BikesportNZ.com has great pleasure to reveal that a report has come back from the Manawatu District Council saying that the Taikorea Motorcycle Park facility may continue to operate as before.

The council was able to establish that the Paul Whibley-owned facility on the outskirts of Palmerston North has existing user rights that it was compliant with the noise testing that was carried out and, therefore, the track is free to continue operating as it had been.

The crew at BikesportNZ.com, along with many dozens of others, were quick to respond when Whibley uttered the cry for help after neighbours protested the park and we approached the council to fully consider the merits of the facility.

We publish below part of the text of our submission to the council:

“This popular dirt bike venue has been in operation since the 1970s and, its owner, two-time United States Grand National Cross-country Champion Paul Whibley generously allows the local motorcycling community to manage and use it while he is away racing overseas.

“And, when Whibley returns from his battles in the US, he uses the tree-strewn slopes for his own training needs and to run occasional cross-country and motocross events, all of which are extremely popular and beneficial to the region’s youth.

“Taikorea Motocross Park has an international reputation – it is the site of many photo shoots for overseas magazines and a training facility for current and past (and possibly future) national and world champions, but typically only on weekends and falls silent after 5pm anyway – so the attitude of the new neighbours simply angers and confuses the biking fraternity, many generations of whom have been using the venue responsibly for the past 40 years or so.

“Taikorea Motocross Park is a long way from any built-up area and its neighbours have moved to make their homes on its borders only in recent times.

“The sport’s governing body here, Motorcycling New Zealand, ensures that all bikes being used by riders under its auspices are within an acceptable decibel range.

“Riding at the venue is controlled and supervised and for it to remain a haven for New Zealand’s elite and amateur motorcycle sportsmen alike, it requires the plaintive voice of the dirt bike community to be recognised and understood by the Manawatu District Council.

“The venue is important for training, racing, riding, photo shoots, testing and coaching.

“Is the alternative for dirt bike riders to head down to the local beach to ride unsupervised, to blast through sand dunes or rampage through picnic areas?”

© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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