Legacy rights for use of Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motor Sport Park have boiled over with Taupo Car Club disputing a fifty dollar charge per car for its otherwise ‘free’ race days.
Taupo Car Club has raced at Centennial Park since 1959, leasing the site from Taupo District Council. As part of a track upgrade two decades ago, TMP Ltd took over the site lease. TMP was capitalised with funding from multiple individual race enthusiasts. Currently, biggest shareholders are Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust with a ten per cent shareholding and Taupo Car Club with five per cent.
The High Court was told Taupo Car Club was compensated on the surrender of its track lease to TMP with an agreement for subsequent yearly payments of $20,000 plus the right to host a specified number of track meets each year free of charge. This deal was renegotiated in 2018 after TMP announced it was cancelling the then current deal. The annual $20,000 payment was cancelled. TMP was given the right to charge for use of track facilities it had developed including pit garages, hospitality suites, catering, signage and electronic track equipment. Also included is the right to charge ‘participant levies.’ Taupo Car Club disputes it is now liable to pay a fifty dollar levy per car/per race day. Its regular timetable of ‘free’ race days was not given up in the 2018 renegotiation, it says.
Their current agreement includes comprehensive dispute resolution and arbitration clauses to deal with interpretation arguments. Taupo Car Club wants to bypass these procedures, going straight to court. It says TMP is refusing to budge on the proposed levy. This is evidence TMP is ignoring the dispute resolution procedure, it says. Associate judge Andrew ruled the 2018 contract in its entirety still stands. He ordered the parties into arbitration as specified in their contract.
Taupo Car Club Inc v. TMP Ltd – High Court (13.03.20)
20.059