Well considering that one of their major complaints was how it was affecting the bustling tourism industry in the ever so famed Dunnville, Ontario, us complaining might actually help.
Why? Other than money for the track what how did we help the town of Dunnville? I bought $20 in gas at the local gas station so I had enough to get home and a $5 sub. We really don’t have the kind of monetary pull that the waterfront cottage people who spend their weekends/summers there do.
Once you figure in track rental, fuel, food, and random consumables for 20+ people per day (and they usually had atleast 2 days a week rented) you’re talking $4000+ per track day.
yes but its still extra traffic that’s going through dunnville
Funny that was the one i liked 
Ok, but how much went to Dunnville as a township? I didn’t hear anyone talking about meeting up after the track day to eat somewhere in Dunnville, they talked about places near home. Those of use that needed gas got enough to get home but not much more. I don’t know how much the track fees were taxed so that may be a revenue stream but even if it was taxed not much of that would end up in the local economy.
The cottage people on the other hand basically move in there. They shop at the local store to fill their fridges every weekend, the local hardware store for their misc cottage needs, visit the local restaurants and attractions (if there are local attractions) etc etc. They have a real impact on the small local economy because their money gets spread around.
All moot now unless they’re gearing up for a legal appeal though.
It’s not about how much positive economic impact the track had on the track on Dunnville. The locals wanted just the opposite - it’s a small town where people go to get away from everything. ANY increase in traffic, people, etc. was looked upon as a negative.
I expected them to support the sport, or keep quiet.
That’s not even close to the same. No-one NEEDs what Dunnville has to offer, they are going after a fairly limited nitch, that would grow if there were easier/cheaper access to tracks.
:word:
This is where I fall in and what I was afraid of. I really enjoyed Dunnville and it was a great track, great atmosphere. I can’t cough up $300 for a Glen event or something.
I guess we’ll just have to see what lies ahead for next season.
Nelson Ledges fun days are $120 and they will do private/semi private fun days as well.
We were just there this past weekend blowing up our lemons car (literally). Maybe give them a call and see what the private/semi private rates are, or just organize a day to go down there together during a regularly scheduled fun day. They do them on saturdays and sundays, and its pretty relaxed.
Thats real shitty
Nelson is a bit far. Very fast too without a ton of run off. But it would probably be fun in a car. (I’ve only run bikes there.)
I have run a few trackdays at TMP for bikes and can attest to the crappy way that TMP does business. I’d need about 20 minutes to tell all the stories of disorganization, stupidity, broken promises, bad attitudes etc. I haven’t checked the bike boards in a while but the last I heard TMP had really burned their bridges with the bike crowd.
Pity, b/c TMP is only about 1:15 from the Peace Bridge.
What about the driver training track at Mosport? Those guys were goofballs to deal with too, but not nearly so bad. I’ve run my bike there and it was a lot of fun.
Update
I spent the day at the track yesterday with other contributors to try and figure out a way to re-open the track. And we’ve formulated a plan of action.
The first step is to propose a re-application to see if the town is even open to the possibility of letting the track operate. This means the track would have to make some concessions on noise levels, sound mitigation and in how the track is used. These usage changes wouldn’t effect us with road cars, but rather the R&D aspects of the track. As I’ve previously mentioned most of the noise complaints came from the times when Formula, Indy Lights and other teams used the track for testing. This proposal of a re-application will happen in the next few days.
To assist the track and show our support, NYSpeed and our sister sites will be starting an online petition to get as many signatures as possible and submit it with the re-application. People have been emailing the local government officials and some of these addresses have actually gone down due to the volume of mail, lol. This will be a way to consolidate these efforts and get everyone unified around a central statement. When the petition is ready, we’ll let you guys know. :tup:
I also want to let you guys know that going forward Lee will no longer be involved. This battle has turned nasty with those in opposition leaving anti-semitic voice mails, threats and even vandalism against the track’s property:
There are many locals that support the track, but they failed to show up and support them during the hearings because they feared the fallout from those in opposition.
You know the ESSO station where you turn just before the track? They offered to put up a sign directing people to the track, but the opposition threatened to boycott the station. And in a small town like this actions like that could seriously hurt business.
There was an ironic story where a guy had reserved rooms at a local bed & breakfast so that he could spend a few days at the track. But after the track was closed, he canceled his reservations. Turns out the owner of the B&B was part of the opposition to the track, lol.
And at the hearings, the opposition completely made stuff up. One woman said their were cars on track ON CHRISTMAS EVE and that the noise was so loud it kept her kids awake (or something along those lines.) They even used pictures similar to this one by Micah so show how unsafe it was to have a track next to an airfield, claiming that it was only a matter of time before a serious accident would occur. “Planes are going to land on the cars! OMG!!!” Obviously this is just a matter of perspective from where the image was taken:
Of course these were challenged as bogus claims, but there is also a political aspect to all of this. And as with some things in life, politics and money can be a destructive force. The party in power actually broadened the definition of “racing” to include “the intent to drive to a track.” They’ve even implemented a $5,000 noise deposit that must be paid when filing the application to re-open. :picard:
And as far as TMP goes (Toronto Motorsports Park) they came out in total opposition to Dunnville. Whatever their motivation was, I can’t say. However it is our position that we will no longer support their track & facility. We’re not going to keep events at their location from being posted on our forums because, unlike them, we want to encourage as much automotive activity in our area as possible. We’re just not going to be spending any of our money at their track. You can make your own decisions.
Again, we’ll let you guys know when the petition is ready :tup:
I’d like to offer one suggestion in regards to your petition…
Have a real pen and paper petition as well.
In the history of online petitions I don’t think you can find an example of one having any serious sway over a party. Good old fashioned paper and pen makes a far stronger statement. Most people, especially the older government types, quickly dismiss online petitions.
I’m sure most of the vendors with storefronts would be willing to act as signing stations.
forgive me for never actually being at this track before, but the thing is next to a damned airport and people are complaining about the noise?
:picard:
Awesome :tup:
Josh, I may not be able to do much, but if you guys need help with anything let me know.
Pen and paper won’t really work because most of the people who would like to sign it are spread too thin geographically. It would take much to much time. The petition will require more than just your name though to ensure that those signing it are in fact real.
They originally tried to shut down the airport years ago. One woman actually claimed that the screaming sky divers caused distress to her chickens, and that her chickens we dieing because of it…
Will do Mr. Canadian sir :tup:
Well, in their defense, it’s not much of an airport. Mostly a few skydiving flights from a tiny prop plane. Formula and Indy Lights doing test and tunes would make way more noise than the little airport.
EDIT: Plus, when the airport was purchased and restored in 1999 they got it rezoned before planes started making noise, not after. In the case of the Autodrome they took a shaky legal standing saying they didn’t need a zoning change, built a track, and let cars run around on it. The residents got organized, won in court, and now with organized opposition it will be a huge uphill battle to get it rezoned.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp
You’re not talking about Laguna Seca here; the vast majority of people who attend Dunnville’s lapping days aren’t coming from all corners of the country. If people are only motivated enough to support the track via online petition, but not enough to swing by a local vendor who’s collecting real signatures you might as well abandon this fight now.
I obviously can’t speak for the vendors but it would amaze me if racing supported people like Swerve, Innovative, Bings, Function Racing etc wouldn’t support this by keeping copies of the petition at their shops for people to sign.