15 Mar 2019

Western Springs speedway given last-minute extension on lease

11:03 am on 15 March 2019

Western Springs speedway has been given a last-minute extension for one year on its lease.

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Photo: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Regional Facilities Auckland, which manages the park for Auckland Council, recently said it didn't have the money to keep the sport running at the site.

It had planned to end the lease this month.

RFA chairman Andrew Barnes said the agency lost more than $500,000 running speedway at Western Springs, excluding other expenses.

But Speedway organisers and two Auckland councillors have since asked Auckland Mayor Phil Goff to sort the situation out.

Regional Facilities Auckland granted the reprieve today, the day before what was supposed to be the speedway's final event.

Mr Barnes said he had come to an agreement with the speedway's promoter to allow time for a new permanent home to be found.

He said says some critical and urgent decisions had to be made by the Auckland Council because unless the council found the speedway a permanent home, it would be dealing with the same problem next year.

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