5 October 2006

Are you with stupid?

| johnboy
Join the conversation
109

The ABC informs us that only a vote for Bill Stefaniak is a sure vote for the dragway.

Mr Stefaniak has today visited the proposed dragway site at Majura. He is promising that under a Liberal government, the project will go ahead without delays.

One assumes that the converse is also true.

Of all the stupid brain dead issues that the ACT’s politicians argue about, and they are numerous, have there ever been any more stupid and brain dead with less people actually caring?

UPDATED: Bill’s media release is now online. Can someone please explain why Government should build this thing if business doesn’t want to? Other than stupidity?

Join the conversation

109
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
equalitarian10:58 pm 20 Nov 06

Seepi, I agree with your previous post that the dragway operators/fans/sponsors etc. should have been compensated, but they are stuck with politicians to devise the alternative.
As for taking someone elses land – it’s actually leasehold and belongs to everyone in the ACT. You included (assumption)
Putting up the current occupier as somehow a disadvantaged martyr/owner who will be booted out with his tractor sent to the tip on a tilt-tray and his food confiscated is untrue.
I came to Canberra in 1951. It has grown to become the city it is now precisely because leaseholders, cocky or urban, have been compensated in order to relinquish their interests for the progress of the city as a whole.
If the leaseholders found that the dragway proposal failed, their potential compensation denied and had to live under the increasing activity of the airport flightpath for the rest of their days….?
Missed opportunity if it was me.

When on earth did Fairbairn Park come into this? It is some kilometres from the old dragway, and even further from the new one. The report also indicates that, in the nicest possible way, they considered that these complaints probably came from an extremely small group, numbering just over one.

Please stop moving the goal posts when the dragwayaway site is shown to hold information which can be shown to support the Dragway.

Last I read the report it said this:
“Over the years, there have been numerous complaints about the effects of

noise from Fairbairn Park’s activities on the residential area on the

Ridgeway, as well as on Oaks Estate and, occasionally, northern parts of

Queanbeyan’s residential areas.p 13 Marshall Day govt scoping report.

I have previously been directed to the Dragwayaway site to find the official figures being used by the Government to establish its final opinion on the Dragway.

From this site, the report by Marshall Day seems to conflict with the statements on this thread. The report states (P3) that the Motor Sport Noise Environmental Protection Policy decrees an event can run for a maximum of 8 hours duration. So much for 9am – 9pm.

This report also states (Section 3.4)’…there were no complaints from any of the residents in the vicinity of the dragway, due to drag racing events.'(over a 6 year period)

The report follows this up with ‘If this is the case, then there is convincing arguement that if the noise exposure due to any new dragway does not exceed that of the previous dragway, the community impact will be acceptable’

Dragway advocates use all kinds of emotive arguments in favour, while brushing aside the effect the Dragway will have on “hardworking Canberra workers” unlucky enough to live near it.

And they were quick to discount the scientific and environmental arguments against it, saying they were theoretical and had to application to the real world. When I piped up with real, actual experience of living near (and still several KMs from it) the Dragway, they tried to resurrect the theoretical arguments again!

An entertainment that brings misery to people in their own homes is indefensible.

And it’s a damn sight louder than a doorbell.

I have said earlier that I agree the previous dragway owners should have been compensated. But I don’t think you can make that right by taking someone else’s land to give to them. And if they got no compensation, what makes anyone imagine that the Brogans will be ‘compensated royally’ – which isn’t what they want anyway – they just want to stay in their house.

As for the dramatic language used by those of us against the dragway – this is actually how we feel about thie idea of constant revving noise all weekend. Noise limits for those living next to freeways in Victoria are 63 decibells – our quiet leafy suburb, which we moved into for the quiet, and the birdlife, is going to have noise of 80decibells, while the nature park up the street where we walk the dog on weekends is going to have 100decibells – a dangerous level.

The language used by dragway fans is just as emotive and filled with misleading statements – claiming the noise will be only as loud as a doorbell (who wants their doorbell rung from 9-9.00 all weekend?), or that it is as loud as a magpie – how can you compare a pleasant magpie sound with revving cars?

