No Rally in the Valley group outlines their opposition

This statement opposing the Repco Rally Australia  to be held in September in Kyogle and Tweed Shires was submitted by Michael McNamara, president of No Rally Group Inc:

The sleepy little villages of the Tweed Valley and Kyogle areas in the far north-east of the State are about to be shaken awake by the roar of rally cars racing through their environmentally sensitive area!

It is planned to hold a leg of the World Rally Championships in the Tweed and Kyogle areas in September this year, and every second year for up to twenty years. The proposed route takes the rally cars, at speeds in excess of 160km/h, along quiet rural gravel roads and through National Parks.

Local residents are concerned about the impacts of this event in four main areas: Environmental; Economic; Social and Political

Environmental concerns
• Impact on threatened flora and fauna including koalas and species classified as endangered or vulnerable
• Use of National Parks for a car racing event
• Inconsistency of this event in an area identified as
 A bio-diversity hotspot (one of only 15 in Australia)
 An iconic landscape equivalent to Uluru and Kakadu.

Economic Concerns
• Inflation of estimated economic returns
• No consideration of real costs
• Potential damage to growing eco-tourism industry
• Inconsistency of this event with the recognition of the importance of eco-tourism and nature-based tourism as the key priority in economic development for the area.

Social Concerns
• Increased alcohol- and violence-related anti-social behaviour
• Copy-cat driving
• Increased driving-related deaths and injuries
• Creation of social division in the local community.

Political Concerns:
• Secret deals between government agencies and a private company
• Lack of local consultation
• Subsidies to the event from the public purse
• Inappropriate relationships between developers and approving authorities.

Last year (August 2008), with great fanfare, Commonwealth Ministers Peter Garrett (Environment) and Martin Ferguson (Tourism) descended on our quiet little corner of the state to declare us to be of national significance – beloved of all because of our unique landscape! We were incorporated into the National Landscapes Program, along with Uluru and Kakadu and 14 other areas across Australia recognised for their iconic landscapes. They mouthed the words … “biodiversity” … “eco-tourism” … and so on ad infinitum.

Then a month later (September 2008) their state counterparts got down to the serious business. They announced the result of two years of secret negotiations between Events NSW (a company wholly owned by the NSW government) and Repco Rally Australia (a company wholly owned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports [CAMS]).

Not only is the state government supporting the rally with words, they are putting our taxpayers’ money into it. So far they have donated several million dollars to Repco Rally Australia to assist them to stage the event.

At the same time, through the NSW Premier’s Department, they are co-ordinating a “whole of government” support effort costing who knows how much. Who is paying the salaries, travel and accommodation expenses of these bureaucrats? Certainly not the organisers of the rally!

As an example of the hidden support costs, police are being provided free of charge (as is support from all other government departments because it has been declared a “Hallmark Event”). The Police Local Area Commander advised only last week that 150 police working a mix of 10 and 12 hour shifts would be brought into the area for the 3 days the event is planned to run.

If you or I wanted to hire a police officer for an event it would cost a bit over $85 per hour per officer.

That adds up to about $400,000 in policing costs alone – and that does not include their transport, accommodation or meals! Add in the costs associated with Ambulances, other health services, RTA, NPWS, fire brigades, Rural Fire Service, SES and so the list goes on.

Who will be paying? Certainly not the private company, owned by CAMS, set up to organise the event! It will, once again, be you and I, the long-suffering NSW taxpayers who will foot the bill.

Particularly insulting to Tweed locals is the fact that at the same time that the NSW government is pumping millions into supporting this outdated and environmentally destructive “sport”, they are ripping millions out of the North Coast Health Services, at the cost of hundreds of jobs, and downgrading Murwillumbah Hospital.

The local Tweed Shire Council, only recently out of Administration after an enquiry found that their relationship with developers was too cosy, is also supporting the rally. As a parting gesture to local ratepayers the Administrators decided, in August last year, to give $120,000 every two years to the organisers. They also decided to provide office accommodation in the council office building and free use of the council workshops for pre-race and post-race scrutineering of the cars. All this without ever once asking locals if they actually wanted this event in the area!

On top of this the General Manager of the council is on the Board of Directors of Repco Rally Australia! Have they never heard the phrase “conflict of interest”?

Obviously some are aware of the Conflict of Interest potential! The General Manager was explicitly excluded from discussions between the Tweed Mayor and the NSW government in Sydney in the week following the announcement that the state government was taking over control of the planning approval process!!!

This same General Manager actually suggested to rally organisers, when they were looking for a location for the Service Park for the racing cars, that they use a foreshore park in Kingscliff for a month. Public land – our land – given to a private company to use for a month every two years! Nearby residents are, not surprisingly, just a tad upset!

All this, without a Development Application having been lodged – just a “wink and a nod” from the people “in the know” in the State Government and local Council! Obviously, the “wink and nod” are the way to go in NSW – on Friday 29/5 the NSW Government announced it was preparing special legislation to ensure the rally goes ahead.

