Repco Rally

In August 2008 the Tweed Shire administrators, as one of their last decisions while running the Council, decided to provide financial and other support to Repco Rally Australia (RRA) for their proposed car rally in the Tweed Valley. Recently, the details of that decision are being rewritten by newly elected councillors and the General Manager.

The Administrators decided to provide support as follows:

• $120,000 per event (every second year);
• office accommodation for 4 people for 18 months (RRA to be responsible for operating costs); and
• free use of council workshops to conduct pre-race and post-race scrutineering of rally cars.

They also authorised the General Manager (who later joined the board of directors of RRA) to negotiate additional "in-kind" support.

How can the CEO of the Council also sit on the board of a private company seeking to lodge a development application?

This decision, and his taking up the position, raises (in the minds of many reasonable local residents) a conflict of interest. How can the CEO of the Council also sit on the board of a private company seeking to lodge a development application?

Anyway, back to the main point of this message.

Up till 2008, a classic car race event called Speed on Tweed was run in the centre of Murwillumbah each September. Due to loss of sponsorship, 2008 was the last running of this event.

Some in the Council are now claiming that the $120,000 given to RRA (with no stated accountability or reporting requirements) was actually given to them for Speed on Tweed. This version might (only might mind you) be more believable had the local daily newspaper not run a denial from RRA (Tweed Daily News 17/4/09) that there was any agreement that they would sponsor Speed on Tweed.

The only publicly available information about the contributions by Council towards RRA is the resolution of the August 2008 Council meeting. The minutes of that discussion have not been publicly released. These discussions should have been made publicly available from the start rather than being buried in a shroud of secrecy.

Anyway, the deal to sponsor Speed on Tweed is now signed and sealed. And I believe it will be used to pressure that Council to approve the DA for the rally.

This whole sorry saga raises several questions of ethics and due process.

1. If, and it is a very big if, the money was given to RRA to support Speed on Tweed - BUT that fact was not made public then the Council has "played favourites". Its decision (and the hiding of it) gave a negotiating advantage to RRA in its discussions with the organisers of Speed on Tweed.
2. If the money was really for Speed on Tweed, why did the Council not announce that fact when they decided to give the money (with NO CONDITIONS) to RRA?

Maybe it's time the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) or the Ombudsman was involved?

What you can do:

1. Contact Tweed Shire Council and insist that:
   • the General Manager, Mike Rayner, be required to resign his position as a director of Repco Rally Australia because of the conflict of interest it creates;
   • Repco Rally Australia be required to account for the spending of the $120,000 given to it by Council;
2. Come to No Rally Group meetings. For more information contact no.rally[AT]yahoo.com;
3. Attend protest at 2pm, 28 May at Knox Park, Murwillumbah.

After much delay (didn't they realise it rains here????) the Development Application for the planned car rally in the Tweed and Kyogle areas in September this year seems likely to be submitted to the councils in the next week (unless further delayed by acts of God or Brian).

When contacted, Tweed Shire indicated the DA would be available for public comment for a minimum of 14 days.

I have rung all Councillors and the Director of Planning to push for a 28 day consultation period. Those I have spoken to are supportive of this suggestion. I encourage everyone to do the same. This highly contentious development will have very detailed attachments to it in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement and an Economic Impact Statement. The local community deserves the right to have adequate time to conside the detail of the proposals, especially when the organisers have had 6 months and the benefit of the Tweed Shire Council General Manager on their Board of Directors.

What you can do:
- Contact Tweed and Kyogle councils to express your concern and opposition to the planned rally. If you don't live locally make sure you point out that if the rally goes ahead it will impact on your travel decisions.
- If you live locally, contact your local council and councillors to demand a 28 day consultation period for the rally DA.
- Continue to contact state and commonwealth environment and tourism ministers pointing out the inconsistency of the rally in this location.

For more info contact:
Tweed - No Rally Group: Email no.rally @ yahoo.com ph:0438 357 452
Kyogle - Krater: Email: krater @ aussiemail.com.au ph: 0435 080 025 snailmail: P.O. Box 423, Kyogle, NSW, 2474
Web: sites.google.com/site/kyoglespeak/world-rally-championships-in-kyogle

We have taken the promo video put on You Tube by the rally organisers and turned it into a more realistic rendition of what the rally really means for the Tweed Valley.

The reworked video is on You Tube. The link is www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_O1ekQNX6I

Update: The video has been removed by YouTube because the organisers of the World Rally races have claimed that it breaches their copyright. If it does breach copyright, they, nevertheless, could hardly complain that the removed video provides a less accurate depiction of how the rally will turn out than their own. - JS, 23 Apr 09.

