Dannevirke: Tararua tightens rules for road rallies

Tararua District councillors are revving up more robust practices for road closure applications for motorsport activities in the district.

But while they're toughening up the rules, councillors agreed these events contribute to the economy of the district and have no intention of locking the gates to the Tararua.

"To measure tangible benefits may be pretty hard but, during the Targa Rally, I toured in a car and Pongaroa School made plenty of money charging for a pass and, when we returned to Dannevirke, a garage in town was absolutely chokka with rally people refuelling," deputy mayor, Bill Keltie said. "The spend those guys did was incredible."

Councillor Keith Fenemore agreed.

"It opened my eyes to see what was spent during the Targa event too," he said.

On Tuesday, councillors debated how tough they should get when considering car rally events.

Every year, councillors are asked to consider applications for motorsport events to be held on sealed and unsealed roads in the district, often voicing concerns about the benefits, or otherwise, to ratepayers and residents.

"It has been difficult to agree on who benefits or to what extent, even when the event is large, such as those organised by Rally Wairarapa, Targa New Zealand and Rally Hawke's Bay," Ray Cannon, manager engineering services, told councillors in a report.

Mr Cannon said the same roads were often subject to applications for closure for speed events, putting considerable inconvenience on ratepayers and, in some cases, causing damaged to sealed and unsealed roads.

Up until now, no bond has been charged to organisers of events.

But now councillors have voted to impose bonds of up to $2000, at the discretion of Tararua Engineering Services, once applications have been granted.

Councillors have also identified roads which won't be available to rally organisers, with all applications to be advised six months in advance of the event.

No road closures for motor sport events will be considered during July, August, September or October, to fit in around the lambing and calving period on local farms.

"There's no automatic right to use the district's roads and, at the moment, the only charge for an event is a $100 application fee and any extra cost for repairing roads," Richard Taylor, council's governance manager, said.

However, district mayor Roly Ellis said although he was happy with a $2000 charge for major rally events, he believed it was too much to ask of the local Dannevirke Car Club.

Mr Fenemore said he'd had feedback from car club members not happy at the prospect of a $2000 charge.

"They can't afford $2000 with up to four rallies a year," he said. "I understand the club isn't very financial and don't have a big pocket of money to outlay on a bond."

Mr Keltie said he was quite comfortable with the charge because event organisers got their bond back if there was no damage to the roads.

"We've had complaints about damage done to Whariti Rd by Dannevirke Car Club events and clubs would only have to wait a week following the rally to get their bond back, once engineering services have checked the roads," he said.

Organisers will have to consult with residents on roads proposed for rallies, with councillor Warren Davidson insisting it was important to get the best outcome for everyone.