Hampton Downs dump

[smoky]

I travel very regularly from Hamilton to Manakau, up to 3 days a week. I drive past the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park - New Zealand’s new modern Motorsport complex; three sealed circuits, pit buildings, industrial units, Business Park, Lifestyle blocks, convention centre, restaurant and trackside apartments to service the needs of modern-day Motorsport, a prison in the back ground and a foul stench from a rubbish dump that can turn your stomach – boy a day at the track will be fun.
“A venue that is superior to any other in New Zealand” I just can’t see it; if you want any decent accommodation it’s an hour away, and who’s going to be left thinking NZ is 100% pure green with that horrible smell in your nostrils all day – they’ll never come back
Supposedly going to be finished by early 2009 (can’t see it myself)

[McJim]

Hold your breath then - it will make you lap faster too :rofl:

Hampton Downs is halfway between Auckland and Hamilton innit? Since it only takes about an hour to get to Hamihole from Jafaville how can decent accomodation be an hour away?

Unless you mean there's no decent accommodation in Hamilton or Auckland.

And anyway - Hamilton doesn't smell THAT bad :rofl: :Pokey:

[RT527]

pokeno motel is bloody awesome...brand new, good food good hosts...has to be, one of the owners races a torana. have stayed there a few times for work and theres ample parking its quiet.

[325rocket]

im pretty keen on testing that theory, i cant wait to get on the bastard

[sAsLEX]

im pretty keen on testing that theory, i cant wait to get on the bastard

Elevation changes woot!

[smoky]

Hold your breath then - it will make you lap faster too
Mate - honestly that smell is putrid, it turns your stomach, they actually dump human waste in the landfill out there - I just don't understand why any one would think that’s a good place for an international race track?

Hampton Downs is halfway between Auckland and Hamilton innit? Since it only takes about an hour to get to Hamihole from Jafaville how can decent accomodation be an hour away? hour and a quater on a good day Hamilton to Manakau
Hamilton about 45 minutes away, South Auckland is 30 minutes away - but there is no decent accomodation until at least Ellerslie which is 45 minutes away.
And if you've ever been to the drags for a meet - then you'll know you need to add on another half hour to your trip for the traffic.

[sAsLEX]

then you'll know you need to add on another half hour to your trip for the traffic.

And you would realise this is off a proper off ramp and would not of got resource consent if its traffic management was akin to the drag complex?


And just keep some 2 stokes racing, nothing like the smell of 2 stroke in the morning !

[smoky]

And you would realise this is off a proper off ramp and would not of got resource consent if its traffic management was akin to the drag complex?


Ha - yep, we'll see
been to a few international events in my time - an extra half an hour was being optimistic due to the off ramp
I've spent hours in cues waiting to get into some international events

[pzkpfw]

Lifestyle blocks?

How soon before the race bikes have to have proper mufflers on them?


(alluding to Western springs...)

[digsaw]

....How soon before the race bikes have to have proper mufflers on them?....

:Pokey:right fuckin now. 95dB is yar max

[Qkchk]

.....and a foul stench from a rubbish dump that can turn your stomach – boy a day at the track will be fun.

A foul stench can mean undesirables to one person and $$$ to another.

You'll be fine - As long as its blowning an easterly.

[Kiwi Graham]

Got to agree...... the place looks like a bomb site, stinks like hell and in the middle of nowhere! I expect they will build accomodation on site and charge the cost of your first born to stay there.
Went past there last Saturday Pheeeuuw what a stink........just imagine being sat on a grass bank watching the action and a brief wind shift sends that fukin stink up your nose :shit:

[NodMan]

Mate - honestly that smell is putrid, it turns your stomach, they actually dump human waste in the landfill out there

I must have been there on a good day then, nowhere near as bad as my farts! Didnt mind the smell of burning rubber, I say bring on the two strokes and Castrol R!

[wbks]

Just out of interest, why do they even have noise limits on bikes at tracks that have no decent groupings of houses for ages, like Taupo?