The quality of the video is not great but thank You Tube for that. We have a DVD version and an mp4 version that will be used at the Tweed Shire Council meeting today. I am still trying to get a better version onto You Tube.

What you can do:

1. Watch the video on You Tube, leave a comment and rate the video
2. Attend the Tweed Shire Council meetings held on 26th May and especially 16 June (when the rally DA should be considered).
2. When the DA is lodged (approx. end April) make sure you make an objection.
3. Attend the planned protest march which will be held either on 26th May and/or 16 June to coincide with the Council meeting.
4. Get involved in the protest through No Rally Group [Tel: 0438 357 452 or (Email) no.rally[AT]yahoo.com]. Next meeting is at Uki on Sat 2 May at 12noon.
5. Sign our petitions to Tweed Shire Council and NSW Legislature (available at Caldera Environment Centre).

See also: Raceway through the Rainforest. Paradise lost! of 19 Apr 09.

We have a juggernaut coming our way - and we are not happy! Council never asked us how we felt when they were first approached by Repco Rally Australia. We ratepayers are just expected to keep paying rates, keep quiet and put up with whatever is thrown our way. Treated like mushrooms, you might say.

We like the quiet life which is why we chose to retire here, after living in the city all our lives. A beautiful drive along the ridge with beautiful views. It is Scenic Drive No. 3 (of 10) presented by Kyogle Council for tourists to enjoy and promotes "the Gateway to the Rainforests". In future it will be "the Raceway through the Rainforests".

With many people living on this road, some right beside the road, it is totally unsuitable. The rally route will run right through our front yard, as our property spans both sides of the road. We are talking lifestyle blocks here.

We are told to expect helicopters hovering overhead (at least 5 beaming to 50 million viewers worldwide), cameras everywhere invading our privacy. Our gates are locked. We are confined to wherever we happen to be when they take over our road. Should an accident happen they propose to fly us out for medical treatment!! Will that include flying the vet in should we have a cow having problems calving? The wildlife will have to wait until the racing is over too if they happen to venture onto the road. We have an almost blind koala near us, one of many living on Sargents Road, who will be terrified by the noise and dust and general commotion going on.

Where do you go when that time comes in your life when you have the time to appreciate this beautiful country? Well you won't want to come here.

Particularly in September when the rally is proposed to come. Thousands of people (19-35 years is the target age) descending on the area. Those with money to spend will be staying over on the Tweed coast, or up at the Gold Coast. Those less cashed up with head to the tent city in Kyogle. The businesses likely to benefit in this small, economically challenged, town - apart from our small number of accommodation providers, are the Bowling and Golf Clubs, the two pubs and the cafes.

From discussions with neighbours and people in Kyogle, it's obvious the majority don't realise the impact this is going to have, nor do they realise this event returns every 2nd year for another 6 times. There is a large elderly population in the town who could be traumatised by the sheer numbers hanging around. The people in this community are split by this event, which is what Repco Rally Australia like (divided we fall).

Did Events NSW realise when they put upwards of $5m of NSW taxpayers money towards this event, just what they were doing?

Those people who wait and wait for treatment in hospitals might be interested to know where the NSW tax $s are being spent. Hospitals in this region too are suffering, with one of the highest 'baby boomer' populations in Australia.

Shouldn't tax $s be spent on services that are needed, not investing in an event, where cars race around country residential roads, creating mayhem, destroying gravel roads in the area. Who knows how long it will take to make them trafficable again. The rally comes to Kyogle, ruins the roads and departs. Thank you very much!

Not even the rally people are putting money into the Kyogle area. They are all staying at Salt, on the coast. Even the rally cars are being serviced etc. at Kingscliff (taking over the public foreshores to do so). I could go on and on.

So, Where do you go when that time comes in your life when you have the time to appreciate this beautiful country? !! Well, you may not want to come here.

See also: Kyogle residents fight World Rally motor race of 7 Mar 09, Kingscliff residents fight to save seaside park from being used as World Rally pits area of 12 Apr 09, World Rally races threaten endangered Koalas in bio-diverse Kyogle shire of 16 Apr 09.

Kathryn Kermode, who lives on the route of the World Rally Championship races planned for Kyogle and Tweed Shires, planned for September and every second year until at least 2019, shows how the races further compound the threats faced by the endangered Koala from rampant overdevelopment elsewhere in northern NSW and across the border in Queensland. This letter was sent to the Tweed Echo newspaper.

