Speedway to end at Western Springs after 95 years following fiery council meeting

Thursday, 31 October 2024

Speedway New Zealand says they were blindsided by the decision, but Auckland's Mayor believes it's the best outcome for ratepayers. Stuff's Hannah Martin reports.

After 95 years, the final speedway event will be held at Western Springs in March 2025.

In a fiery meeting, councillors voted 11-8 to spend $11 million refurbishing Waikaraka Park, and moving future speedway events there

The process was labelled a “sham” and “ambush” by one councillor, but Mayor Wayne Brown said the closure would save ratepayers $1.2m a year.

Speedway will leave Western Springs Stadium at the end of this summer after 95 years at the venue.

At a lengthy and often heated governing body meeting on Wednesday, councillors voted 11 to eight in favour of $11 million being spent on improvements at Waikaraka Park and moving all speedway events to that venue.

The discussion was carried over from an already dramatic meeting last week when plans to move speedway were thrown into turmoil after one councillor revealed a supportive letter from Speedway NZ had been misrepresented.

One councillor said one of Auckland's most iconic sporting codes was being put to the sword, while Mayor Wayne Brown said it was the best decision for Auckland ratepayers.

Speedway will end at Western Springs for good after the final event this season, in March 2025.

Following the decision, the speedway calendar would be consolidated and up to 35 events a year run at Waikaraka Park.

Speedway has been running at Western Springs Stadium since 1929.

The money would come from Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, a council-controlled organisation, and be given to the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board for the upgrade.

A consensus was reached among councillors for upgrading Waikaraka Park, but not in regards to whether speedway should move from Western Springs.

There was concern among some councillors, led by John Watson, Mike Lee and Wayne Walker, that this decision had been rushed through. Questions were also asked about the future of Ponsonby Rugby Club,which has a lease at Western Springs that expires in 2027.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has gone through an expression of interest process to find out what to do next with Western Springs Stadium.

Auckland Councillor John Watson said there had been a deelpy flawed process to remove speedway from Western Springs Stadium.

No one who came forward said they wanted to continue with speedway and the current promoter of the sport at Western Springs, Bruce Robertson, said he’s no longer interested as he’s lost $1m over the last five years.

Billionaires Bill Foley and Anna Mowbray and former All Black Ali Williams are believed to have drawn up plans to turn Auckland’s Western Springs into the permanent home of their new Auckland FC A-League franchise.

At Wednesday’s meeting, councillor John Watson put forward an amendment to the proposal saying that the future of Western Springs Stadium and speedway should be deferred until there has been full consultation with affected parties as well as a discussion on the future of Western Springs and other stadiums in Auckland.

“There's no one here, or indeed at Western Springs Speedway or anywhere else, who doesn't agree that Waikaraka Park is in a parlous state, has been for decades, and work needs to occur there,” Watson said.

“However, that doesn't mean that one of Auckland's most iconic sporting codes is put to the sword as an almost a sacrificial lamb.

“You would hardly think that today and right here and now, we're deciding the fate of a 95-year-old institution that is speedway at Western Springs, which is internationally acclaimed.

'It's famous around the world. Yet that's exactly what's happening here with this vote. It comes as a consequence of a deeply flawed process, if you can even call it, that.”

Watson went on to address fellow councillors and criticise Auckland Council staff who he believed had rushed through the process to move speedway away from Western Springs.

“Do you support the sham of a process we've been through? An absolute sham.

“We're meant to be elected people that see that there's fairness and transparency… that hasn't happened in any shape or form. This has been an ambush.”

Mayor Wayne Brown voted in favour of the proposal to consolidate speedway at Western Springs and Waikaraka Park at the latter venue.

He said he believed this was the better decision for Auckland ratepayers as Western Springs Stadium is currently losing $1.2m a year and the relocation of speedway would open up other possibilities for the city fringe venue.

“We can all share stories in places that have real significance to us and some of these don't exist anymore,” Brown said.

“A lot of things have changed. A lot of things cease to exist because we can't afford them, in some cases close as a result of things folding, organisations going bankrupt.

“It could be the future of Western Springs Speedway. It's heavily constrained in the nature of the facility, the Unitary Plan, the resource consent.

“It's expensive to run only 12 times a year, costs us $1.2m and after listening to very many passionate fans in the business, I haven't heard anyone put up their hand to invest in the future of Western Springs.

“I haven't heard an alternative solution that wouldn't involve us forking out an unreasonable level of rate payer dollars to subsidise something which is not currently making money for the operators.

“The solution in front of us seems pretty reasonable to me. I understand the need for good compromise, and this appears to be one that gives us a sustainable long term future, 30 years.”

In one of the most heated pre-vote speeches, Councillor Chris Darby said the way other councillors had conducted themselves had been an embarrassment.

“This whole meeting of coming up to seven hours has been pretty painful to listen to,” he said.

“I don't think it's been professional governance at all, and I've been embarrassed to hear such words as ambush, sham, jack up and fraudulent.

Darby said some of the councillors needed to watch a video of this meeting, as he was unhappy with how they had talked to Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and Council staff.

“I wonder whether the Minister of Local Government, in considering an observer for Wellington City Council, is viewing the episode here over the last seven hours, because it is possibly equally as bad,' he said.

“It's some of the poorest governance I've seen in my time here at Auckland Council. And I'm saying this strongly because I'm not going to tolerate it.

“I have no room for this behaviour. It is an abomination, and we've spent coming up seven hours, and these comments are just offensive. It's the uncomfortable truth of it.”