Thousands of Bay motorsport fans will get to see some of New Zealand's most exciting kart racing after a deal was reached to minimise the event's impact on Tauranga's St Mary's Catholic Church.
The country's only street kart race has been saved by a compromise in which karts will not be fired up until after 10.30am on Sunday November 13.
In exchange, the church will bring back the start time of its 10am mass to 9.30am.
Bay of Plenty Kart Club expects to attract over 200 drivers and 7000 spectators to the event, last staged in downtown Tauranga in 1996.
It was all set to be re-launched as an annual street race on a new circuit around Glasgow St, Third Ave, Cameron Rd and Elizabeth St but it struck strong opposition from St Mary's.
The church vowed to fight the street closure application when it found out that at least three of its church services were going to be disrupted by the street closures, crowds, and noise from high-revving motors.
But last-minute negotiations between St Mary's and the club has ensured the race will go ahead, although its long-term future on the circuit past the church will depend on how things work come race weekend.
The Deed of Agreement signed by the church and the club gave yesterday's meeting of Tauranga City Council's regulatory committee the confidence to allow the street closures to go ahead.
The club compromised by shortening its programme so racing did not start until midday, with no motors to be fired up until the last church service ends at 10.30am.
Racing will be around the block bounded by Cameron Rd, Elizabeth St, Glasgow St and Third Ave.
And the council, which was criticised by some church members for the way it initially addressed the issue, has agreed to reduce race-day traffic pressure by opening the Elizabeth St carpark to St Mary's parishioners and race spectators.
Regulatory committee chairman Bob Addison praised the agreement reached, saying: "This is the sort of thing that gladdens the heart."
He wanted to the see the racing monitored by the council and an informal debriefing held afterwards.
St Mary's pastoral council chairman Robin King said it would have been courteous if the council had talked to affected parties when it decided in April to grant $20,000 towards the event.
"A certificate of compliance was granted without any consultation with us," he said. Mr King said controls such as noise should come into play when road closures were contemplated, and where they could not comply, it should become a resource consent issue. It was something that could be addressed in the District Plan, he said.
Mr Addison said the committee had no jurisdiction over noise when approving road closures for sporting events or public functions. He welcomed the deed as setting a template for the future.
But Mr King said it was a one-off event and the agreement was not setting a precedent.
The kart club's website said the race meeting was inspired by Illinois' Rock Island grand prix in the United States - known world-wide as the highlight of the North American kart racing calendar circuit.
It said the Tauranga motorsport event had the potential to become the Rock Island race of the South Pacific.
"With this street race event, Tauranga could have what the bigger cities of Auckland and Wellington have missed out on.
"The logistical requirements, disruption potential and costs for kart racing are clearly less than V8 Supercars, but the excitement, speed and skill are equally abundant."
Street race manager Peter Cassidy was unable to explain how much of the racing programme would be cut short, saying the club and the church had agreed not to comment any further than what was set out in their agreement.
TOP STORY: Kart racing fans get green light for race day
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