Unbearable Bad Taste

Millions of Koalas were killed for their thick grey fur back in the old days of the late 1800s and early 1900s and in fact, in one month alone in 1927, 800,000 Koalas lost their lives to fuel the North American fur trade. We have come a long way as a Nation in recognising the barbarity of these now outlawed practices but can we do more to protect our harmless and iconic Koala? In 2009 the Koala is on the Threatened Species List, listed as vulnerable to extinction in NSW so why is the State Government so keen to sponsor Repco Rally Australia's, World Rally Championship (WRC) which plans to race rally cars through a Koala corridor and well known Koala Habitat? It makes me wonder what century we live in as Politicians from Parliament right down to the Local Kyogle Shire Council are endorsing a dinosaur car race that wants to secure the region for staging the Rally every second year for another 10 years! Can you imagine facing your children in 2019 and trying to explain that when you had the chance to say enough, you let it pass by? And can you also imagine your children explaining to their children how back in the old days, in 2009, Local Government was so ignorant they didn't evolve a Koala Management Plan and that's why the only Koalas you see today are in a zoo. Councils that border Green Zones and National and World Heritage Parks should have lots of Environmental Plans in place to protect these unique parts of Australia for future generations. I know that Kyogle Council, the tiny and cash strapped Shire who will be processing Repco Rally Australia's humongous Development Application does not even have an Events Policy in place to guide their decision making.

The WRC is scheduled to run for several days finishing, ironically, on September 7, National Threatened Species Day. Perhaps even more ironically, these dates coincide with the Koala breeding season, a time when this animal is most at risk from death and injury on roads. I don't believe the WRC organisers can guarantee that Koalas, their habitat and feed trees will not be harmed during the sporting event, despite any stringent safety conditions that may be imposed upon them. It's not rocket science to realise that when a car is travelling at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour, no living creature would have a fighting chance, should anything go wrong.

Those of us who live beside the Koalas of Sargents Road in the Kyogle Shire know they spend hours in the trees on the verge of that road. We are baffled that Council has not considered the Koala's relaxed proximity as special, as a drawcard even for an altogether different kind of Tourism, perhaps a more sustainable, slow and low impact tourist attraction like Koala Watching! It's a clear majority of residents along this road who don't want to host the Rally, not this year and definitely not every second year until 2019. Already though we are paying a high price for our opposition. In the greater community, the Rally has become insidiously divisive and is exacting its toll upon those who feel obliged to fight this Goliath like oppressor.

Let's face it, car rallying has limited appeal, it's not something many of us are remotely interested in especially when you consider that we have all chosen quiet and tranquil parts of the country to build our homes in. We have obviously chosen peace, quiet and privacy and all of these things will be confounded by the World Rally Championship when it blows into town. Our skies will be swarming with dozens and dozens of helicopters hovering at low level, perhaps even as many as 60 plus, a number recorded at one of the World Rally's Irish stages. Our country roads will be filled with motor sports enthusiasts, pumped on the adrenalin of watching crashes and near misses and cars lurching sideways around tight corners.

But who is really paying for this bit of pointless entertainment? You are, taxpayers, whether you like it or not. And we, the residents of the Wollumbin Caldera of Australia's Green Cauldron are paying with our rights. Our right to say no appears not to belong to us and we are being told to stand by mute while the jewel of the rainforest is stolen from us. One day we will all realize that our Threatened Species, our Biodiverse Hot Spots, our dramatic National landscapes are our most prized possessions, our Nation's Jewels, and the likes of the Kings of the Motor Sports Industry are our Nation's Jewel thieves. Repco Rally Australia's, World Rally Championship cannot showcase our region's Rainforests while simultaneously polluting our clean environment with heavy emissions. Repco Rally Australia's, WRC is in essence, a threat to all rainforests, all Biodiverse green belts and definitely all Koala habitat. I believe the writing is on the wall for elite Motor Sports. Sponsors of the industry are obviously finding more and more reasons to pull out of the costly competitions and attempts by Rally organisers to meet Environmental guidelines are looking increasingly oxymoronic, to put it nicely.

No, those who want to run car rallies should find themselves 340 km of road through Radiata Pine Forests and Plantations, not Biodiverse hotspots, Koala corridors and residential properties. If anyone can be accused of trying to ruin the party, it's Repco Rally Australia and not the brave locals standing up to them.