And the most bizarre dragway argument – that ‘if you don’t give us a dragway it might be your child we run over while dragracing illegally around the streets’. Words fail me. There is no evidence that legal dragways reduce street racing anyway.

equalitarian9:54 pm 18 Nov 06

JB, I’m at a loss to know where I’ve offended you.
Reading many opinions on this site one could assume that polar opposite views have equal access. Many without balancing statements to even hint they recognise that contrary views even exist – except by invective (lefty, wanker, chattering classes, dole bludger etc) terms I do not use, nor agree with.
However with the dragway proposal I see a great deal of prior injustice to average, hard working Canberra citizens that this Government is trying hard to rectify.
My issue with the protest lobby is that their tactics use emotional blackmail and non existent threats of some sort of local armageddon that is at variance with the truth.
Terms such as misery, intollerable, species extinction, financial black hole and the like are not constructive, nor have a basis in reality.
If that is one sided, I apologise, as, presumably the other side should too.
I appreciate the forum and the diversity of opinion.

Seepi,
Your concern for the Brogans is commendable, but surely the same concern could be expressed for the management of the original Dragway.
No real notice to quit and absolutely no compensation for the many hundreds of thousands of dollars invested. Just bugger off and don’t bother taking any of your infrastructure with you.

EQ, you can post a follow up story if you like.

If you can’t be bothered i really don’t see why i should.

You have some choices here:

1) you can contribute content to balance your view of the subject

2) you can go read something else

Now that’s twice as many options as you get with most media so I can’t say you’ve inclined me to give a damn about your whining.

The Brogans are not a publicity seeking couple. they are devastated by the possibility of losing their land and their home and having to move elsewhere later in life, which was not what they had planned. The dragway will be on the Brogan’s land, and they will have to leave. They hold a long term rural lease, and the govt had renegotiated their lease with them only 6 months before, sneaking in a clause enabling them to resume the land with minimal noitce. This is not the type of behaviour I expect from a reasonable govt, looking after its citizens and treating them fairly. The Brogans have wept many tears about losing their land – but why should they do this publically?

EQ,
The Brogans do not appear to be cutting up too rough about the leasehold of sect. 51. Perhaps the compensation is adequate? However, the dragway opponents seem to be using these people to advance their argument. These Nimbys totally overlook the other activities which take place over the other side of the mountain. The airport, the rifle range, the Army firing range, the Police driver training site, and the heavy transport ascending Majura Road from Pialligo to the Federal Highway. As you point out, 90% of the vehicles using the Dragway will be street cars, precisely the same vehicles found on (and a bloody sight quieter than the trucks using) Majura Road!

equalitarian10:08 pm 17 Nov 06

JB, umm, yes, agreed there are different people with different minds and mine is small in comparison, but…is that your version of a full stop? Thread closed?
Dragwayaway spread untruths to suit their version of the apocalypse. That apocalypse enables any bothersome twit to become an heroic leader in a party of 5.
Exploitation of people’s fears is immoral.
The Brogan’s are leaseholders on the land and they have always been aware of the terms of that leaseholding. (“Family farm” is used deliberately to make the Brogans appear like poor, helpless victims) Presumably they will be compensated royally by the Feds and CAC for the constant aircraft overflights – set to increase substantially after the runway upgrade.
The dragway will be a piffle in comparison – 90% of their operation will be street cars (just like on Majura Rd now) AND, unlike the airport, will be governed by curfews, noise credits and all sorts of loops and hoops devised by the EPA.

it amazes me how divisive some people are. It’s as though there’s kudos in bagging other citizen’s enterprise and determination.
You elect political leaders, yet expect NIMBY lap-dog followers. Then criticise them for that too.

The concept seems beyond you EQ, but there are different people here with different views on different things.

We apologise for troubling your tiny mind with this.

The noise of the old dragway was not “occasional”. after they upgraded it, it was used very frequently (weekly) and the number of big events shot right up.

Noise is noise. It doesn’t matter who is causing it. The dragway produced more noise than any other noise-producing activity in our suburb.

Why do dragway fans feel it’s OK to cause misery to people in their own homes, so that they can have “occasional” fun?

And for all the money it brings (to whom?), it’s notable that Goulburn instantly refused to have it in their balliwick, because of… noise. They are interested in having an airport for Sydney, but not a dragway. That says it all, really.

summernats is only once a year.

you wouldn’t want to leave the house all weekend every second weekend from 9.00 to 9.00.

“There are numerous records of complaints documented in the govt report on the proposed dragway. It is an urban myth that there were never any noise complaints about the previous dragway.”

I guarantee you there were thousands more regarding Summernats but that stays in place in suburbia!

Go figure

At some point in your life their will always be something inconvenient. That’s life.

