[WRX-75X]

Hi there guys..

Just was reading the local NEWSPAPER down here... And great to see some Good news about the World RALLY Championship Announced and its going to be much closer then you think... Just south of QLD... in the Northern NSW area... CANT WAIT 4 it. :thumbsup:

REf: www.tweednews.com.au
Rally roars into Tweed
September 11, 2008

THE stars of the World Rally Championship will roar into the Tweed from 2009 with the New South Wales Government and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports (CAMS) yesterday announcing a multi-million dollar hosting rights deal for a race in our region.
From September next year Tweed and Kyogle will host the Australian leg of the world's elite rally car circuit every second year until 2017. There is an option to extend the agreement for another five events.

The majority of the biannual race, comprising of 16 competition stages, will be held on rural roads in Kyogle, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby.

Marine Parade in Kingscliff will become the headquarters for the event, its organisers and superstar drivers such as Sebastian Loeb and Per-Gunnar Andersson. Newly-appointed New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees said the hosting rights deal, struck by Events NSW, was incentive-based and would generate more than $100 million over the life of the agreement.

"The WRC is the highest profile four-wheeled motor championship in the world after Formula One," he said.

"Hosting it on a regular basis in regional NSW will drive tourism, create jobs and deliver major economic benefits to the community."

According to statistics last year, more than 816 million people in 180 countries watched the World Rally, with around 51 million viewers per round.

Tweed Shire Council's general manager, Mike Rayner, welcomed the announcement, saying this type of international exposure for the Tweed would normally cost in excess of $20 million.

Despite only just being announced, the event has already created some controversy with some residents upset about a perceived lack of public consultation, particularly over the proposed race headquarters in Kingscliff.

It is understood Marine Parade would be closed for up to five days next September during the event, with residents yesterday receiving information regarding the proposed event site, which will be the subject of a future development application.

"I apologise for not being able to advise residents earlier," Mr Rayner said.

"There were strict confidentiality requirements in place that embargoed any advice prior to the NSW Government announcement."

Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association President Pete Gladwin said he had received a confidential briefing by Mr Rayner on Tuesday and understood Marine Parade would be closed during what was "a traditionally quiet time of year".

"I don't think we can be too precious about keeping people out," he said.

"I just want to see what we can get out of it for Kingscliff as a town."

Several Tweed Shire Council election candidates have spoken out about the race, with the leader of the Greens Party ticket in this Saturday's council election Katie Milne saying she was horrified at the thought of this event being held on the Tweed.

"We think it's ludicrous," said Ms Milne. "It seems very out of touch with community values. We have that sort of thing with Indy just up the road.

"It sounds like another grand idea from the State Government, but where is the community consultation?"

Marine Parade cafe owner and council candidate Dot Holdom said "the devil is in the detail" and the public needed "all of the facts on the table" so community consultation could follow.

Former Tweed mayor Warren Polglase, who is seeking re-election as a councillor, endorsed the announcement.

"Anything that enhances opportunities for the Tweed is a good thing," he said.

The race is scheduled to take place from 3rd-6th September 2009...


AND>>
another local NEW PAPER

NORTHERN STAR
Locals in spin over car rally
September 12, 2008
By Peter Caton

IT'S worth $100 million to the region and the State, but plans to hold one of the world's highest-profile motor racing events on the Northern Rivers has upset some residents.

The NSW Government and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport this week announced the prestigious FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) World Rally Championship would base itself every second year on Marine Parade, Kingscliff with parts of the race held around Kyogle, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby.

News of the race was enthusiastically welcomed by Kyogle Mayor Ernie Bennett, who said it could be the boost needed help the town finally recover from the devastating 2005 Norply fire.

However, the announcement has received a much more mixed result on the Tweed, where it immediately turned into an election issue and triggered concern from residents.

Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and Rally Australia director Peter Marcovich yesterday quipped 'you will always get some people who aren't 100 per cent on side' after meeting with 30 concerned residents at Marine Parade.

Mr Marcovich said up to 20,000 people would come to see the rally on the Northern Rivers and to 'designated spectator points' that would be set up on rural dirt roads. Those roads would be used by up to 90 cars for various stages of the championship.

News of the race was savagely attacked by The Greens' lead candidate on the Tweed, Katie Milne, who described the plan as 'ludicrous'.

