62 replies to this topic

[sinister]

This topic is designed to discuss the future of the motoring community. Please try and keep this intelligent and free of stupid and pointless comments. This topic is NOT designed to discuss rumours or the likes. Please stick to facts and use common sense when posting.

So, as far as the media and general public are concerned, we are all hoons with high performance and dangerous vehicles! Why don't we hoon and do it in safe and controlled areas!!!! This is what they tell us isn't it?

Townsville Speedway: CLOSED

Hiring private land at rediculous out of pocket expense to passionate motorists

Townsville Drag Way: CLOSING SOON

Next nearest strip? ~4 hours drive (8+ hours from Cairns). Unrealistic to expect street cars (most of weekly attendees) to drive that far. They start street racing.

Townsville Kart Club: Future in loom due to development

Forced to give up hobby or pay large travel costs to come to Mareeba Mako Trak.

What is next? Cairns Speedway? The facilities in Far North Queensland are quickly disappearing and we will soon be left with nothing. What this means is street racing and general motoring crimes will increase due to lack of facilities for 'hoons' to attend. The media exploit this and we are made to look even worse than we already do for having a passion for our vehicles. We are left to drive hundreds (almost thousands in some cases, or give up our hobby) to do what we love to because there is no facilities to support the motoring community.

HOT TIP: Government can raise fines and points on 'hoon' offences, introduce consifcation laws and double the offence times all they like all they like, hell even make a zero tolerance law and it will still continue! The only way these sort of offences will reduce is giving these sort of people some where to do it legally in a controlled and safe environment.

Council in Cairns has recently spent MILLIONS of dollars in Cairns building recreational areas for skaters to do what they love but can't spend money to get "danger to the public hoons" off the street? Why not? Is there so much money in giving fines that they want this to continue? Don't think the hoons will use facilities if built? Build it and they will come.

I think this is a very serious topic that needs some serious discussion as our future is not looking good if you are living in the Far North! Everything that we love is slowly getting bulldozed and it won't be long before there is nothing left.

What are your views and opinions?

PLEASE KEEP THIS FREE OF SIMPLE MINDED AND POINTLESS REPLIES! ANY SUCH REPLIES WILL BE REMOVED. PUT SOME THOUGHT IN TO YOUR COMMENTS.

[n0nac-s15]

yeah top point sinister...

in saying that, the government doesnt give a shit about what happens north of say brisbane...
we may see changes had now that beatie is no longer serving... but he was too busy upgrading brisbane to worry about the rest of the state... cuz it was too hard to splurge a few more mill to upgrade the tully - ingham highway... the whole stretch not just the bit leading into ingham and the bit past tully.

i recall RACQ rated nth qld roads some of the worst in australia? but deffinatly in the state. it was appauling - this is getting sidetracked

but yeah i think it would be good to have a hooning for motorsport facility law implemented for a year or so.
that would more than suffice a decent chunk of money towards a new track... maybe out at woodstock (slightly southwest of townsville) where there has been discussion in previous years of a motorsport complex out there...

how ever... how would the cops respond when their chrismas party plans get chucked out the window because the money has gone to a new complex...?

in saying that i totally agree with ya sinister, there will be a number of "hoons" on the streets. an appreciable amount more than there currently is with the closure of the strip.
that was the first thing i thought of when news came about of the speedway and dragstrip closing down...

but in all honesty, i think that making noise about a complex is more or less pointless.. they will "try" to upgrade roads b4 they build a new complex. as that would be deemed more important.

my 3c worth

[jlord16]

i wasnt aware that the dragway had plans to close for atleast the next 10 years

there have been facilities avaliable up here for years, and there have always been hooning on the streets

building a complex to use wont stop this at all. for some people the illegal factor is the thing that drives/motivates them to do this

its a fact that nuthing north of the sunshine coast really matters to the governemnt, thats another reason for the splitting of qld into two states, we have all the wealth and resources and are fored to share it, and have the wealth taken from us

[sinister]

If you think the drag strip will be open for 10 years you are kidding yourself. Go for a drive past there and there is already development near the ending of the strip. It won't be any where near 10 years, I can promise you that.... not even a quarter of that. There is quite a few rumors going around about the close date but like I said this is not discussion area for rumors, only facts.

I am not saying that building something will stop motoring crimes but that it will stop them increasing. Everything in FNQ is almost gone and if think they will just go "well f*$k it I will ge a new hobby" you are kidding yourself. I have spent 4 times the value of my car modifying and tinkering with it and I am sure there are many others out there that have spent stupid amounts of money on their pride and joy that will be left with nothing remotely close to take it. I personally will not start street racing or the likes but I know 100% others will if they are left with no choice.

This is something I take very seriously and I am going to be approaching some quite wealthy and influential people over the next few months. Not saying I will make anything happen but I am sure going to give it a shot. QSS has led me to meet some great people and I am going to use that to all my advantages in the near and distant future.

Edited by Sivart, 11 October 2007 - 06:27 AM.