Stop rooting around and build the dragway as promised. I have plenty of facilities for my sporting endeavours, and people of that ilk should have something for them. Occasional drag racing meetings that go for a few hours. Whooppee! If it shits you that much go for a drive down to the coast, visit friends on the other side of town or whatever you feel like.

I’m no fan of motor sports or a dragway, but there are plenty who are who have been royally screwed over. Someone will always find a reason to bitch about its location. Whack in in the Majura Valley, behind Mt. Majura. They already have planes, firing ranges and the occasional explosion to worry about. They can put up with this

Nimby city

There are numerous records of complaints documented in the govt report on the proposed dragway. It is an urban myth that there were never any noise complaints about the previous dragway.

It does seem unfair that the previous dragway was taken away with no compensation provided.

Would you really want to do this to someone else, and take away the family farm of the Brogan family, in order to get a new dragway?

equalitarian12:02 am 12 Nov 06

Having lurked on this site for a while, it amazes me how divisive some people are. It’s as though there’s kudos in bagging other citizen’s enterprise and determination.
You elect political leaders, yet expect NIMBY lap-dog followers. Then criticise them for that too.
A dragway was Jon Stanhope’s election promise – you elected him knowing that – end of story>
The original dragway was a successful, low key, local enterprise that never put its hand out for Government funding. It was closed through a beaurocratic bungle and all their hard-earned finance, infrastructure, entertainment momentum and goodwill disappeared in a puff of red tape.
The negligence was ruled as such by the highest courts. The stupid, undeserved crap, confusion and conflict has continued ever since.
Put yourselves in those fellow Canberran’s position for a moment and think how you’d feel.
Just, legitimate and deserved compensation for the personal and organisational losses over the years would have cost the taxpayer far more than the reinstatement funding currently offered by the current Government and Opposition. (Schools vs dragway is a fudge for simpletons, admit it)
One of the factors mentioned in noise impact studies is the “prejudice against the source of the noise”, irrespective of the actual volume of that noise.
Prejudice is the problem.
Methinks citizen Ant, while living in Pialligo all those years ago, had an issue with people up the road having a bit of (very) occasional fun, rather than the volume of sound being overwhelming.There are no records of any complaints from that period.
It does seem curious that Ant’s anecdotal account of past suffering and inconvenience co-incididendally bobs up when there is a lawn mower and chainsaw lobby group playing “concertos” outside the Assembly building and vying for negative attention around the place.
Why pretend, through ignorance or deviousness, that the dragway was, or will be, worse than the true facts.
These are divisive fibs and not worthy of a modern, progressive city in the 21st century.

I take it those people opposed to dragway have never been to the Western Sydney International Dragway? Do you know how much money that brings to Sydney?

why can’t you see that this is one thing that will make money for Canberra? are you just happy with your increased taxes, your paid parking at shopping centres, your paid parking at hospitals? don’t you think that racing in a controlled enviornment where medical personnel are on hand is better than illegal dragracing? what if it was your child/grandchild that was injured or killed because of some idiot when all of this can be avoided? i take it that you are just happy to spend $23M on an arboriteum that won’t make any money.

the government promised a dragway – just build the it!

right this minute the proposed dragway site is a family home/property, so best hold off on dumping the dirt just yet.

The Bill? Much too high brow. Try the Goons.

It costs the guys dumping dirt about $300-400 a truck-load to dump the dirt through normal channels – if you wanted them to dump it at the dragway you’d have to make it cheaper than getting read of it through the accepted avenues – charging for its isn’t likely to be an option.

As an example, the 4x track at Mt Stromlo scored 75k cubic metres of dirt and rock from the GDE by not charging to dump it – taking into account the transport cost component it worked out marginally cheaper so the dirt went to Stromlo.

But that’s a distraction – the drag-way doesn’t need sound management – how the hell will all the shit-bags who whinge, bitch and moan about the Stanhope Government know that their tax dollar has been pissed up against the wall of motor-sport if it doesn’t interrupt them while their watching The Bill or re-runs of Parkinson…

I lived in Pialligo. Still do, off and on. The noise from the dragway outdid any other noise source. After they upgraded it to “international” status, it was awful. They had big events very frequently. When they revved and roared, you couldn’t hear anything, you couldn’t talk. It was violent noise too. Sometimes the event would go all weekend, with rock bands, which you could hear well into the night (other peoples’ music is never fun to have inflicted on one). The fans would camp out there. And make runs to fyshwick or the city, and many of them favoured noisy cars and motorbikes.