[dubshack]

I was at the track yesterday and there was no smell at all.
The apartments that line the front straight will all be rented to the public for events as the owners won't be living in them. There are covenants on all of the lifestyle blocks regarding noise and motorsport.
There is a 200 room hotel going on site in 12 -18 months so accomodation should be eased for smaller events. The plans for the site are huge, with conference facilities, confidence course, paintballing, off road driver training, Kart track, sports field, concert venue etc. This facility will be the equivalent of any of the FIA approved (this is Formula 1 standard) sites in the world.
Why build it there. Because it has 2 million people within a couple of hours drive and noise and space are not an issue.
The track progress has come on dramatically over the last few weeks as the winter stopped everything from progressing and they are opening the first track, the national circuit in June 09. The international circuit will be open in Aug 09. This track is being built properly and once the seal is down it will not be used for at least 60 days to allow the seal to cure. Tracks just don't do this anymore as they are allways chasing the dollars. These guys are smarter than that.
This venue will attract motorsport events that it was not possible to hold in NZ before and all people can do is complain about traffic. Please... get a life. A traffic jam while trying to get to the World Superbike round is in my opinion is an acceptable inconvenience.
Bring it on. It will be the best track in NZ by far. I for one can't wait.

[madbikeboy]

The track and the infrastructure is amazing (we donated a whole pile of fibre optic cable - kilometers of it), it's seriously good. There is a simulator which shows the track on their site.

It's going to be an awesome motorcycle track, and the guys who run the track are great, real petrol heads.

I'm looking forward to it like you wouldn't believe.

[dwnundabkr]

bring on superbikes:drool::drool::drool::drool:

[eelracing]

Just shove some vaseline up your nose if its that bad.I for one can't wait to have a ride on it,it sounds like its going to be a real race track.

[325rocket]

bring on superbikes:drool::drool::drool::drool:

bring on track days!!!!!

[sAsLEX]

I sniffed ferociously as I went past today.

No unpleasant odours detected.

[icekiwi]

So who else has booked for the first Trackday?

[smoky]

I was at the track yesterday and there was no smell at all.
I can assure you 4 days out of 5 - it stinks


There is a 200 room hotel going on site in 12 -18 months so accomodation should be eased for smaller events.

They may say they will, but we'll see - I don't know why anyone would build a 200 room hotel there, apart from the track there is no reason anyone would stay there. It may be booked out for one event a year, and a few people on the occassional weekend, that won't pay for the running and construction of a 200 bedroom hotel, Get real.


venue will attract motorsport events that it was not possible to hold in NZ before and all people can do is complain about traffic. Please... get a life
No ones complaining about the traffic!! so what are you on about?
And I've already got a life thanks.
I'm looking forward to NZ having a new track - just question why it in such a crazy place; in a swamp between a prison and a dump? And what that's going to do for our international image?
I can just see the international TV coverage – helicopter views looking down at the track, surrounded by a prison and a large dump – mind you the river will look good, but so will the swamp

[Max Headroom]

They may say they will, but we'll see - I don't know why anyone would build a 200 room hotel there, apart from the track there is no reason anyone would stay there. It may be booked out for one event a year, and a few people on the occassional weekend, that won't pay for the running and construction of a 200 bedroom hotel, Get real.

No ones complaining about the traffic!! so what are you on about?
And I've already got a life thanks.
I'm looking forward to NZ having a new track - just question why it in such a crazy place; in a swamp between a prison and a dump? And what that's going to do for our international image?
I can just see the international TV coverage – helicopter views looking down at the track, surrounded by a prison and a large dump – mind you the river will look good, but so will the swamp

I'm intrigued. If you feel so strongly about the location of the track, don't you think the time to object would be BEFORE it was built, not AFTER? The location, construction and details of the Hampton Downs facility have probably been more rigorously vetted and fine-tuned than most big projects in recent history.

The guys behind the project have already stated that the circuit will be viable even if they never host a competitive race meeting, ever. There will be several commercial businesses based around the track perimeter, and there will be new vehicle launches as well as various minor events and activities. The expectation is that the track will be used daily. The conference centre will be popular simply because of the convenient location for companies bringing staff together from around the North Island. Big race meetings are only a small part of what Hampton Downs is about. It will create its' own momentum...

As for the smell, we live less than 10km from there, and drive/ride past quite frequently. Personally, I've never noticed a smell.

I'm looking forward to this facility being finished. I think it's a real asset and has been well thought out. If you don't share this view, that's your perogative. Exercise your rights by staying away....

[325rocket]

As for the smell, we live less than 10km from there,


another bonus ... cheap accommodation less then 10km from the track haha

[MIXONE]

I remember Meremere dragstrip being built and all the naysayers going "but it's reclaimed swamp land in the middle of nowhere.It'll never work"
30+ years later and still going strong.

[Kiwi Graham]

Yes the prison will always be there but I guess the dump will get covered over at some point. If we can get WSB here fukin great, I'll be there, even if I have to que up! Seen the simulator, looks awsome. Just hope they dont price the normal folk out of the pleasure's it has to offer!