See also: "Development project threatens second largest Koala Colony in Tweed Shire" of 21 Feb 09, "Kyogle residents fight World Rally motor race" of 7 Mar 09.

See also below: Local Resident decribes how World Rally will disrupt lives of quite coastal community.

Kingscliff residents outraged at plans to use Jack Baylis Park in Marine Parade Kingscliff as the "pits area" for the planned Repco Rally Australia in September have come out fighting.

They have organised a meeting in the park at 11am on Saturday 18 April to brief residents on the damaging takeover of the park planned for a month or more.

Local resident Max Hopper, OAM, who was Chief Commissioner at Bass Coast Shire Council from 1994 to 1999 said "It is inappropriate and totally unacceptable to take a popular foreshore park as the service centre for rally cars."

"If that is allowed Kingscliff residents can expect that our beach front park will be the centre for wild parties with many revelers sleeping in the park and the dunes."

"There is no way that Council will be able to enforce its rules on alcohol consumption, open fires and protection of vegetation on the dunes."

According to information provided by Council, the organizers of the rally plan to use a large part of the park on the foreshore at Marine Parade Kingscliff to service the competing rally cars. Sections of the park will be fenced off and the grass removed to allow installation of a 'temporary' gravel surface. Some trees may have to be removed to allow access by the rally cars.

Repco Rally Australia is one round of the World Rally Championships held each year. It is planned to hold the Australian leg each alternate year for ten years with an option to extend for a further ten years. In the alternate years it is planned to run the event in New Zealand.

Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association want the car maintenance area to be somewhere else, preferably not in a residential area.

In other parts of the world locals are no more impressed than Kingscliff residents.

In Cyprus, for example, trees were felled across the rally route and an official was kidnapped by protesters. In other parts of Europe hay bales have been placed across the roads to block the rally cars.

The event was run in Western Australia until 2006 when the Government there refused to pay Rally expenses, because the economic benefits promised by Rally promoters failed to happen.

What you can do: attend the planned protest meeting at Jack Baylis Park on Marine Parade at 11am on Sat 18 April. Phone 0438 357 452 for more information.

#disruption" id="disruption">Local Resident decribes how World Rally will disrupt lives of quite coastal community

Max Hopper said big events usually drive off usual customers from local businesses and then mobile vans and caterers cream off spending by visitors.

Mr Hopper also expressed concern that elderly residents would be placed at risk because of the traffic restrictions that were planned for the duration of the rally.

"The rally cars will be traveling back and forth from the park to the race area several times a day causing traffic chaos" he said.

"We have been told by Mike Rayner from Tweed Council that Marine Parade will be reduced to one lane in one direction during the rally and totally closed for several hours each day of the actual racing."

"Many elderly residents require daily home visits for health care and home help" he said.

"How will the carers be able to get to the residents with the disruption of the local traffic system?" he asked.

Residents are also worried about the impact on local wildlife. Mr Hopper said "The Tweed is home to 100 vulnerable species of wildlife and 23 endangered species."

"They will be placed at greater risk as a result of this rally" he said. "The timing of the rally coincides with their breeding season."

"Many residents moved to this area because of the 'green' image it projects" he said "and they are not happy about secret deals by the state government and the local council to host an event that is just the opposite of that image."

Mr Hopper invited all concerned local residents to attend the planned protest meeting at Jack Baylis Park on Marine Parade at 11am on Saturday 18 April. In case of wet weather please come the Community Hall. For further information ring 0438 357 452

Local residents of the Tweed and Kyogle areas are concerned about the risk of dangerous copycat driving in the lead up, during and after the planned Repco Rally Australia in September.

This is in addition to other environmental, social and economic concerns about the proposed car rally

.

Skid marks on Round Mountain Rd, 29 Mar 09

There is already a problem with dangerous driving on our rural roads. We don't need alcohol fuelled revheads trying to emulate their rally driver heroes on our (mostly gravel) narrow, winding rural roads.

The pictures attached show evidence of dangerous driving already happening on Round Mountain Road and Cudgera Creek Road. Both these roads are proposed to be included in the rally route.

Research shows that accident rates soar in the aftermath of motor sports events.

Skid marks on Cudgera Rd, 29 Mar 09

It is not just the drivers who will be at risk. Passengers, occupants of other cars, pedestrians, endangered local wildlife and vegetation will also be put at risk.

Please help us to fight this insane proposal. Join other concerned locals at our next meeting at Uki on Saturday 11 April at 12noon. The meeting will be held behind the Buttery or in the Hall (depending on the weather).

