Highlands Motorsport Park has applied to the Central Otago District Council for a change in the wording of its resource consent which would, if granted, allow it to operate on the same day as its neighbour, Central Motor Speedway.
Highlands, applying formally as the Cromwell Motorsport Park Trust, wishes to hold a race on Easter Sunday, the same day as the speedway's Easter Championship, but a condition of its resource consent prohibits it from doing so.
The application says the trust thought the intention of that condition was to avoid simultaneous races at the two facilities but the plan is for Highlands to hold a race during the day and be finished before the speedway's racing begins in the evening.
The trust proposes to leave the condition that no race meeting take place at the two facilities on the same day, but amend it to exclude Easter weekend and also prohibit simultaneous racing.
A full day and evening of motorsport will extend the duration of any noise in the town, which the trust acknowledged in the application.
''But in parallel, utilising Easter weekend at the motorsport park will mean one less weekend during the remainder of the year that racing can occur, reducing noise over other weekends of the year. The result will be a reduction in the actual interruption caused by motorsport noise over the entire year.''
Another condition of the same consent allows for racing at both facilities on the same day due to unforeseen circumstances or misunderstandings provided it does not occur more than twice in a racing season.
The entrance to both facilities is on Sandflat Rd so traffic congestion may occur but Highlands must produce a traffic management plan before any event.
In the application, the trust says having two events could be beneficial to the area because it allows for co-ordination with events in the greater Central Otago area.
The team at Highlands is working with those behind Warbirds Over Wanaka to provide passes with which people can spend a day at each event.
The application says consultation has been undertaken with the speedway and an attached form signed by speedway vice-president Daryl Ainsley shows approval.
The application is open for public submissions until February 14.