I cannot overstate the amount of noise from the Dragway and its patrons. Plainly, the Goulburn mayor knows exactly what a dragway would involve.

Why should anyone have to put up with this near their homes?

I have the answer! (Drum roll please)

According to the CT, the construction boom is resulting in vast amounts of soil/concrete looking for a home. How about dumping it at the site of the Dragway, and building some really impressive noise barriers. Even better, the dumpers could be charged for the privilege, resulting in the budget for the strip coming in lower than expected.

Fine, but in the same vein, why should I believe dragway lobbyists who try to tell me I won’t hear a thing. They are pretty self-interested also. At least my noise info comes directly from the govt reports.

Ant lived in Pialligo. She had a (ant) farm there. Or was it the Ridgeway?

Growling Ferret8:30 am 10 Oct 06

Derrr me – the first sentance in the second paragraph should have read

The airport is closer to Campbell than the proposed dragway from Hackett.

Growling Ferret8:20 am 10 Oct 06

Seepi

So why should I believe your website propaganda over any other propaganda that has been released on this subject?

The airport is further from Campbell than the proposed Dragway from Hackett. But ADFA residence are less than 1km from the airport and people live there. The CIDmk2 is a couple of kms from Hackett, with a mountain range in between.

Seepi, your argument is clearly a nimby argument only – until you come up with a decent alternate location for the venue, I will only be able to think you don’t want it to happen for your personal inconvenience only.

Wouldn’t the airport be closer to Campbell and Ainslie? And what has Goulburn or their idiot mayor got to do with anything?

The airport is further from houses than the dragway.
WIN news ran a story tonight about how Goulburn Mayor doesn’t want a dragway due to the massive noise problems.
The noise shown on the noise maps goes up to 80DB, which is not nothing. 80DB is described in the previous govt noise report as the level of noise made by a bus driving past 1 foot away, and drowning out conversation. The dragway is now going to cost more than estimated, meaning noise abatement measures are being dropped. This is all explained on the page I referred you to.

Growling Ferret7:52 pm 09 Oct 06

“People who want to poo-poo the noise the dragway will make should talk to those WHO LIVED NEAR THE OLD ONE! “

I lived in Campbell during the final two years of the drag strip. I can tell you straight up that the only time you EVER heard the drags was when Top Doorslammers ran – no other class was anywhere that noisy. And as the new CID mk2 would be lucky to get Top Fuel/Alcohol/Doorslammers to run more than once or twice a year, the noise on the other 363 days a year would be negligable. In comparison, the airport runs for 17 hours a day 365 days a year – it makes a mountain more noise…

Cranky – back to your road studies – I did a couple of advanced driving courses when I was 17/18, and then competed locally and interstate in motorsport events for 8 or so years – the skills learned on the track saved my life in day to day situations more than once. I’m the only one of my 10 best mates never to have written off a car…

Seepi,
Lets see if I’ve got this right. You refer me to the Dragwayaway noise website to prove your point re the noise footprint. It shows that North Canberra will be little if any affected. When this unfortunate fact is pointed out, you claim that these figures are wrong, and have been/are being replaced by new , I assume more favourable, figures. Where is any reference (that is not also under revision) that backs up your claim of the dropping of noise abatement measures.

Ant,
I am intrigued! Would you care to advise what suburb you were living in when you experienced this incredible noise?
Noise from motor vehicles on Pialligo Avenue would be within the bailiwick of ACT Rego/Policing. Did you contact them to complain?

People who want to poo-poo the noise the dragway will make should talk to those WHO LIVED NEAR THE OLD ONE! The noise was horrific. I have never heard anything like it. Try rationalising *that*.

Proponents of the dragway want to have their fun and blow those who will be affected in their homes, every weekend. They don’t matter.

And that is not to mention the racket caused by dragway fans going to and from the dragway. Dragway fans are not prone to driving quiet vehicles. some do, many do not. And quite a few ride Harley Davidsons.

Once this thing is built it will be fait accompli, too late to do anything, so sad too bad.

The govt disagrees with your reading of that noise report, which is why they’ve written a new noise policy for north canberra, allowing much greater noise to be generated by the dragway. Also, since that report was written, the dragway has had to drop several of the noise abatement measures from their plan (5m soil walls etc), so the noise will be greater than stated in that report.
‘opposition for opposition’s sake’ what’s that?

and even the dragway lobby has given up on the argument that because we already have some aircraft noise, we should get all sorts of other noise without complaint.

