PETITION TO SAVE WAKEFIELD GATHERS MOMENTUM

An e-petition to the NSW House of Parliament for NSW residents has been released in an attempt to save the operations of the Benalla Auto Club owned (BAC) Wakefield Park Raceway.

The petition is aimed at the NSW Legislative Assembly and specifically the Minister for Planning. Organised to gather support from the wider NSW motorsport community, along with residents and businesses from the Goulburn region, the Save Wakefield Park group created the petition with the support of Shadow Minister Julia Finn MP.

The Save Wakefield Park Raceway petition will be presented by the Shadow Minister to the Legislative Assembly, should the minimum amount of 20,000 signitures be procured, a figure which has already been halfway met.

SAVE WAKEFIELD PARK PETITION LINK HERE

To date, the online document has already garnered over 10,000 signatures in three days, which can only be signed by NSW residents. With the economic value of the track having been estimated at between $15-30 million dollars per annum, the loss of the WPR leaves a distinctly harmful mark on the state as a whole.

As one of two full length racetracks left in the State of NSW, the forced September 1st closure of the Goulburn area raceway has far reaching consequences to both the Motorsport community and the general community.

As previously reported by AUTO ACTION, the raceway was dealt a huge blow with the NSW Land and Environmental Court handing down a series of inoperable working conditions following the BAC’s attempt to overturn an unfavourable Development Application.

Whilst the petition is separate to the ongoing efforts of the BAC to bring the matter in front of the NSW government, the petition is heavily supported by the BAC.

AUTO ACTION spoke with General Manager of Operations at the Benalla Auto Club, Stephen Whyte, about the importance of the petition from the view of it’s Victorian owners.

“Although it’s independent of our approach (the BAC), we were definitely made aware of the petition, and as a private entity, we absolutely support it,” said Whyte.

“This is the rate payers of NSW having their say, and it adds another important dimension to the cause, because it’s the power of the people.

“It’s the voters showing how important that facility is to their community and how important it is to motorsport in general in NSW.

“It also highlights how important Wakefield Park is to the wider landscape of the sport in general.

“The precedent set by this unfortunate decision has affected many and varied people, and it’s not just the Goulburn community. Whilst it’s certainly an immediate concern economically for that area, the far-reaching consequences are of how it will affect motorsport in general.

“We’re amazed by the support so far, everything we’ve set out to do so far has been backed by the people of NSW. That petition already has over ten thousand signatures. The greatest fear here is that it gets forgotten, and this helps to ensure that it stays in the eye of the wider public, and importantly, in the view of Parliament.

“From our perspective, this particular group (Save Wakefield Park) has been very very active along this whole journey, and as I mentioned, it’s the power of the power looking to make a change.”

AUTO ACTION encourages all NSW residents in support of the Goulburn community, and for the wider concern of motorsport in the State, to sign the e-petition by clicking this link provided. 

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