Michael McNamara

What you can do: Attend meeting in Uki behind buttery at 12 noon Sat 2 May, (if raining, back of Uki Main Hall). Contact no.rally[AT]yahoo.com.

A lot of people have concerns about the General Manager of Tweed Shire Council, Mike Rayner, and his Director's role with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd.

Alex Mitchell, a journalist writing at Crikey (11/3/09) said that the Department of Local Government director-general Garry Payne gave permission for Mr Rayner to join World Rally Australia Pty Ltd board of directors.

Mr Rayner denies he has a conflict of interest. Some Tweed Shire Councillors, Garry Payne (apparently) and maybe even some lawyers agree. But from the perspective of local residents who are outraged on a number of fronts this is a blatant subversion of process.

Following the Daly Inquiry in 2005, administrators were appointed, and administrators appointed Mr Rayner as general manager. Has director-general Garry Payne given permission to Tweed Shire Council's General Manager to take a director's role with a Pty Ltd business which is subject to development approval by Tweed Shire Council?

Is director-general Garry Payne's permission concerning Mr Rayner's position with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd in written or verbal form?

In relation to Mike Rayner, residents object to:

• Rayner’s involvement with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd
• Rayner’s dual role
• Council's involvement with the preparation of the World Rally Australia development application
• Rayner’s influence over Council Staff and the processing of the World Rally Australia development

application (referred to as Rayner's 'mushroom farm' by deputy mayor of a nearby shire)

• the loss of publicly paid time when Rayner is engaged with World Rally Australia and not attending to Tweed Shire duties.
• World Rally Australia has its offices within the Tweed Shire council premises and until recently had free publicity on their council website
• that there has been no public consultation process even though Rayner was approached by Repco Rally Australia 2 years ago

How can we be confident of Tweed Shire Council’s ability to be objective in processing the DA for this event when there is such an obvious conflict of interest?

This proposed motor rally is for up to twenty years. I wonder how long Mr Rayner may be a director with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd, and can Mr Rayner's non-remunerative status change? Can potential future rewards, or current bias, cause undue influence?

This proposed motor rally is fundamentally wrong (conceptually, environmentally, socially and economically) for Tweed Shire, dubbed the 'Green Cauldron' and the process of its unfoldment, including Mr Rayner's over-involvement, is unethical.

We are calling for Mr Rayner to step down not only from his position with World Rally Australia but also from his position as General Manager as residents have lost confidence in his credibility. The Tweed Shire Council has more than its fair share of corrupt councilors as in recent years when the entire council was sacked.

Time for an FOI, methinks, and a whole lot more noise from locals rejecting this ridiculous rally.

What you can do: Attend protest march in Murwilumbah from Knox Park to Council chambers at 3pm, 19th May, (if raining, 4pm at council, with council meeting starting 4.30pm). Contact no.rally[AT]yahoo.com.

See also: "NSW spin doctors find another frog to save" by Alex Mitchell in Crikey of 11 Mar 09, "Kyogle residents fight World Rally motor race" of 7  Mar 09.

Contents: #TheCaseAgainst">A Kyogle district resident states the case against the motor race, #MoreThanAKoalaCanBear">The Repco FIA World Championship Rally is More Than a Koala can Bear, #ResidentsOverruled" id="ResidentsOverruled">How the Kyogle District Chamber of Commerce, Rally Australia and the Kyogle Council imposed the motor race on local residents.

Residents of the Kyogle district of NSW, just south of the Queensland border, are organising to protect their way of life and local wildlife from the threat of an FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) World Rally motor race scheduled to be held in September 2009.

#TheCaseAgainst" id="TheCaseAgainst">A Kyogle district resident states the case against the motor race

The following letter sent, recently to the Tweed Echo by Kyogle district resident Kathryn Kermode, states the priciple objections to the holding of the Repco FIA World Championship Rally in the area.

Gary Connelly from Repco Rally Australia seems to be surprised that many residents along the proposed route of his event are not welcoming him warmly.  We await Dr Steven Phillips environmental report with great interest, to see how Rally Australia will demonstrate protection of our threatened species, but this report will not address all of our serious concerns.

Noise.  We are residents of a quiet country road.  We want to attract tourists to our road who appreciate the natural virtues and who have the time to stop and look at the view.  Noise is not a new problem for the WRC (World Rally Championship), reading the Irish press reports it appears that the residents in Drumkeerin have summoned the organizers of the WRC to court over the noise.  They say "the previous rally held in November 2007 was held with total disregard for residents, their property and safety, and that the noise leading up to it caused total sleep deprivation and the "terrible" noise of the rally itself left animals and a disabled person traumatised."

