A war of words has erupted over a proposal by an Adelaide city councillor to demolish part of the circuit that hosted the city’s Formula One and Supercars races.
A residents action group has called for the parts of the track that run through Victoria Park to be ripped up.
That includes what was the start/finish line of the circuit, and the area where the pit complex stood.
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Adelaide hosted the Formula One grand prix from 1985 to 1995, before a shortened version of the circuit was used for Supercars until the race was scrapped last year.
Councillor Greg Mackie claims the area is an “urban heat island”.
“I am asking that council administration prepares a report outlining the steps to achieve a new landscape solution that will eventually provide natural shade amenity for park users now that horse and car racing has concluded,” Mackie told the Adelaide Advertiser.
“A new landscape plan need not assume removal of all hard surfaces, but I would hope that a reduction could eventually be achieved.”
The venue was the scene of Ayrton Senna’s final F1 victory in 1993, just months before he died at the San Marino Grand Prix the following year.
It last hosted a Supercars race in early 2020, an event that has now been scrapped by the South Australian government.
South Australian opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has promised to revive the Adelaide 500 if he wins next year’s election.
“What Greg is coming up with is harebrained ideas to basically take the single biggest attraction in Victoria Park out of it,” Malinauskas told Radio 5AA.
“I’ve made a crystal clear commitment, and I’ve signed an agreement with Supercars, that if Labor wins the next state election we are bringing that race back.
“I’m not doing it because I’m a motorsport fan, I’m doing that because I believe the jobs it brings and we want our city to be alive again, particularly post-COVID.
“We’re going to bring it back if we win, so we hope the track stays for the short-term for that reason.”
Malinauskas added that the former motor racing track served many purposes.
“I take my kids to practice riding their bike there. We’re teaching my son at the moment to ride the bike and it’s the best place in Adelaide to do it. There’s cafes there that are dependent on that foot trade. It’s actually fantastic.
“I think Greg needs to spend a Saturday morning hanging out at Victoria Park and see what people are using before he starts ripping up that infrastructure.
“I don’t understand why people are so obsessed [with] turning Victoria Park into an area that South Australians can’t enjoy.
“I mean, this is an amazing location. It’s an amazing part of our parkland, we should be trying to get people to use it, rather than the opposite.”
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