Noise

Speedway consultation

Auckland City appointed the Honourable Peter Salmon QC as an independent commissioner to undertake a consultation process to inquire into the environmental effects of the operation of Speedway at Western Springs. The commissioner engaged relevant independent experts to assist him in considering the issues and providing his opinion.

The specific questions that the commissioner was asked to answer were:

1. What options/methods could be adopted when carrying out the speedway and related activities at Western Springs Stadium in order to ensure that the emission of noise from that land does not exceed a reasonable level having regard to section 16 of the Resource Management Act 1991; and

2. of those options/methods, which is the best practicable option?

The public were invited to submit their feedback before Friday 10 February 2006.

A mediated settlement agreement was reached in October 2005 between Auckland City Council, Springs Promotions and the Springs Stadium Residents' Association that allowed the speedway to continue while the independent review was carried out.

Assessment report on Speedway

Auckland City Council received Honourable Peter Salmon QC's final report on the Western Springs' Speedway in September 2006.

Mr Salmon's review highlights the following:

while a number of houses immediately adjoining Western Springs are considerably affected by noise from Speedway, any approach to limiting noise levels needs to be balanced with the long standing history of racing at Western Springs
noise limits set within the current District Plan cannot be met, therefore it is necessary to provide relief from Speedway noise for local residents in other ways
setting a limit on the number of events and the time that they finish will provide residents with certainty around times they will be free of speedway noise.

Mr Salmon has made several recommendations for the operation of speedway at Western Springs in the future. They include:

a maximum of two practice days and 12 event days per season with limits on finishing times
at least six race free days between any two actual events and an average of 12 race free days between any scheduled events over the racing season
a maximum of two rain out events during the season
a range of new noise limits and preparation of a noise management plan
provide information and advertising of the events calendar, and start and finish times of races and rain out days
Auckland City to assist in noise reduction for the interior of affected houses on West View and Old Mill Roads bordering the stadium.

These recommendations will be reported to council for endorsement.

A resource consent application incorporating these recommendations will be prepared to enable Speedway to continue at Western Springs in line with Council's earlier resolutions.

Commissioner's report in the matter of Western Springs speedway (147kb PDF)

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Reviewed August 2007