Lack of Consultation.  The public community meetings, that were stacked with outsiders by the organisers, have not answered the serious concerns raised by the residents.  Repco Rally Australia has however successfully and derisively, divided our community and marginalized the residents.  It is a great shame that Events NSW who have handed over our taxpayers dollars did not consider the region and undertake a feasibility study prior to the event being placed in Northern NSW.  It seems the process of decision-making has been rushed and the event is being pushed through without true consultation and consideration of the community living along the stages.

Dangerous Copy Cats. The WRC is a dangerous sporting event.  Drivers, co-drivers and spectators have been killed during the WRC; Repco Rally Australia will be working hard to try to ensure this will not happen in our region.  They cannot however promise that there will not be a fatal accident and will have helicopters on site ready to airlift the wounded to hospital if necessary.  Have Repco Rally Australia considered that the residents do not want anyone dying at our mailboxes?  In fact, many residents do not want a high speed, long-term activity on our roads.  Existing research indicates a link between motor racing and road accidents.  Accident rates can be higher in localities that have been associated with a motor racing event, casualty accident rates on the public roads around Melbourne's Albert Park significantly increased when the public roads were used as a Formula One race circuit.

The majority of people attending the WRC are young males, a category already over represented in our region as road statistics.  This is not a family fun event, we are asking the wider community to fully consider the repercussions to our young drivers if nothing else.

Pollution and Resources. Rally Australia's carbon offsetting will not reduce the level of pollution that the residents who live on the route will be forced to endure.  All the dust, fumes, noise and the potential for fire that is created by a high speed motor sporting event of this scale.

Liberty and Amenity. Repco Rally Australia is removing our civil liberty and amenity.  They are restricting and removing access to our properties and the public roads that we pay our council rates money to upkeep.

The Cost. NSW taxpayers are footing the bill for the event.  Would you as a taxpayer rather the millions be spent on hospitals and education, or do you see this event, which has a non-viable record of accomplishment as a good choice for the NSW Government.  The amount of money that Events NSW has provided Repco Rally Australia with, should be disclosed and accounted for.

Community Aspiration.  Our community wants to collectively lighten our footprint on the earth.  We aspires towards principles of the organic industry; home grown, hand made, slow food, bird watching, bush walking, recycling and rainforest restoration are activities that we want to embrace and encourage for our region.  We would like to see the local B & B's full every weekend, we would like to see the verandahs in the village eateries bustling with customers every weekend, not overflowing and unable to cope once every second year.

The WRC will benefit a few financially in the short term, but it will carry a huge burden of cost for the residents in the long term.

Kathryn Kermode
Sargents Road

See also: "Tweed Shire Council General Manager, Director of World Rally Australia?" of 8 Apr 09, "World Rally is too noisy say residents" in the Sligo Champion of 19 Nov 08, "Damaged bridge 'won't impact on rally'" in the Leitrim Observer of 16 Jan 09, "Failure in bid to divert rally" in the Irish Independent of 11 Dec 08, "Noise pollution case against Rally Ireland dismissed" of 19 Dec 08,
"World Youth Day wash up" of 5 Feb 09 about how the supposedly cash-strapped NSW government, which is subsidising the rally in Northern NSW, squandered AU$120 million on World Youth Day last year.

#MoreThanAKoalaCanBear" id="MoreThanAKoalaCanBear">The Repco FIA World Championship Rally is More Than a Koala can Bear

The following letter was published in the community newspaper Northern Rivers Talking Turkey on 25 Feb 09.

If the dumb animals could speak I wonder what they would say, would they ask for justice or compensation? The day after Rally Australia walking into Kyogle and divided the community with its fun map, I filmed Sargent the koala, about three meters from the ground in a grey gum, right beside Sargents Road.

Sargents Road has a known koala population, it is quite possibly a koala corridor as it is lined with schedule 2, koala feed tree species, it could even be core koala habitat. Why then would Kyogle Council and Rally Australia even consider it as a good option for their race map?

I ask Kyogle Council and Rally Australia, if Sargent the koala happens to be up in his tree, or any other tree, during the reconnaissance exercises or the race what will Gary Connelly and his troupe of volunteers do? Will they

a) Ignore the fact that there are koalas in the trees and race their cars up
to 200 kph

b) Poke it with a stick, throw things at it or try other methods to scare it
away.

c) Knock it out of the tree, catch it and take it away.