Remeber the howls of protests about the noise from the V8 Supercars in places like Campbell? I went three years. If yo came from Civic across the bridge, the sounds of the cars were hardly a murmur. If you were inside with windows closed the sound would be non-existent. Whingers should place a sock in it.

BEAUDY,
This indicates that North Canberra, with the wind in the wrong direction, may hear noise at about the same level as normal conversation generated by the dragway – about every 5 minutes for several seconds – on the days the events are run.

It seems that aircraft noise has ceased to exist – considerably louder and over considerably longer time periods, hourly, daily, weekly.

This opposition seems to be for oppositions sake, and with no technical merit.

I am increasingly puzzled by the comments of the anti dragway crowd, claiming silly amounts of noise will be generated by this facility.

The dragway page has results of tests recorded at the Western Sydney dragway and show little, and in some cases, no increase over background noise.

The anti dragway crowd appear to have no numbers, just raving speculation. Ask the organisers of dragwayaway to back up their claims with solid numbers. Lawnmowers at 20 metres are no substitute for accurate, repeatable sound measurement.

Selfish and small minded to not want a dragway? I think dragway people are very selfish, to want to inflict that horrible noise on the people who live in the area.

Growling Ferrett,

100% agreement – almost. As a petrol head I was in a Pub Serv position in a Dept. interested in driver training. Interested in promoting advanced driver training, I was convincingly shot down by numerous studies which show that training much above competency results in increased accident/injury/fatality rates in students given advanced/high performance training, thought to be a result of overconfidence.

This certainly does not mean that decent training is not a lifesaver. Participation in motorsport has certainly saved this little black duck on the road over the years.

Growling Ferret, El etc, perhaps you should re-read my posts. Der.

I understand exactly what drag-racing is, my uncle is Jeff Hislop.

Growling Ferret, I think I love you.

Any chance you’ll run as an independant at the next election?

Growling Ferret9:39 am 07 Oct 06

The Canberra 400 failed as it was on the long weekend in Canberra – in the middle of f**king winter! Adelaide 500 gets 300,000 people every year – because its hot, and the atmosphere is huge and the crowds love it.
Gold Coast Indy gets 300,000 every year – because it is hot, the atmosphere is huge and the crowds love it.

If the Canberra 400 had been scheduled as the season opener in on the January long weekend or even in Feb, it would have been huge. 100,000 travelling to Canberra to watch 3 days of racing, on lovely 35 degree days. Every hotel would have been booked out months in advance, it would have been on in the school holidays to encourage familys and those travelling distances.

But the ACT Govt were unable to negotiate a decent time of the year for the event – and thus, the even never really had a chance to survive. Who from anywhere outside of Canberra wanted to come to Canberra to watch 3 days of racing knowing that it will be sub-zero temps and probably foggy/rainy/snowing???

Just build the bloody dragway, and ensure that advanced driver training facilities are built into it – and ensure that any kiddie getting his or her provisional drivers licence does a compulsory advanced driver training course – thus meaning the entire community benefits from the construction of the facility, and it has use for more than 12 drag meetings a year. Build the grandstands so that it can become an outdoor multipurpose venue for concerts seating 3000 and the like.

/rant and rave. the selfish small minded miserly persons such as Miz should go back to their latte or chardy, and try to understand that these facilities will have greater community benefit than what they can imagine with their hopeless misunderstanding of what drag racing actually is.

ps – Can the ACT Government build a decent 3/8’s mile speedway whilst they are there?

Oh those horrible hoons. The ones that make as much noise as the birds do for the rest of the year. And the ‘niche interest’ group of 100,000 people (I would assume that part of that group would be from interstate/overseas) that pour through the gates to the Nats in the 3 days that it’s on. That’s one hundred thousand people, prepared to pay a fee (*gasp*) unlike tightarses such as yourself who expect tax dollars to go towards stuff that *you* like.

And yep, selfish small minded miserly person sounds about right. HTH.

Cost to the tax-payer in the case of the Summernats, is as far as I know, nothing.

No idea what the flower show costs. Anyone?

Absent Diane8:47 pm 06 Oct 06

fuck the dragway Instead lets just build a massive slingshot for humans. it will be great. Seriously i had a dream about it. Well i didn’t but if I did it would have been a pretty cool dream.

el, if you know where to find any cost-benefit analysis info for comparison, I would be most interested.