Only in the last several weeks the rally organisers have released environmental and socio-economic studies that they plan to use to support the rally when they finally get around to lodging a Development Application. Their final proposed route was released two days earlier.

The proposed route shows that ALL stages running through or beside National Parks are racing stages, with speeds expected in excess of 160 km/h.

Rally organisers have dangled the twin carrots of economic benefits and local jobs in front of the businesses in the area. The jobs involved amount to five days of casual work every two years – hardly real jobs!

They have also presented a rosy economic picture of millions of dollars flowing into the Tweed and Kyogle areas from accommodation and food purchases. Strange that they don’t make mention of research paid for by the industry that showed that at similar events in 2007 less than 1/3 of attendees paid for accommodation. Given the proximity of the race to the main target market (young Gold Coast males) it is likely they will bring their own food and go home at night.

It is also strange that they don’t acknowledge the real costs involved – but then in the finest traditions of rural NSW politics they are privatising the profits and socialising the costs. They are not paying them so they don’t count seems to be the logic.

Rally organisers have left a trail of misinformation in their wake. They have variously claimed that:
• local wildlife carers had agreed to look after injured animals – but the local wildlife carers, Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers, were never contacted.
• the “vets from Currumbin” (Wildlife Sanctuary animal hospital) would come down to treat any injured wildlife, but they were never asked either.
• they would give $17,000 to local Landcare volunteers to plant trees as carbon offsetting, for rally cars and official vehicles, but they were never asked either and the real cost of such plantings, including maintaining the trees would cost many times that amount… but they were never asked.
• claimed that the consultant who prepared the ecological study on the rally saw “no reason from an ecological viewpoint that the rally should not proceed” – despite him never saying that. These comments were published in the Tweed Daily News on 18/5/09.
• had to apologise and make excuses on ABC local radio for having attributed words that he did not say to Dr Phillips in a media release.

Locals have concerns about the environmental studies and the socio-economic study that have been prepared and would have been used to support the Development Application.

Some concerns about the environmental studies:
(Note: The studies may be downloaded from www.rallyaustralia.com)

1. Ecological study
• Conducted in Autumn BUT the race is planned to run in Spring
• Considers ONLY risk of impact by rally vehicles (racing cars)
• Ignores impact of stress on wildlife
• Recommends strategies that will actually INCREASE stress on wildlife
• Does not consider impact during breeding season
• Does not consider impact of “rally related activities” by rally staff, volunteers and spectators (estimated at 20,000)
• Rates activities against the lowest common denominator of State and Federal legislated requirements rather then current best practice.
• Identifies significant numbers of threatened species on the proposed route.
• Acknowledges the risk of vehicle impact.

2. Dust study
• Recommends residents on the proposed route either “go out for the day” or “close windows and doors and turn on their air-conditioners”.

3. Noise (acoustic) study
• Acknowledges that recommended levels can’t be met.
• DRAFT version only available for download.

4. Carbon Offset Plan
• Consists of one page (plus Q&A) on the website of the organisers.
• Depends on volunteers (Landcare) without appropriate consultation.
• Does not take into account the ongoing cost of maintaining trees planted as carbon offsets.

5. Waste study
• Has different standards for “stallholders” and “internal” operations (eg use of clingwrap and plastics)
• Recommends use of bin types that have been excluded from the new (commencing 2009/10) Tweed Shire Council waste collection contract. (Recommends “split bins” rather than separate bins for recyclable waste.)

Some concerns about the Socio-economic study:
• Limited local consultation (spoke with 7 people  each representing a different group, mainly business)
• Dismisses local concerns based on unsupported assurances from organisers
• No consideration of real costs of the event
• Does not consider impact on existing (growing) tourist market based on eco-tourism and nature tourism
• No evidence is provided for the estimated number of part-time casual jobs and full time jobs it claims will be created.

Locals are not impressed, and in the finest traditions of protest in defence of the local environment on the North Coast, are taking to the streets and the phones and the internet to make their voices heard.

The recent decision by the NSW State Government to take over control of the approval process for the rally shows the desperation of the rally organisers and their acknowledgement that they don’t have the local support they have been claiming. Repco Rally Australia stated in their media release that the government was acting at the behest of the Paris-based Federation Internationale d’ Automobile (FIA), the controlling body of world motor sport.

And they wonder why people are cynical about politicians and politics.

We don’t want it!

We don’t need it!

Join with us to help stop this travesty.

Contact the No Rally Group: no.rally@yahoo.com

Related posts:

1. Tweed Mayor insists on open communication over Repco Rally
2. Tweed, Kyogle councils meet with minister over Repco Rally
3. Former rally driver’s claims rejected by Rally Australia
4. Former Rally New Zealand GM to head up local FIA round
5. Rally organisers say they’ll undertake carbon offset plan

Related Articles:

Related posts:

1. Tweed Mayor insists on open communication over Repco Rally
2. Tweed, Kyogle councils meet with minister over Repco Rally
3. Former rally driver’s claims rejected by Rally Australia
4. Former Rally New Zealand GM to head up local FIA round
5. Rally organisers say they’ll undertake carbon offset plan