[protd]

exactly right Matt there is no way in hell the Townsville strip will be open in 10yrs anyone thinking this will be very disappointed.. it pisses me off that in the news letters they try and tell you this rubbish about 7 years minimum and by that time they will have a new location and a new strip built, what a load of rot

[Sivart]

uh ha, I went for a drive down Shaw rd last Saturday while I was in the Ville... Definatly doesn't look good for both the Dragway and the GoKart track.

The end is near IMO.!

[Hanra]

This is what the Townsville Dragway website says: The Landowner has indicated that the Dragway is the last section to be developed and we have 7 to 10 years still. Long enough for another site to be found.

But what will end up happening is, houses will be built near the strip. People will move in, then they will whinge and complain about the noise coming from the strip. They will form a group, go to the council and get it shut down sooner then expected.

Its a bit like the whinges here in Cairns moving into the flight path of aircraft on the Esplanade, then jumping up and down making Qantas change there flight path. And continue to whinge that its to loud.

[n0nac-s15]

id dare say within 7 years that will be housing... i got a mate who works for a development company who said once he has finished with the ring road they ghoing to do waterway gardens (at the end of shaws road on otherside of highway) and with another stocklands going out that way there is no way in hell that the strip will open in 7 years IMO.

[born2smoke]

The problem being up this way is 2 fold!! Money and support!! There are to many people who say they want this and they want that but when it comes to supporting local motor sport they are usually no where to be found!! Thats where it all falls down because without the support of YOU there is no money coming in so there for they can't hold an event or keep open things like the drag strip!! So its pretty simple you want to it so stay open and hold events then you need to support it!!

[born2smoke]

Its just like the burnouts guys we need YOUR support!!! without you there will be no burnouts then what will everyone do?? Back on the streets to get caught by cops and loose your car!! SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MOTOR SPORT GUYS AND GIRLS!!!!

[NAZE77]

If the council in townsville is promising a new site for the drag strip, then lets leave that one out. If it comes to pass that there isn't going to be a new site, then we can start whinging about that one.

I think the thing that is in jeopardy is the actual motorsport part of the car scene. There will always be shows and events to go to, that will never change. things like ingham, the cairns car show, and big events down south will always be there, as they keep getting bigger and bigger.

Things like drag racing, burnout comps, speedway, circuit racing etc is what could be in real trouble. If the V8 supercars come to townsville, they are proposing a motor sport facility which will cater for more than just the supercars. Anyone who has been to Hidden Valley in Darwin would be aware of what it might look like. They have the drag strip as part of the main straight for the circuit the V8's race on. Its a great idea. So, all is not lost, but if the government doesn't start to throw some money into this ever growing scene, it will continue to grow on the street, and as much as we whinge and complain that its the people that do this that give the car scene a bad name, it might come to be that there is no choice for those who want to do the sort of things these facilities are there to provide.

man, my fingers are sore now.

[UDLOOZ]

Oh the drag strip gets supported but no friken money goes back into it... There are always people there for a street meet and i no of two major cruises that went there chasing some support and it was denied..
And yeah it wont be long till the strip shuts the closer housing gets the more the people complain about the noise, and then they will be forced to shut shop..
Mean while in the whole time the council of the twin cities couldnt be assed putting in an effort to try find or even establish if they are going to build a motorsport complex hear..
If they think illegal racing is bad now just wait till 1/4 mile gets shut down..

[born2smoke]

Very true the knob jockey who runs the drag strip hasnt put any money back into it for years!! I think he has known for sometime what was coming with the housing development in that area!! But yes things will get a lot worse when it does close!!

[sinister]

Oh the drag strip gets supported but no friken money goes back into it... There are always people there for a street meet and i no of two major cruises that went there chasing some support and it was denied..
And yeah it wont be long till the strip shuts the closer housing gets the more the people complain about the noise, and then they will be forced to shut shop..
Mean while in the whole time the council of the twin cities couldnt be assed putting in an effort to try find or even establish if they are going to build a motorsport complex hear..
If they think illegal racing is bad now just wait till 1/4 mile gets shut down..

Not to sure which events you are referring to but I have made two attempts personally to organise a large meet at two different occasions there and had no luck. I was told on one occasion QSS will not bring enough people and we should just attend a street meet though I seem to remember only 1 year ago QSS brought the biggest open meeting to the drag strip in years (ever in some peoples words).

If the motoring venues can't support the motoring community how are we supposed to support the venues? Don't bite the hand that feeds you and that works both ways. Support needs to come from both party.

I don't condone or support it but as you say it doesn't take a genius to figure out a percentage of the crowd that attends meets regularly will just take it to the street without a legal place to go.

[WYT_GTR]

If the motoring venues can't support the motoring community how are we supposed to support the venues? Don't bite the hand that feeds you and that works both ways. Support needs to come from both party.

To true Matt. It seems that they only want to deal with what has worked for them in the past. Most exciting thing is bitumen sprints at the go-kart track and that will surely go in the years to come. They worry too much about cost of repairing the dug up dirt to not even give drifting events a trial to see the turnout..... if they opened their gates to events like this then people would be happy to foot 100 bucks to let slide for a day... get 30 people wanting to do it, there is 3 grand just going to the track.... surely that could help contribute to repairs..... just seems people here are giving up already and surrendering everything they have to booming "housing" development....

and ryan is correct there too.... what else are we going to do with ourselves on a weekend when these venues are closed.... play bingo... I think not.

