Speedway talks break down

More than five hours of talks last night failed to resolve the row over noise at Western Springs speedway.

The parties emerged from the talks at 10.15pm, saying they needed to negotiate further before deciding whether the speedway would go ahead at Springs Stadium.

Racing was cancelled on Saturday night after speedway bosses said they could not meet an Environment Court ruling forcing compliance with noise limits.

Last night's meeting was to resume talks between the speedway and residents opposed to its noise that broke down before the weekend.

The talks, brokered by the Auckland City Council, now look set to resume tomorrow.

The council had hoped the row would be resolved in time for an 8 o'clock press conference last night.

It was forced to cancel the media conference at 7.30pm when it became clear negotiations were far from over.

The council, speedway bosses and residents would say last night only that several options were discussed at the negotiating table and more time was needed to discuss them with their respective groups.

Speedway promoter Dave Stewart said there was still a lot of ground to cover and it was too early to say whether the next speedway meeting would go ahead as planned.

Mr Stewart warned on Sunday night that if a deal was not brokered this week, the sport in Auckland faced a bleak future.

Joe Caccioppoli, spokesman for the residents, said his side had been very flexible in the negotiations.

"I'm really pleased at the level of concession that the supporters of Springs Stadium Residents Association have been prepared to make in an attempt to see speedway continue this year," he said.

Deputy mayor Bruce Hucker said further consultation was needed by the speedway side in particular but progress was made. "We're further down the track to brokering an agreement," he said.

More than 3000 people turned out on Saturday to march in support of racing at the stadium.

About 35,000 people have signed a petition calling for action to save the 75-year-old event.

The petition has been handed to the council, which has unanimously agreed to support the speedway.

Dr Hucker, instructed by Mayor Dick Hubbard to bring the parties together, said on Friday there were signs agreement could be reached.

Members of the residents association won an interim Environment Court case forcing speedway racing to comply with noise limits.

The last speedway meeting at the stadium on December 11 showed that racing complied with the 95-decibel limit on the track and the 85-decibel boundary level.

But Mr Stewart said the speedway could not operate successfully under those conditions.

The "unreasonable" nature of the boundary limit was the crux of the matter.

"I would say it is not looking good for speedway or any motorsport event, really."