Targa car rally gets OK

By COLIN WILLIAMS - Upper Hutt Leader

The Targa car rally will go ahead in Upper Hutt.

The event will take place on October 31 with the several-hour closure of the main access roads in Whitemans Valley (and Moonshine Hill) unchanged, the council has decided.

The national car rally looked in doubt after a dozen residents formally opposed the closures and the city's services committee deferred a decision to Wednesday's full council meeting.

This attracted several advocates of the rally, including Peter Martin, the Targa event director, while one resident, Ross Hammersley-Myers, was a lone voice in public opposition.

Councillor Keith Barnard, who identified himself to the meeting as the councillor who called for the deferment, proved strongly in favour of the rally going ahead.

"I'm very supportive of the rally, but I don't support the lack of communication with our community," he said.

"If you had been here there may not have been any hassle ... but you weren't and that's poor," he told Mr Martin and other rally supporters.

Mr Barnard then said the residents who were against the rally were also at fault.

"If they really had the support of their community they should be here tonight," he offered.

In the time allowed for the public at the beginning of the meeting, Mr Martin spoke about Targa's organisation.

He had also earlier distributed an email to all councillors because after the "article on the front page of the Leader, we thought it appropriate to represent the silent majority voice".

"We work with a variety of councils throughout the North Island, all of whom have subtle differences on their interpretation of the road closure process ... developed over the last 15 years to meet these needs and well beyond the necessary requirement," the communication says.

"On the Whitemans Valley stage we have door knocked and informed 499 houses/businesses of which we spoke directly to 154 residents who were at home. This represents 31 per cent penetration. Of those we spoke to only three wished to object. This represents less than 2 per cent of the 154.

"We believe the process we've gone through is very robust," Mr Martin said.

He apologised that no-one was able to represent Targa at the first council meeting.

"We had another meeting to attend along similar lines [and] couldn't be in two places at once."

The rally had changed its routes from earlier years, including 2008 when the Akatarawa Rd was used (and, consequently, the Whitemans Valley area required was different and the road closures less restrictive).

Councillor Peter McCardle spoke about the possibility of the council altering the rally course to lessen the impact on residents. ''We're hoping that that wouldn't happen,'' Mr Martin replied.

The rally adheres strictly to its governing body's requirements regarding the distances covered in various race stages, the quality and demands of the suitable road surfaces ''which are getting less and less and less''.

Councillor Austin said she was disappointed the communication with residents was running at only 30 per cent.

''I'd like it to be much higher.''

Her main concern was with the potential seven-hour closure of Moonshine Rd for the stage which follows the Whitemans Valley action.

Mr Martin agreed it was lengthy but emphasised that there was a ''clear window of opportunity'' midway through the closure for the movement of residents.

After further discussion Mrs Austin was accepting of the situation. ''I was concerned about that but I have been reassured tonight. With that proviso I'm comfortable with the application,'' she told fellow councillors.

The formal vote for the approval of the temporary road closures, and the running of the rally, was voted unanimously after being moved by Councillor Barry Timms and seconded by Councillor Pat Christianson. The, now final, council decision means an estimated 650 residences will be affected by the road closures. They are in the Blue Mountains (189), Whitemans Valley (200), Mangaroa (107), Katherine Mansfield Dr (87) and Moonshine Hill (70).