Complaint supported

THE No Rally Group has backed Tweed sporting clubs who have lodged a formal complaint over the damage to Kingscliff sports fields caused at the main staging area for last year’s world championship Repco Australia Rally.

No Rally Group spokesperson Michael McNamara said the alleged failure of rally organisers to restore the sports fields added to a “long list of promises” they “have failed to keep”.

The Tweed Daily News has sought comment from rally organisers on the allegations but they are yet to respond.

However a source close to rally organisers said he was convinced they had met all their promises and a meeting with council officers who inspected the fields after the rally had resulted in the all clear being given for the condition of the fields.

Mr McNamara said the No Rally Group agreed the rally should be moved away from the sporting fields at Kingscliff but it should be moved “right out of the Tweed and Kyogle areas completely”.

“Rally organisers made lots of promises and claims about the benefits that would flow to the region and about how they would run the event,” he said. “These promises have come to nothing.”

“Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed there was nothing like the predicted economic benefit for the 2009 event.

“Accommodation figures for Tweed rose only slightly.”