My point Bonfire is that when there is a fee one thinks twice, even about things one is massively interested in. Undoubtedly I am careful with my dosh as I don’t have much in the way of discretionary funds. But visiting Floriade (or any other park for that matter) is hardly “suckling the govt teat for my pet hobby”!

I just don’t think a dragway or Summernats are up there with Floriade. You could argue they all appeal to niche interest groups, but I would argue that Floriade trumps the others in terms of appeal: it attracts a wide range of people from the local area through to national and international tourism.

Theoretically I have no problem with the Nats, and am quite sympathetic to the dragway lobby, but (as stated in this thread) I am glad I don’t live nearby. I have heard about acrid smoke, noise, and an influx of hoons. (Almost wrote “bogans”!)

Also, Seepi makes a fair point above about harm comparisons.

If all this makes me a NIMBY or a “selfish small minded miserly person” so be it.

Just that one little bit you left out “but it doesn’t harm anyone”. Hard to stay away if it is audible inside your house….
– Oh and Floriade is already on public land, noone will be kicked out of their home to make it happen.

and Miz, I think a more interesting comparison would be a comparison of cost to the taxpayer for Summernats compared to Floriade.

But nearly everyone goes anyway, right?

Wrong, actually.

I’d agree with most of your statements, bonfire; but I’m not convinced that the drags would take illegal drag racers off the street. Is there any evidence to suggest it would?

seepi all your statements could apply to a dragway.

drags are several times a year.

many people would visit canberra to take part.

many locals would go.

the drags will take illegal drag racers off canberra sts.

if you dont like it – dont go.

Floriade fills hotels in Canberra for longer – Summernats is only one weekend. An enormous number of locals love Floriade too. And it doesn’t actually harm anyone – if you don’t like it don’t go.

Forget the V8 Supercar Series. Introduce F1 to Canberra. There’s an audio visual event to drool over 🙂

Well, to be fair, Floriade doesn’t emit a great deal of noise or other emissions on a long-term basis – it’s a one-off annual event, while a dragway would be a continuous, regularly operating item (similar to Summernats, in fact).

So if you’re comparing, in this environment, a dragway would be like an arboretum, while Floriade would be like Summernats (except that Summernats is more conveniently timed so that most canberrans can forget it exists – Canberra’s almost a ghost town during the first week of Janurary anyway).

in other words miz, you happily suckle the govt teat for your pet hobby, unless of course you had to dip into your own pocket – yet you dont want other people to enjoy their hobby if the govt provides some funding.

i doubt ‘everyone’ in act goes to floriade.

what a selfish small minded miserly person you are.

Bonfire I’m glad Summernats does OK – but I personally have never ever been, will never ever go, and thank my lucky stars I live on the other side of town. So I can pretend it doesn’t exist. Same goes for the Canberra Show, truth be told!

I think your comments about Floriade are probably fair to an extent – it obviously costs the govt to set it up every year. But nearly everyone goes anyway, right? Conversely, I am anti the Arboretum – there are so many more important priorities. (I realise there is some inconsistency there.) However, like many others, I would not go to Floriade if it charged, even though I love gardens etc.

Do you happen to know if it is possible to discover how the ‘Nats and Floriade compare, eg from a tourist numbers perspective?

I think the GMC’s main problem was that it was held at the wrong time of year in Canberra.

I’m not into car racing (I’m more of an aviation buff: V8’s sound wussy compared to a Hornet!), but I did enjoy the GMC 400 the one time I attended.

Yeah, bring back Kate!

I agree with Bonfire. Floriade is as boring as batshit and gives me the major shites due to the allergies it helps cause.

Kate Carnell would make a good indie candidate…bring back Kate…she would fix this mess up pronto (Grabs coats races for door!)

What the hell’s a ‘yag’? If it’s someone who only believes in gay marriage when both chicks are hot, then yes, that’s me!

i love it when whingers claim the gmc400 was a ‘financial black hole’ therefore motorsport is a loss maker, therefore no dragway.

it uses one example. ignoring a continuing success: summernats does very well for the act.

probably better than floriade.

so miz, your hobby is gardening and i fund your hobby every year when floriade has millions spent on tedious flowerbeds.

at the least an entry fee should be charged.

bring on the dragway.

No worries AD. I am so un-gay that I feel the need to call gay men ‘fags’.

There are times when I do believe in gay marriage, however…

Would it be possible to get the drags up and running on the old site now, or have they totally demolished the site?

I haven’t been out that way for yonks, so was just curious to know what had happened at the old site.

Told you he’d bite…

Absent Diane8:51 am 06 Oct 06

hey pandy – me too.

