Street circuit finalised for V8s
The proposed street racetrack for V8 Supercars in Hamilton, New Zealand, has now been finalised in readiness for public consultation.
The track has been shortened from what was originally announced and no longer goes directly past as many residential properties as previously proposed.
Residents, business and property owners in the vicinity of the track are being directly contacted with updated information. As part of the communication, they are being invited to two information days that are being held on 10 and 11 May at the Hamilton Workingmen's Club Pavilion.
The information days are targeted at people who live or own a business close to where the event will be held. People who feel they might be directly affected by the staging of the event are encouraged to attend to get more detailed information.
John Olliver, from Bloxam, Burnett and Olliver, who is managing the resource consent process on behalf of Hamilton City Council, says a considerable amount of work has now been completed in readiness for the application and there is now a lot more information gathered.
We are approaching the information days as the beginning of our consultation.
John Oliver
"We are expected to be in a position to lodge the resource consent application in June, with a decision expected from the independent commissioner, who will hear the application, some time in September.
"We are approaching the information days as the beginning of our consultation. They are very much to work through the details of the impact of the event and to get feedback that can be taken into account in the detailed design, rather than to promote what is going to happen," he says.
Mr Olliver says the type of information that will be available will include the detailed components of the circuit, information on access and transport as well as the resource consent process itself.
Hamilton City Council has continued to receive a steady stream of feedback in response to the announcement of the proposed V8 street race, with the overwhelming majority extremely positive.
The final changes to the proposed track were made after detailed investigations by track engineers from Australia. The engineers carried out speed curve analysis, which resulted in the inclusion of a hairpin bend at the end of London Street to slow the cars and make the track safer for the drivers.
The owners of the event, Australian V8 Supercars also preferred the track to be shorter than the original 4 kilometres. The final version is now 3.4 kilometres.
It is also proposed to have the pit-lane garages on the southern side of Mill Street opposite the Waikato Stadium number two ground. A final decision on how pit-lane will be configured is still to be confirmed.
The information days will run from 11am to 8pm on 10 and 11 May and will allow general display of information as well as one-on-one discussions with potentially affected parties. Resource consent planners, the event promoter and event organiser will be present at the information days to discuss the issues and answer questions.
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