‘Petrol head’ mayor hopes to mine gravel under Ruapuna then rebuild a new Supercar raceway

Saturday, 21 October 2023

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger has a dream and it is all about Ruapuna Raceway.

Self-confessed car nut Phil Mauger is driving ahead with a private project to dig up Ruapuna Park and rebuild it in the hope of bringing Supercars to Christchurch.

The city’s mayor wants to see the site - home to Ruapuna Raceway - excavated and its gravel sold, the proceeds of which would pay for a bigger, redesigned raceway that could attract the touring cars event.

Mauger - who says his interest in the council-administered land is purely personal - has now obtained the mining permit for the excavation.

About 2 million cubic metres of land would be extracted from the site. Aggregate sells for roughly $20 a tonne, meaning the gravel could be worth in the region of $40 million.

He was granted the permit for the site in April and met with the Canterbury Car Club, which runs the raceway, to discuss the project last month.

He stressed his involvement was in his personal capacity “as a petrol head”, not as a businessman or mayor, and said he would not personally gain from the project.

A concept drawing for redesigning Ruapuna Raceway, with the new track laid over the current circuit.

“I want Christchurch to be the sporting and events capital of the country, and I think we can do that.”

Mauger applied for the permit in April 2021 on behalf of Mauger’s Mining, of which he was the director until December that year. His daughter Brittany became a director in June the same year.

He told the public he was stepping back from the business when he announced his mayoral campaign in August 2021. A family trust is now listed as the sole shareholder.

Mauger said he considers himself a full-time mayor, and said he had relinquished his positions from all of his companies.

According to the Companies Register, he remains a director of gravel and gold mining company M&M Aggregates Ltd (which he says he won’t be for long); Rookwood Holdings Ltd, a property management and development company; Harewood Holdings Ltd, for investment in commercial property; and Maugers Garage Ltd.

He told The Press this week that his idea was about upgrading Ruapuna and securing its future, and taking advantage of Pukekohe Raceway’s closure, which left Supercar racing in need of another venue.

The opening round of the Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series was held at Ruapuna in September. Mauger wants to dig up the raceway, rebuild it and see it host Supercar racing.

However, Taupō’s International Motorsport Park has already been tipped to become the new home to Supercars, and last month was announced as the host of the 2024 round.

The Government has pitched in $5m over the next three years from its major events fund to support it, and it is expected Taupō will host Supercars for much longer than that. The direct economic benefits to its economy are forecast to be about $6m.

Mauger’s idea pre-dates his time on the council. The concept design was made in 2019, the year he was elected as a councillor, but Mauger said he dreamt it up several years prior.

However, he said he was possibly on the council when he showed the design to the Canterbury Car Club, which was not convinced by the idea at the time.

Based on the design, produced by landscape architect Geraint Howells, Mauger wanted to significantly redesign the track and add about 500m to the circuit, to make it 3.8km.

When Mauger announced his candidacy for mayor, he told the public he was leaving his Mauger’s Mining business. He was a director of the firm until December 2021, 10 months before he won the mayoralty.

The circuit would be lowered 8m into the ground, which Mauger said would improve the sound barrier and ease complaints of noise pollution, which in 2017 threatened Canterbury Car Club’s 33-year lease application.

Club president Lewis Low said technically anyone could apply for a mining right over any property.

However, it would be up to the club to agree to Mauger’s plan, and then it would be taken to the city Council for consideration, he said.

Low declined to comment on the design and the club’s interest in it until Mauger had answered the committee’s many questions and presented a more in-depth design at an upcoming meeting.

Mauger will present his ideas at the club’s committee meeting in November.

Mauger said he thought the club’s opinion was now “fifty-fifty” in favour.

He said he applied for a permit without the club’s endorsement because his vision was impossible without one.

Mauger says he is no longer involved in any companies, but according to the Companies Register is still the director of four. (File photo).

“I wouldn’t say I’ve been pushing it, I’ve just been dreaming about it for a number of years,” he said.

“Ruapuna could turn around and say, ‘get stuffed, don’t wanna do it’, and that’s fine.”

The new track would improve the experience of both drivers and visitors, and could be completed in about two years, he said.

According to the Minerals Mining Permit, he would have to start mining by April 2025 and would have the right to extract 150,000 tonnes a year once work began.

Ruapuna Speedway president Rob Roxburgh said he was familiar with Mauger’s idea and had been shown a design a couple of years ago, but had not heard about it since.

Mauger did not directly answer questions about whether he had considered the environmental impact of the mining and the future events the raceway could attract. But he said it was possible the cars would run on bio-fuel or be electric, sometime in the future.

He expected some people would ask “’what the hell is he doing”, he said, “but I still think it’s better for Christchurch, in getting good quality motor racing”.