Millionaire racer beats neighbours

Angry residents tell JAMES GARDINER a wine baron's unlawfully built backyard go-kart track is ruining their lives.

Wine millionaire Ivan Selak admits he is "a bit of a petrol-head" but, out west, some might think that goes with the territory.

Whether Mr Selak, of Whenuapai at the end of the North-western Motorway, is a good neighbour depends on who you talk to.

Two years ago he had a 300m bitumen go-kart race track built on his 6.5ha property and indulged family and friends in the long-time passion he shares with wife Liz.

Within a few months neighbours across the water had had enough of the high-pitched whine of the two-stroke engines, the squeal of rubber and the smell of exhaust fumes wafting over the Brigham Creek estuary in the upper Waitemata Harbour.

Mr Selak, who sold the family wine business to Nobilo in 1998, found himself confronted by demands from the Waitakere City Council to cease and desist. Not only did he not have consent under the Resource Management Act to build the track, he would also need permission to race go-karts, which the council describes as a "non-residential activity".

This week Waitakere City Council granted retrospective consent for the track and approved racing for up to three hours a day between noon and 6 pm.

After closed presentations from applicant, objectors and legal, town planning, acoustics and landscape gardening experts that lasted nearly four hours, the council's hearings committee gave unanimous consent.

Its decision upset at least eight sets of neighbours, but the Selaks are not happy either. They are considering appealing against the council's refusal to grant them permission to race on Sundays and public holidays.

Mr Selak said he did not realise he needed consent to build the track and operate the go-karts.

His lawyer, Bell Gully partner David McGregor, told councillors that races between Mr and Mrs Selak had become "a feature of their marriage in terms of competition".

Mr McGregor emphasised that the set-up was of a high standard on their "most attractively presented property. This is not some sort of boy racer backyard application."

But all Gerald Collett and Katharine Nye want to hear as they wander with their children from their kauri villa to the water for an afternoon swim is the sound of cicadas and tui. They bought the 4ha block to escape the city.

The noise was "awful", Mr Collett told the committee. Trying to sit on the verandah with go-karts racing was "intolerable". The exhaust fumes had even permeated washing on the line despite coming from more than 100m away.

"We try to be pragmatic about it," he said before becoming too upset to speak for several minutes.

"The anxiety and the stress has destroyed our quality of life."

Mr McGregor said noise was the key issue. Acoustics experts agreed the three go-karts would produce 50 decibels, the maximum allowed under the district plan.

What they could not agree on was where the measurements should be taken from - the legal boundaries of the properties or closer to the houses.

A further complication was that Whenuapai is in Waitakere jurisdiction while Kumeu, across the estuary, is Rodney District. The councils have different noise standards.

Submissions were evenly divided.

The Selaks' neighbours on Kennedy's Rd all supported the application for consent, while residents on the Kumeu and Riverhead side were opposed. Steven and Cindy Jones, of Brigham Lane, said they found the noise annoying and stressful and were concerned it would scare the birds from the area. Philip and Sue Adams said the tranquillity of their garden had been spoilt by the high-revving engines and squealing tyres.

Mr Collett said he did not believe the noise levels were measured accurately and wondered whether Mr Selak would have won permission had the track not been built already. He doubted they could afford an appeal.

"When Ivan Selak came to see us he told us he was prepared to fight it all the way through the court and obviously he's got the money," he said.

Mr Selak said "of course" he had sympathy for the objectors, but he believed only the Collett-Nye family were close enough to be disturbed by the noise.

So for now the Selaks can continue to slake their thirst for competition while their neighbours fume that racing is the pits.