Fast and furious at speedway

It's a chilly Saturday night at Auckland's Western Springs speedway, and the passion is as strong as the smell of high octane fuel.

About 7000 ardent supporters, young and old, and from all walks of life, have turned out in force as midget cars howl around the track, flinging mud through the chicken wire, the rubber of tyres staining the red dirt black.

It is a good turnout, given there will only be limited racing: tonight each car must be measured to make sure it does not exceed an 85 decibel noise limit.

Surprisingly, there is no sign of protest against the noise from neighbouring residents.

They've been told to move, told to stop their carping. But amid the roar of racing cars and motor bikes, they're staying put, vowing to fight.

But tonight, the fans can't understand what all the fuss is about.

Even fans as young as seven-year old Kaleb Currie. Top to toe in racing paraphernalia, his whole world revolves around the speedway - even his cat is called Midget. And if the speedway were to close?

"I'd go to the council," he says, then goes quiet.

His mother Hayley cuts in: "His world would end. He wouldn't know what to do."

But as residents will tell you, the stand they've taken is not about denying fans their Saturday night at the speedway.

All they want is for the speedway to comply with the noise regulations.

Seventy-year-old Zoe is just one of many battling against the noise that regularly cuts through her property on a Saturday night.

She lives about three football fields from the speedway. From her house you can just see the parking area, but even with the doors closed and drapes drawn she can barely hear her television.

"I sit here until 11.30pm, just waiting for the noise to stop."

While talkback callers scoff that it's newly arrived yuppies that are threatening the future of the speedway, Zoe lives in the house her father built. She has spent the best part of seven decades as a neighbour of the speedway.

Zoe is a member of the Springs Stadium Residents' Association, an organisation that claims it is simply misunderstood. Since 1996 the speedway has operated under an Auckland City Council district plan rule which states it must not exceed an 85-decibel (dBA) sound level.

The rules also say it can't operate after 10.30pm and there can be only 20 race meetings and three practice sessions in any one season.

Residents, sick and tired of the noise, took the speedway to the Environment Court, which last week ordered the speedway to comply with the 85-decibel limit or face a $200,000 fine.

Judge Craig Thompson said the speedway must comply with noise limits as imposed by the district plan - and warned if there were further breaches, the court would put a stop to it. However, compliance will be tough.

Since being fined $300 for exceeding noise levels at the first meeting of the season in early November, the promoter has taken several steps to meet the 85-decibel limit. Competitors have been asked to tone down noisy cars, and some have been pulled from races. The public address system has also become less strident. Still residents are not happy.

There appears to be no quick fix because speedway, by its very nature, is a noisy activity.

Simon Dew, who has lived about two kilometres from the stadium for the past 16 years, says it is simply not fair that the speedway has been ignoring the rules.

"We've been complaining for years and nothing has happened." However, while the court case is a victory for the association, it's a decision not everyone in the area is happy with.

For its part, Springs Promotions says it has tried to be a good neighbour. It has sent more than 5000 letters to local residents, informing them of the racing schedule and giving them free tickets.

Promoter Dave Smith admitted the speedway had continuously exceeded its 85 dBA limit, but said that was because it was extremely difficult to comply. In the end achieving the legal limit could mean a lot of work for speedway promoters with very little results for residents. Chris Day of Marshall Day Acoustics said the difference between 85 and 90 dBA was noticeable, but both were extremely noisy.

"Applying the law probably won't give the residents the quiet they want, it will still be pretty awful in people's backyards."

- additional reporting by Amanda Spratt

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