"It seems very out of touch with community values. We have that sort of thing with Indy just up the road," she said.

"It sounds like another grand idea from the state government but where is the community consultation?

"We are sick of plans coming from the government that are totally inappropriate for this area. They don't seem to have any idea how beautiful this area is."

Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association president Pete Gladwin said he was not 'totally against' the race being held in the region.

"I don't think we can be too precious about keeping people out," he said.

"I just want to see was a town what we can get out of it.

"If you want to take a holiday it would be a great time to rent your house out."

Mr Marcovich said the race would satisfy environmentalists.

"We have a very strong environmental policy. We expect zero environmental impact," he said.

The FIA has a carbon credit program that plants trees in Mexico to compensate for emissions.

[ozdewiz]

@least it's closer to a larger target population than Perth was
But only every two years??
Sheesh!!!

Must mean Japan has it every other years??

I know from motor racing experience
And local, state & federal govt pettyness
As well as NIMBY's (NotInMyBackYard)

There'll ALWAYS be someone who whinges &/or whines...

[Dave Scott]

ozdewiz, on Sep 12 2008, 04:35 PM, said:

@least it's closer to a larger target population than Perth was
But only every two years??
Sheesh!!!

Must mean Japan has it every other years??
I know from motor racing experience
And local, state & federal govt pettyness
As well as NIMBY's (NotInMyBackYard)

There'll ALWAYS be someone who whinges &/or whines...

New Zealand every other.

[wrx064]

ozdewiz, on Sep 12 2008, 05:35 PM, said:

There'll ALWAYS be someone who whinges &/or whines...

They have already started to whinge about WRC comming here...and get this someone today wrote into the local rag here saying they fear copy cat driving and that young lives will be lost. What a load of crap.

[WRX03Hatch]

Awesome news on it's location though, it's within easy driving distance for most on the East Coast (QLD and NSW). NSW Central Coast would have been a better location though

[Flippin Tricks]

This is a 10 minute drive for me, There are heaps of awesome dirt roads that'd be sensational to watch them rip up!

Pity we won't see Subaru!

[fallout23]

Thanks for the info and I will also try to watch it in time ! Will try to be there if possible

[themolehole_9876]

Hey guys,

Anyone other fellow rexnetters planning on heading to tweed heads for the WRC this year?? Im going to be driving up from melbourne and going through a few places until i get there then staying for the entire event and then heading west thru to SA and back along the great ocean road to home.

[STI-GO!]

themolehole_9876, on Mar 27 2009, 09:44 AM, said:

Hey guys,

Anyone other fellow rexnetters planning on heading to tweed heads for the WRC this year?? Im going to be driving up from melbourne and going through a few places until i get there then staying for the entire event and then heading west thru to SA and back along the great ocean road to home.

yeah i am. we should do a wrc cruise,

[Ray_Chitra]

Anyone thinking of going to WRC, do it for free...

Had a briefing on Saturday with Garry Connelly and all the officials and they are still looking for road closure volunteers, prerequisites, have your own car, and you need to be at the muster points by 5.15am in most cases. (Time on stage - If there are two stages going though your point, you will be on stage for about 4 1/2 hours, 15 locations 3 of have a single stage.).
The benefits, you get your own personal viewing spot along the rally, get to watch all the cars go by in most cases twice, free entry into the super special stages in Murwillumbah and entry into one of the Spectator Viewing Points, two official shirts to wear plus probably a drink bottle and hat.
They need people for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so if your interested please go to
http://rallyaustralia.com/officials/expres...-interest-form/
fill out the form and get it in ASAP, there is only 4 weeks left until the even.

I'll be there the full week from Monday setup to the following Monday cleanup, primarily as a road closure official, but also for general setup and security.

Spent all of yesterday looking over and driving some of the stages of this years Repco Rally Australia around Murwillumbah, great stages, tight lots of trees in the wrong place and shear drops as well as long open straights, should challenge all the competitors.
Also took a look at the Super Special stage around the town centre of Murwillumbah, which looks like a great road circuit, Murwillumbah is on a hill and the track runs down the main street up the hill to the top and back down to the finish, (if you have been to Speed on Tweed http://www.speedontweed.com/ the circuit is about twice as big and should be very fast.).


ooww and on the rumour mill, hear that Chris Atkinson will be driving the 0 car for the rally.