested in continuing at the stadium beyond this summer.

“I’ve done my bit, I’ve kept the track open for five years. It’s cost me more than a million dollars and we’ve got no interest in continuing there,” Robertson told Stuff.

Western Springs Speedway manager John McCallum said it had got to a point where it wasn’t worth continuing to run speedway at the stadium.

“The managing and running constraints of the place make it too difficult to operate in,” McCallum said.

“We were offered the opportunity to construct something that was going to work, and that everyone agreed on.”

McCallum said they knew nothing about the latest letter from Speedway NZ, or that they would object to the move before Thursday’s meeting.

“At no point have they asked us, offered to help, or engaged in the negotiation process, nothing,” he said.

“We’ve never heard a squeak out of them. They’ve never paid one cent towards the cost of it and then, on a whim, without consultation, sent an email at the 11th hour to selected councillors.”

Kirby was unavailable for an interview with Stuff on Thursday.

The stadium loses $1.2 million a year when it’s not impacted by Covid or floods. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has gone through an expression of interest process to find out what to do next with Western Springs Stadium and a decision on a preferred option will be made by their board later this month.

However, none of those expressions of interest propose running speedway.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board deputy chair Debbie Burrows said speedway would continue at Waikaraka Park, even if it’s not consolidated with Western Springs and doesn’t get money for upgrades.

“It will be business as usual, and the infrastructure was really about being able to accommodate more classes,” Burrows said.

“So it will be those classes that won't be accommodated, and they will have to race outside of Auckland. That will be the outcome of this decision.

A car flies over the spectator fence at Dunedin's Beachlands Speedway, narrowly missing two teenage girls who were walking nearby.

“The same people who potentially are trying to make this about maintaining Western Springs, the reality is Western Springs will close, and those classes will be forced to race outside of Auckland.”

Councillor Josephine Bartley said when councillors vote on this next week she doesn’t know if there will be the numbers to get it over the line. The vote to defer the item a week was won 14-6. Bartley was against the adjournment and said the debate should have continued.

“Why is it that we are all up in arms when we knew there was opposition by speedway drivers?” Bartley argued.

“Why can't we carry on with the information we have? Why can’t we hear from Bruce we’ve heard from the Local Board we knew games were going to happen, and clearly it's happened today.

“Auckland Stock and Saloon Car Club (at Waikaraka Park) is the only option that has longevity of tenure.

“Western Springs doesn’t, it ends next year. So I thought we were doing speedway a favour by providing them an option to future-proof their sport. Clearly, they don’t see it that way.”

Councillor Angela Dalton said it was disappointing that only a few councillors knew about the letter from Speedway NZ before the Governing Body meeting began.

“It is unfortunate that people call for transparency and then there is none.

“The group that has sent that email to a minority of councillors has tripped a process up here.

“We could have made a decision today if we had all received that email. So there is always risk in trying to lobby a few councillors and not all councillors.

“This is a significant decision. It’s a decision that speedway and the local board have been wanting to have decided for quite some time.

“Seriously, we were absolutely at risk of doing something today for the first time this term. We might have got something over the line, but again, tripped up.”

However, Watson hit back over the transparency comment.

“I have endeavoured to bring up my issues with the CEO (Phil Wilson) in advance of this, because of the very reasons of the rush nature and the way this matter has been conducted.

“If it had been done in a better way, some of these issues would have been avoided.

“But I would just say that letter is the tip of the iceberg as far as I’m concerned, and I look forward to the reconvened meeting to raise matters I regard as far more substantial, notwithstanding the fact that information put before us to make decisions has to be accurate.”