[Max Headroom]

another bonus ... cheap accommodation less then 10km from the track haha

yep, plenty of room for tents!!! Secure parking for bikes too.....

[Quasievil]

pack of pussies, who cares, its a race track if you want a nice smell go to the garden

Hamilton is 35 mins away btw

and the track is a Waikato one so fuck off Aucklanders its ours.
Waikato IS NZ motorsport capital of NZ so there :headbang:

[gammaguy]

Mate - honestly that smell is putrid, it turns your stomach, they actually dump human waste in the landfill out there - I just don't understand why any one would think that’s a good place for an international race track?
.
it simple really..its a reminder that if you miss the braking marker,you,ll be in the shit:gob:

[BM-GS]

The easy way to minimise the traffic jam problem is to ride your bike...

Been to WSB & GP in the UK, and it was the cages which caused the problems (not the bikes squeezing through every gap & stopping them from moving).

Of course it would help if there were roads going different ways from multiple exits, but there you go.

[RoadRacer04]

The easy way to minimise the traffic jam problem is to ride your bike...


Exactly, who takes a cage to a bike event?

[BarryG]

You guys need to appreciate what the owners have done for motorsport in NZ, and the Auckland/Hamilton market in particular. Tons of planning, tons of money, and they' look as if they've come up with a great course suitable for both cars and bikes. Sounds like most of you do, but there's always a whinger or two, eh?
Contrast this effort to the results of a new owner group of our local (Palm Beach, Florida) racetrack, which had fallen on hard times and while the layout is OK, the surface and infrastructure have suffered years of neglect. Some real estate developer types bought the place, with grandiose plans for a motorsport club for the wealthy. They've re-routed the track, resurfaced it, done a pretty good job, but it is now completely useless as a track for motorbikes! The walls are just off the track surface, there's no runoff, no gravel traps! It's a bloody death trap for anyone falling off a bike!
So we're now down to one track south of Miami (Homestead) which is a good facility, then a motorcycle specific track (Jennings) five hours drive north.
We locals were excited about the resurrection of Moroso - and this is what we end up with! Feck!
So good on you, Hampton Downs, for doing it properly. Hopefully my visit home next year coincides with some racing there.
Cheers
Barry

[puddy]

I can assure you 4 days out of 5 - it stinks



They may say they will, but we'll see - I don't know why anyone would build a 200 room hotel there, apart from the track there is no reason anyone would stay there. It may be booked out for one event a year, and a few people on the occassional weekend, that won't pay for the running and construction of a 200 bedroom hotel, Get real.


No ones complaining about the traffic!! so what are you on about?
And I've already got a life thanks.
I'm looking forward to NZ having a new track - just question why it in such a crazy place; in a swamp between a prison and a dump? And what that's going to do for our international image?
I can just see the international TV coverage – helicopter views looking down at the track, surrounded by a prison and a large dump – mind you the river will look good, but so will the swamp
If ya don't like the smell, don't go! That's about as close as they could get the track to Auckland before some tree-hugging, whale-kissing FAGS started complaining! I go to Taupo for Trackdays, so Hampton will be no problem at all!

[marty]

i went past twice this weekend - no smell that i could detect. except from the great unwashed at the prison (who were the only RMA submissions against BTW).

one big issue i can see is the sun in the mid-late afternoon streaming straight into the multiple apartments - it will be unbearably hot and bright for spectators up there!

and no way will it be finished by late 09.

[MsKABC]

and a foul stench from a rubbish dump that can turn your stomach – boy

A well managed, modern landfill should not smell very bad off-site. Hell, even on-site, landfills don't smell too bad. I used to do landfill monitoring and compliance and spent a fair bit of time at various ones and never found it to be too offensive. Any odour complaints should be made directly to the operators in the first instance, and they and they should be proactive in dealing with them. Long standing issues should be reported to the regional council (Environment Waikato).

In any case, the smell of a landfill is not hugely offensive - it's mostly just methane. Often odour complaints turn out to be something quite different (and can be proven so because of wind directions at the time). Many people blame landfills for smells when in fact they are not even familiar with what a landfill smells like. Not saying this is the case with you though ;)

But in saying that, in the heat we've had lately, and if they're being slack with their daily cover, there could be some odour issues. My advice to you (or anyone else) would be to ring and make a complaint, and give them as much information as you can - time, date, location, description of odour.

Unfortunately landfills are a necessary evil.