Rallies under threat in SA

[RLY240]

Last year the Fleruieu Council banned all closed road motorsport in its district and now the Adelaide Hills Council has only granted permission if written permission is obtained from ALL residents on a closed road stage.

 

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/one-objection-will-halt-hills-car-races-says-council/story-e6frea83-1226328151242

 

At this rate we will lose all these events soon.  This doesn't just affect the Tarmac rally events either as it also encompasses any gravel rally using closed roads (such as the SA round of the ARC).

 

Turns out that all those comments about Adelaide being a backwater are actually true.

 

Roger

[handsandwhich]

Don't worry, it won't be just Adelaide that bans these types of events. Pretty soon we will all be driving around in horse and carts all in the name of public safety and protecting us from ourselves.

 

Break traction in your 1 HP brumby and it will be taken from you and destroyed/crushed!

[Stivva]

The government doesn't want illegal road racing, so of course the only reasonable logic is to reduce sanctioned events.

[zzzzed]

so doese that mean that the v8 supercars will need permission from all the residence of the clipsal 500 circit? 

[luvemfast]

Well, that's $hite!

[gav240z]

The government doesn't want illegal road racing, so of course the only reasonable logic is to reduce sanctioned events.

 

No truer words were spoken on this day...it's not enough to crack down on so-called 'hoons' where anyone with a modified car is a career criminal, but now they want to also make it so difficult to have a 'legal' motorsport event.

[RLY240]

Update - mixed news following this weeks meeting of the Adelaide Hills Council, a motion was made to revoke the previous decisions requiring 100% resident approval and instead to allow the events to run this year as usual as per previous years.

The Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally had their event approved for this year but the Scouts Rally SA (the SA round of the ARC) failed to get their motion revoked so they will unfortunately require 100% of the residents on their stages to give written approval before they will grant the road closures.

 

Given the vibe of the meeting I would suggest this isn't going to happen so it seems likely that the State's premier gravel rally event will be mostly restricted to the forests.

 

Moving forward the Council will develop a new policy for motorsport events in consultation with the community for future events but not sure where this will leave the Targa Adelaide event in August as clearly any new policy won't be ready in time for this event IMHO.

Roger

 

[260DET]

The thing that should be looked at with these councils making things difficult is the basis of their authority to do so. After all their only powers are those that are delegated to them by the State Government, they have no other source of power. I don't know enough to comment further but I do recall that in Q permits are issued by the State police I think, in which case what say has any council got?

[PZG302]

The thing that should be looked at with these councils making things difficult is the basis of their authority to do so. After all their only powers are those that are delegated to them by the State Government, they have no other source of power. I don't know enough to comment further but I do recall that in Q permits are issued by the State police I think, in which case what say has any council got?

 

Local government has plenty of power in this case, they own and are responsible for over 80% of the country's roads data value of over $7billion. Councils have to pay for maintenance from their rates base, as well as meet the interests of their customers (residents/rate payers) and not a couple of hundred car enthusiasts.

 

There are plenty of public liability issues due to any damages to roads, sealed and unsealed, as well as recovering costs for repairs from the event. A field of rally cars can destroy a road very quickly and the damage may not be noticed for many months or even years if the sub base is damaged.

 

 

[260DET]

Basically if a car is road registered no council can stop you driving on their public roads because the State has in effect given you permission to do so. Of course a rally is a different situation but the same principle applies ie if the State has given you permission, through the police or whoever, then no council can deny such permission. The other thing is obtaining permission from residents. They certainly have no authority to stop anyone from using a public road although it looks like the council is using their reactions as a reason to deny use. But can the council deny use on that basis? Sounds questionable to me.

 

As I said, I don't know enough about the relevant law to go further but seeing that legal questions are involved it would be interesting to know specifically what it is. Surely the rally promoter has researched this aspect.

[nizm0zed]

you are correct in saying that if your car is registered, then nobody can stop you driving on a public road, however, you need to obey all applicable road rules at the same time.

The council has the power to close the road and suspend the road rules over that closed section of road for the duration of an event, enabling the cars to compete and be exciting.

Would you want to go watch a rally where cars had a 60kph speed limit?

[260DET]

Link to a Q road closure info source here http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/forms/fm641_road_closure_information.pdf

 

Assuming that the police give the OK to an application then a council would have to have a good reason for knocking it back, it's an administrative decision and such decisions have to be made fairly and for sound reasons. Yeh, if the road in question was susceptable to damage could be a good one, if a resident or two did not like it then too bad, that would not be a good reason I think you will find.

 

Of course the organisers would have to be prepared to challenge an adverse council decision, if they rollover then forget it. PS it's raining, I'm bored because no sprints for me tomorrow, probably 

[boyblunda]

Not quite on topic but I remember days gone by (70's and 80's) where upset individuals objected to rallies by blocking roads with machinery, putting obstructions on roads - was not Greg Carr denied a possible win in a Southern Cross after he ran into an obstruction of rocks and sticks - threatening people with firearms etc. Of course none of these things are legal, but I suppose the bottom line is that motorsport always has to tread a very tenuous thin line with its public relations and getting onside with statutory authorities.

 

It is easier for high profile events to get the support or to have the weight of influence that enables them to get most of what they want. However, the backlash of reactionary opinion can be quite limiting for those of us that want to organise or participate in lower level events.

 

Motorsport will always have to fight a rearguard action to protect the position it has.

 

It annoys me intensely to observe the patterns that have become apparent in WA where we once used to have several speedway circuits around the metropolitan area - none of those now exist as suburban infill and residents objections have forced these venues to close. Do West Australians remember Ellen Brook, Forrestfield, and Bibra Lake speedways. Everyone must remember Claremont speedway. Rallies have been forced further out into the country with all the Treechangers and hobby farmers not wanting the noise and disturbance in their environment. As a parallel situation look at the situation with airstrips around the metropolitan area.

 

I suppose what I am saying is that we are always going to have to be careful and present ourselves in the best possible light. And yes, it is a pain particularly when you are often dealing with a small number of very loud objectors.

 

Regards

Dave