[WOJAus]

Hey,

I'm a third year journo student at James Cook Uni (Townsville campus) and at the moment I'm producing a ten minute radio story/documentary for local ABC radio or 4TTT. As it happens I'm doing the story on this exact topic and it was just blind luck that I signed up to the forum about 20 minutes after this thread was created. Talk about bullshit luck.

Anyway, I agree with what you guys are saying. I see Sinister mentions that a lot of the time the media gives car enthusiasts a bad wrap. And yeah, I agree that motorsport isn't catred for in Townsville...which leads to illegal hooning. So if you guys want to get your side of the story accross to the public - generate some real interest backed by real information - then I would like to hear from you.

Basically, I'm looking at covering a few different oppinions and aspects of motorsport vs hooning in the North. While I agree with you guys, I still have to be as unbiased as possible and give everyone a fair say. Issues I want to cover:Hooning; Proposed new race track for Townsville area (not sure how that's going...last I heard about it was six months ago...someone held an informaton night at the Riverway convention area); SeaFM Sprint series; The Dragway; How many people get pulled up for it and why; V8 Super Cars coming to Townsville factor.
I'll be talking to:
Police - Someone from the traffic division; Someone from the SeaFM Sprint series; Some car enthusiats (you guys); locals living near the dragway. I would also like to get in touch with the guy who was heading the proposal for the new track. Any of you guys know him or how I can get in contact with him? Also, if you guys can think of some other people that it would be worth me getting in touch with that would be great.



ABC's Radio National recently had a small bit about Young People and car culture on one of their shows.

Buying and maintaining your first car is a rite of passage for lots of young Australians. But does being into fast, powerful and flashy cars necessarily mean you're a dangerous driver?Recently there's been increased reporting of hoons being a menace on the roads, and many states have been concerned enough to enact anti-hoon legislation.

According to research from the University of Tasmania though, a lot of the concern is misplaced.

So as you can see, there is more than one side to the story, and hopefully I'll be working on that.

As for myself, I'm interested in motorsport....but I'm limited by a)being a poor uni bum and a '95 magna . I've been to one of the SeaFM Sprint Series rounds but that's about it. But, when I DO have money and a REAL JOB I hope that Townsville will be able catre for my shit driving.

So yeah, any feedback would be great and if anyone would like to have their say on the topic please PM me or E-mail me or leave your contact details on the thread I suppose - We'll see what we can do about it.

Cheers,
WOJ

BTW, BlackEVO4, are you Mia's BF? I've been hounding her to get in touch with you lol.

[UDLOOZ]

Well its good to hear someone that is willing to hear and discuss both sides of the story as opposed to someone that is baised towards car people being a pain in the ass..

A circuit track or motosport complex is a HUGE outlay but its not like it wont pay for itself and help the business's of T'ville with there trading.. I wouldnt mind starting a Pro's and Con's list to really see why and how it can be of benifet the far north! personally i cant see any con's but i am baised haha
The far north needs something like this and townsville being the most rapidly expanding City up this way i cant see any issue with making it local to the town.
My main pro's
1, V8 super car rounds.. Money for t'ville
2, Drift australia rounds.. more money
3, defensive driving courses
4, local kart, drag and drift events again leaving money in the town not spending it else where..
5, Giving the car enthusiasts a controlled enviroment where they can abuse there pride and joy.. Not saying this will stop street racing cause you can never control everyone but it will drastically reduce it..
6, give the locals that enjoy there motorsport but dont have the money to travel a chance to see live events such as the ones mentioned..

[josh_tsv]

I'll be talking to:
Police - Someone from the traffic division; Someone from the SeaFM Sprint series; Some car enthusiats (you guys); locals living near the dragway. I would also like to get in touch with the guy who was heading the proposal for the new track. Any of you guys know him or how I can get in contact with him? Also, if you guys can think of some other people that it would be worth me getting in touch with that would be great.

Myself and 3zercrowd live quite close to the track, could say we are local enthuisiat living near the strip

[WOJAus]

Thanks for that josh, I'll PM you.
I'll be heading down the the Sprint Series round on Saturday night at about 7:30. If anyone wants to have a chat about this issue, I'm definitely up for it - I'll be the guy wandering around with a microphone and minidisc.

WOJ

[raytriplej]

I think that until a complex gets built within an hour or so of Cairns you will always get dickheads on the street up here.

To drive a street car 4hrs to Townsville, race it, and have the possibility of breaking it and getting stuck in Townsville isn't very appealing.

When you look at the other option of hiring a trailer and getting a tow car the dollars start adding up very quickly.

You will also get "try hards", who's cars would not pass a scrutineering check at a proper race meet as well, they tend to stick to street racing.

I hope everyone (council included) takes note of the attendance of Mundoo this weekend, and sees what safe, legal racing is like. Even though it is 1/8th mile, it is safer (and a lot more legal) than streetracing somewhere around town.