There is already a plan in place, it has been created by the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) to ensure the survival of the koala in the wild and it is called the Recovery Plan for the Koala, published November 2008. It would be wise for Kyogle Council to recognize this and the value that koalas have for our Community, both in terms of their presence in our landscape but also their unfulfilled potential to attract the tourist dollar.

It would be foolish of Rally Australia to ignore our plea to protect our koala. We must as a Community realize that we need to protect our wild populations of koalas NOW. This iconic species is declining in nature, and is fast headed toward the Endangered List. We ask Rally Australia to think of the future. We cannot buy back the species once we have pushed it to the brink; it is not like offsetting carbon emissions.

One intelligent choice remains for all those involved: The World Rally Championship should immediately be re-routed away from koala habitat.

Kathryn Kermode

Sargents Road
Cawongla

#ResidentsOverruled" id="ResidentsOverruled">How the Kyogle District Chamber of Commerce, Rally Australia and the Kyogle Council imposed the motor race on local residents

This was orignally published in a Kyogle District local newspaper wiht the title "Kyogle Rallying ..."

In a very embarrassing slip up, Gary Upson from Rally Australia accidentally sent an email intended for Arthur Piggott, Kyogle Council's General Manager, to one of the rally's opponents. In it, Gary Upson asked Arthur if he could get as many of his pro-rally supporters to the meeting and suggested that he would do the same from within the rally fraternity. Well, sure enough, that meeting had people from the Rally Fraternity coming all the way from Brisbane.

Rally Australia sponsor a website where they post Public Relations Statements (e.g. "Community Support, Economic Benefit And Green Policy Refute Rally Australia Critics"). These statements are sent out to the Media as Media Releases for Journalists who are obliged to rehash them into news items. One of their most recent stories is about Kyogle's District Chamber of Commerce giving their support, in principle, to the Rally. Rally Organisers asked pro-rally supporters to make their voices heard in the community, in the media, everywhere in order to drown out the voice of those against the rally but it is not the role of big business to attempt to divide our community through blatant lobbying. The most memorable demonstration of this divisive behavior was Rally Australia's stacking of February's Community Consultation meeting. In a very embarrassing slip up, Gary Upson from Rally Australia accidentally sent an email intended for Arthur Piggott, Kyogle Council's General Manager, to one of the rally's opponents. In it, Gary Upson asked Arthur if he could get as many of his pro-rally supporters to the meeting and suggested that he would do the same from within the rally fraternity. Well, sure enough, that meeting had people from the Rally Fraternity coming all the way from Brisbane. This debacle also reveals a possible politicisation of Kyogle Council's administrative staff, risky business given Council's previous track record. And by the way, who exactly requested a Police presence at the meeting? Is NSW Police also to be co-opted to the pro-rally agenda?

Where can Rally opponents turn when their own Council no longer represents their best interests ... ?

Where can Rally opponents turn when their own Council no longer represents their best interests but represents primarily the interests of a Client who will soon have a Development Application pending? I would argue that Rally Australia has a Public Relations strategy with malicious intent. I would also argue that Kyogle Council doesn't have the planning policies to even consider the World Rally Championship's Development Application. What have we got to lose if this project proposal is gone over with a fine toothed comb by a panel with expertise in all the issues it raises?

On Rally Australia's website, Kyogle Chamber of Commerce President, Councillor and Businesswoman, Ms Lynette Zito, claimed quite ingenuously, that the Chamber "did not ask the proposed rally to come here, but now that they are looking to hold this international event in our location we are looking at what we want to make of it." The reason the Chamber didn't invite the Rally may have something to do with the idea that it wasn't the kind of Sustainable business opportunity they were looking for. After fourteen separate workshops with community members in the preparation of Kyogle Council's Sense of Place Economic Statement, it was concluded that throughout "the consultation process the community has echoed a range of common desires. Whilst most recognize the need for economic development and growth, they fear the loss of their way of life and core cultural elements that build a sense of ownership and pride in their community." Too right they do!

At the Ordinary Council Meeting of April 21, an urgent motion to approve the Rally in principle was passed without further discussion. At the next Ordinary Council Meeting after that, in May, likewise, there was no further discussion. There have been no Feasibility Studies or Council Environmental Studies so I ask: How do we know the Rally will be good for our Town?

