Motorcycle enthusiast Liam Venter was a man on a mission, setting up Mt Wellington Race Park Inc for the sole purpose of blocking Auckland City plans to get a commercial rent for twenty hectares of land surrounded by light industrial properties in the suburb of Mt Wellington, land used by karting enthusiasts for more than half a century.
Amateur kart racers rolled up their sleeves in the late 1950s and early 1960s developing a race track at Mt Wellington. What started as a dirt track off Tainui Road developed into a sealed track spread over about one hectare, complete with racing facilities and Club rooms. To them it was waste land put to good community use. In fact, the land was government owned, held for planned railway development. Transport plans altered, resulting in the land being purchased by Auckland City in 2009 at a cost of $4.8 million. It is currently designated for future roading. KartSport Mt Wellington signed a formal lease in 1976, which with subsequent renewals expired in 2012. At this point it was paying a concessionary annual rent of some $15,000 and was on notice that it needed to find an alternative site. Other karting sites had been under discussion with Council. The High Court was told KartSport allowed other sports to use its track on an informal basis: roller blading, cycling and ‘bucket racers,’ racing scaled down motorcycles. Mr Venter is a bucket racing aficionado.
From 2012, KartSport was in occupation on a monthly tenancy; it could be pushed out on one month’s notice. Kartsport signalled to Council it was ready to shift to an alternative site when Auckland City terminated its tenancy with the necessary one month’s notice in late 2018. Council then set about finalising arrangements for lease of the site to a commercial tenant with a seven year term at an annual rental of $150,000 for the first two years and $290,000 for subsequent years. Mr Venter protested, on behalf of bucket racers. The High Court was told he did not respond when invited to discuss lease terms, with payments at commercial rates. His response was to challenge Council’s right to lease the site commercially; it was a ‘public park,’ he said. The Local Government Act requires public consultation on any plans to lease park land. This had not been done; any commercial lease was invalid, he said. Justice Wylie ruled the Tainui Road site was not a park. It was not open round the clock for general recreation use. It was a fenced and locked site open only to certain users. Council was free to find commercial tenants with no need for prior public consultation.
As the losing litigant, Mt Wellington Race Park Club Incorporated is liable to contribute towards legal costs for Auckland Council and the new leaseholder. Race Park’s most recently filed financial statements show that its only source of revenue is donations and that its debts currently exceed its assets. The Club was incorporated in 2019. Mr Venter is president.
Mt Wellington Race Park Club Inc v. Auckland Council – High Court (5.06.20)
20.098
Post Judgment Note: Subsequently, the High Court ordered the Club pay legal costs totalling $55,000.