 The rally cost Kyogle's ratepayers AT LEAST $112,000 As this picture of Kyogle's main street on Rally Sunday clearly shows, the moment the Service Park, held in the main street, was over, the crowds left. This is the main road through town and it stayed closed for nearly five hours after everyone left. Shops that usually get passing trade were left 'high and dry'. One of the two bands hired to entertain the crowds (their stage was the truck, rear left in this picture) played to a crowd of twelve, all of them friends of the band. Despite heavily-discounted tickets, the Fringe Festival, designed to keep the rally crowds in town and persuade them to spend their money, flopped. The Festival grew of out the Growing Kyogle Rally Project (a Kyogle and District Chamber of Commerce venture) which received a $30,000 grant from the State Gov't. Kyogle Council gave the Chamber another $34,000 for the Festival. But even that wasn't enough! Just before the rally, Council gave the Chamber another $8,000! And let's not forget that the original $34,000 was taken out of the Futures Fund which is supposed to assist local organisations in their community-based work. While the Chamber spent its $34,000 on a failed festival, the local youth centre (an excellent candidate for Futures Funding) got its leaking roof patched with silicone! After the rally, truckloads of food (bought in by local retailers in anticipation of a big demand) were dumped. "What kind of government do you have that would allow this? What were they thinking, sending us here?" SEBASTIEN LOEB  There is an irony in all of this ... With the increasing resolve of radicalised residents to ensure that this event does not occur on their residential roads again, and the rally fraternity's desire to see the rally proceed uninterrupted, and held in a friendlier location, AND, no doubt, the State Government's determination to try to recoup their losses, there remains a WIN - WIN solution ... and it's this ... MOVE the b***** rally !
The sooner we ALL ask State Government to take this very logical step, the sooner we can ALL achieve our goal! IT IS ONLY THE LOCAL RALLY FANS (and a few residents who're so unimaginative and mind-numbingly boring that they need an expensive car race before they can raise the enthusiasm to meet new people and organise a party!) WHO ARGUE, AGAINST ALL LOGIC, THAT THE RALLY SHOULD STAY IN THE KYOGLE/TWEED REGION THEY'RE THE FEW WHO ARE STANDING IN THE WAY OF THIS OBVIOUS SOLUTION | The review of the rally mandated by Clause 25 of the Motor Sports (WRC) Bill 2009 is under way. However with the departure of former Minister Macdonald the review is now to be considered by Minister Roozendaal who has yet to be briefed The Aboriginal Elder who did the Welcome to Country in Kyogle on the Sunday of the rally is reported to have started his address to the crowd with the words This rally should never have been held here * * * * * * * * * * * * TIME FOR A REALITY CHECK ! ROCKS were never thrown by protestors on the Byrrill Creek stage of September’s Repco Rally, police have said. Chief Superintendent Jeff Loy said the widely publicised allegations that rally protestors had thrown rocks at competitors during stage six had been investigated. “There was no evidence rocks were thrown,” Supt Loy said. “It did not happen.” Supt Loy made the announcement during a public meeting held in Murwillumbah on Wednesday as part of the rally review being conducted by the NSW Government. “They protested peacefully,” Supt Loy said. http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/02/09/rally-protesters-didnt-throw-rocks-police/Did the rally give us a huge economic boost? NO! Did the rally increase local employment? NO! Did the rally put our area on the map NO! Is the rally suitable for residential roads? NO! NO! NO! Was the rally unacceptably loud? YES! Was the rally unacceptably dusty? YES! Did the rally profoundly affect local wildlife? YES! Will residents continue to campaign to have the rally moved? YES! YES! YES! STATE GOVERNMENT RALLY REVIEW Clause 25 of the Motor Sports (World Rally Championship) Act 2009 states that the review is to determine whether future rally events should be held in the region It is not to determine how the event can be made better! Held so close to the NSW/Qld border it was always obvious to those who lived here that the money 'invested' in the event by State Government was largely going to end up north of the border. Interstate food providers, contractors and hired cars from Queensland were conspicuous. All the vehicles used for the rally's reconnaissance had Queensland numberplates. There was never going to be enough accommodation in Kyogle and Tweed for spectators. As predicted, many of them went to the Gold Coast. Tourism figures for the Tweed (Australian Bureau of Statistics) showed that the rally did little in the way of increasing visitor numbers. The relevant economic analysis, along with the statistics, have been provided to the review. The predicted increase in employment and the economic boom turned out to be fizzers. And as if having our fears confirmed that the rally wouldn't bring the benefits we'd been promised, there were assaults of various kinds on residents - including one on a sixty-two-year-old woman. Police have confirmed that protests were conducted entirely in accordance with the agreement between Police and local residents' groups on rally protest protocols. But some hotheaded and foulmouthed supporters of the rally didn't wait to find out if the 'rock-throwing' story was true. They jumped on YouTube and motorsport forums and made threats of violence and even death against the people they 'thought' were responsible. All of the above has been brought to the attention of Police, including the motorsport forum posting that gave very detailed instructions to get to a resident's home. That posting remained, unedited, on a forum for at least ten days. The identity of that person is now known. The posting was made on a forum where a member had been calling for other members to volunteer as security guards for the event! Brindabella Brindabella Brindabella Brindabella BMSC BMSC BMSC BMSC WRC WRC WRC WRC WRC WRC WRC Kyogle Kyogle Kyogle Kyogle Tweed tweed tweed Murwillumbah Murwillumbah Murwillumbah FIA FIA FIA FIA FIA Rally rally rally rally rally review review review review Repco Repco Repco Repco Repco Repco 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 |