The people of Kyogle collectively identified the "environment, its protection and enhancement [as] a priority to the community as it is the reason why people chose this place to live." The statement revealed that the residents who attended the Council's workshops felt the Environment was critical to the growth of tourism in the area and was in fact its greatest attraction. So yes, why would these people invite a Motor Sporting event into the community? The truth is that it seemed nobody invited it except a few people who had discussed the issue with Kyogle Ex- Mayor Ernie Bennett. He met with the World Rally Championship organizers in mid April 2008. At the Ordinary Council Meeting of April 21, an urgent motion to approve the Rally in principle was passed without further discussion. At the next Ordinary Council Meeting after that, in May, likewise, there was no further discussion. There have been no Feasibility Studies or Council Environmental Studies so I ask: How do we know the Rally will be good for our Town? Did Mr Bennett know something more and did he pass the Arcane knowledge of such onto the new Mayor Mr Brown? That rushed and undebated urgent Motion was all that was needed for this Rally's Organisers to come speeding into our lives telling us what we should and should not be doing for the Rally and what is and isn't good for our Economy and our future. I hope the lesson of this is that more of us become involved in Local Council.

That rushed and undebated urgent Motion was all that was needed for this Rally's Organisers to come speeding into our lives telling us what we should and should not be doing for the Rally and what is and isn't good for our Economy and our future. I hope the lesson of this is that more of us become involved in Local Council.

Kyogle Council's Sense of Place Economic Statement placed great importance on the values and guiding principles that emerged from the Consultative Meetings it initiated saying that they articulated "those fundamental and common rules that should be applied in the planning and implementation of all future projects." That statement seems like a hollow one now. I believe the common thought about the Rally among Pro-rally supporters is that, like Lynette implies, it just fell into our lap and we should all make the most of it. We can't build an envisioned Sustainable Tourism Industry in such an undisciplined manner. We are sending mixed messages to those we previously encouraged, investors with Eco Tourism, Green and Organic Agriculture and Farm Gate to Plate projects, to name a few. Kyogle must be pro-active in determining its way forward without losing the unique identity of being Gateway to the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests as well as a Gateway for its children into a reinvented 21st Century Rural Heartland.

Our young men don't need any more encouragement to find out the hard way that speed kills. Even being a spectator at a Motor Sports event is a dangerous activity and one which the World Rally Championship Organisers refuse to underwrite with any moral responsibility.

Motor Sports is an incompatible Eco activity, it is largely irrelevant to the Agricultural Industry and it can only undermine the very World Heritage Environmental values Kyogle's residents so obviously value. Our young men don't need any more encouragement to find out the hard way that speed kills. Even being a spectator at a Motor Sports event is a dangerous activity and one which the World Rally Championship Organisers refuse to underwrite with any moral responsibility. Before you even think about where you're going to find a park to watch the race from, I invite you to peruse this Confederation of Motor Sports' #IndemnityForm">Indemnity clause for potential spectators to September's World Rally Championship. Would you sign it?

Jenny Bluefields

#IndemnityForm" id="IndemnityForm">Form to indemnify rally orgnisers from legal liability arising from injury

Repco Rally Australia Tour: September 2-7, 2009.
Disclaimer
Exclusion of liability, release and assumption of risk motor sport is dangerous

In exchange for being able to attend or participate in the event, you agree:

to release Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd ("CAMS") and Australian Motor Sport Commission Ltd, promoters, sponsor organisations, land owners and lessees, organizers of the event, their respective servants, officials, representatives and agents including Rally Sport Magazine and Rally Australia Pty Ltd (collectively, the "Associated Entities") from all liability for your death, personal injury (including burns), psychological trauma, loss or damage (including property damage) ("harm") howsoever arising from your participation in or attendance at the event, except to the extent prohibited by law;

that CAMS and the Associated Entities do not make any warranty, implied or express, that the event services will be provided with due care and skill or that any materials provided in connection with the services will be fit for the purpose for which they are supplied; and

to attend or participate in the event at your own risk.

You acknowledge that:

the risks associated with attending or participating in the event include the risk that you may suffer harm as a result of:

motor vehicles (or parts of them) colliding with other motor vehicles, persons or property;

acts of violence and other harmful acts (whether intentional or inadvertent) committed by persons attending or participating in the event; and

the failure or unsuitability of facilities (including grand-stands, fences and guard rails) to ensure the safety of persons or property at the event. motor sport is dangerous and that accidents causing harm can and do happen and may happen to you.

You accept the conditions of, and acknowledge the risks arising from, attending or participating in the event and being provided with the event services by CAMS and the Associated Entities.

Signed……………………………………………………………. Date ……………..