Vy- I feel great affection for you to… in the least gay way possible.

“Let us never forget how boring cars really are. “

Only when you don’t know what to do with them.

I love you, Absent Diane.

Speaking of the time travelling busway – can you ride motorbikes on it like other bus lanes. If so I am in full support of it. Belco to Civic in 3 minutes – bring it on.

Not that this needed any more evidence to support it, but it shows once again that our voting choice really is between “dumb and dumber”.

As for motorsport being a significant revenue generator, thats why the V8 supercars and the Rally of Canberra have been such overwhelming commercial triumphs, right?

Big Al what poling is that? I thought the car nutters are always saying they could bring the government of the day down. Don’t know how you do that if you live in Jerkacomberra.

I guess that given the ALP poling is showing that doing fuck all on the dragway front will have no impact on the election outcome, there’s probably little harm in Big Bill nailing his credentails to the barn door on this one – afer all, there’s still plenty of time for Stanhope to announce the new dragway project before the election … leaving Big Bill with little more than a lame arsed press release stating that they forced the government into acting (sorry, did I say ‘acting’? – I meant to say – pissing a bunch of money down the drain to scavenge a few votes from brain-fucked shitbags)

I reckon as soon as they can find a group of people willing to volunteer their backyard for a dragway, they might actually get one. For them to want to spend taxpayers’ money while making a significant number of residents miserable in their homes is indefensible. Mind you, I can see Stefaniak doing it. If you think Stanhope and co are lame, just have a good think about what Stefaniak would be like!

Bonfire: “Motorsport is a significant revenue generater for business. It’s a legitimate hobby. It has broad community support.”
Bonfire, didn’t the V8 Supercars fall down a financial hole? As for broad community support, 8000 signatures out of 300,000 is 2.6 percent. Not what I call broad.

As for hobbies, why should the taxpayer foot the bill? If an expensive motorsport hobby can be justified in this way, the govt can come and landscape my garden at taxpayers’ expense (gardening being one of my hobbies). At least mine is clean and green.

That said, I do have some sympathy for the dragway community and understand their resentment given the injustice of their facility being taken away some years ago. Why not start again, stop lobbying government, they are just fickle and don’t give a rats’. Why not fundraise/seek sponsors and acquire an iron-clad lease from Crown land (eg just over the border)?

Pro dragway, pro motorsport, can accept Summernats. Also make the odd quid from the participants of all the above.

The shortest male in the Assembly was instrumental in closing the original dragway to pander to his Federal government & business mates, ably assisted by car hating, recumbent riding public service nerds. There still appears to be no valid reason for closing the thing. They hav’nt built a Factory Depot on it yet.

Both majors promised to replace it in the run up to the last election. Stanhope is dragging the chain, claiming environmental and economic studies are yet to be completed. Mate, you were elected on your promise to build this thing. Get your finger out and start building. Enough of the procrastination. Stefaniak has told us exactly where he stands. Hopeless; no dragway by the next election and it will become decided on pro and anti choice. My money is on the pro dragway side.

Diane, I find women who shoe shop boring.

Absent Diane5:17 pm 05 Oct 06

no trolling for anyone… I just think cars are boring car racing is exceedingly boring. Typical case of I am right everyone else is wrong.

I went Labor last time areaman but made particular attention to put Stanhope last. I went and numbered all the boxes. Stupid protest.
There will be a viable Liberal alternative running against him in Belconnen this time. Should be good to see.

It can be a lasting legacy to the ultimate decay of the ACT and people will come from miles just to marvel at how one man could do so much, whilst achieving so little.

This gets my vote for ‘poolroom’ status.

Are you trolling for VY?

Absent Diane4:05 pm 05 Oct 06

what about a statue to commemorate the dragway which should never of have been built but had been promised a thousand times by all.

And the words on the statue can say something along the lines of:

Let us never forget how boring cars really are.

James-T-Kirk4:02 pm 05 Oct 06

Used to vote for Labour. Currently vote for the “Sun ripened warm tomato party” whenever they are available as an option.

Probably wont vote next time. As long as I can get a receipt for the $50 fine to hang on the wall.

but is the dragway a “core” promise ?

Thumper, how about an arboretum that looks like Jim Morrison (in his crucifixtion pose!) when viewed from above AND a Jim Morrison Memorial Dragway?

James-T-Kirk3:57 pm 05 Oct 06

Used to vote for Labour. Currently vote for the “Sun ripened warm tomato party” whenever they are available as an option.

Probably wont vote next time. As long as I can get a receipt for the $50 fine to hang on the wall.

Absent Diane3:51 pm 05 Oct 06

but with bill you get fat and stupid.

And yet by voting for Stanhope you set a bad example by supporting stupid people.

Welcome to politics.

Absent Diane, once again your lateral thinking impresses me. A dual purpose dragway in Cube is certainly the way to go.

No way I would ever vote for Stefaniak. It sets a bad example for the young folk to vote for fat people.

Heavs and Thumper, who did you vote for last time (out of labor and liberal)?

It ishard to believe the liberasl could be worse, but I think they could be as bad. I’m voting anything but L or L. Hope there is someone to vote for!

I’ll be voting for Liberal’s this election. I just refuse to believe they could be any worse than the current jokers.

Absent Diane2:04 pm 05 Oct 06

fuck the dragway – I cant see a point to it.And no way am I voting for bill pigniak. what a tosser.

Jazz – things like keeping some more schools open, getting more police in canberra, more funding in services (disability, health etc)
I don’t really care whether they have a arboretum or a time travelling bus way, I’d still vote for them over a dragway (you can probably tell I am a real car enthusiast)

a business wouldn’t be able to rewrite the Environmental Protection Agency’s noise policy to allow greater noise near the dragway than is premissable throughout Canberra. Although we haven’t heard much more about what is happening with that. I believe only 3% of submissions were in favour of changing the existing noise policy.
Actually Bill S was the first supporter of the dragway. Jon S then panicked and made it a labor election promise as well. I bet he regrets that one. It has cost them 212,000 in land assessments etc so far, and still no progress.

FC, you mean more important projects like the time travelling busway or the arboretum?

just rename the Tuggeranong Parkway the Tuggeranong Dragway every second Sunday, and divert normal traffic. One side for driving, one side for watching. Someone can run a shuttle up & down the watching side selling hot dogs, Booner&cokes, and ferrying enthusiasts (see Im positive, i didnt even refer to them as Fkwits) perhaps Miss Nats can guest drive the van every so often (subject to riot police availability)
There. that was easy.
No Tuggeranong Dragway 2006 = No meeJoko 2007

barking toad1:45 pm 05 Oct 06

It doesn’t matter who wins the next election, the government of the day won’t to be able to afford to build it thanks to our brave mayor laying the cupboard bare.

It will be a while before there is an actual surplus (in lieu of the current pretend one) so should Bill get control he can resort to the usual claim that the previous mob didn’t tell us there was no dough and renege on any promises.

since the liberals closed the old one (paid for by punters, not pollies) its fair they should open a replacement.

motorsport is a significant revenue generater for business.

its a legitimate hobby.

it has broad community support.

it was an election promise by both major parties at the last assembly election.

build the damn thing.

James-T-Kirk1:02 pm 05 Oct 06

Oh – Goody, Goody…

A politicial is talking, and I can be assured that they fully intend on doing what they say they do.

Wow, I would have never thought it possible.

I live in Tuggeranong, so I am all for a dragway in North Canberra!

I’ll have to look carefully for the Sun Ripened Warm Tomato representative next ballot.
Or, I could simply elect to pay the $50 ‘Choose to not vote fee” – That way, I can hold my head up high, and say that it wasn’t my fault!

So will Bill match all of Stanhope’s other stupid promises??

Both sides of the political fence supported a dragway. Whether the chattering classes in Canberra like it or not, it was an election promise made by Stanhope (I think originally in 2001). BTW over 8,000 signed a petition in support of it. One suspects the Stanhope Government is deliberately dawdling on this promise. They should come clean and either reject their commitment to a dragway (thereby breaking an election promise) or just get on with it!

I’ve heard tell that it’s possible to make a fair offer for land and buy it.

Business wouldn’t be allowed to resume someone’s farm to build it, so it can only be a givernment project.

Absent Diane12:25 pm 05 Oct 06

I still like the idea of building a multiple use dragway at cube night club. One for cars and queens.

You’d think the government had better things to do with our money than build a drag way…

Bizarre. Bill was on WIN news recently criticising the Stanhope govt for the sneaky way they renewed the landholder’s lease, in order to take their land away from them for the dragway.
Sounds like he’s trying to be all things to all people.

Woody Mann-Caruso12:00 pm 05 Oct 06

*shrug* Guess that settles it – you have my vote, Mr Stanhope.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.