MOUNT Isa City councillors have agreed to apply to the state government for a lease of 98 hectares of land, where a motorsports complex might be built.
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The site is on Lake Moondarra Road, about 10 minutes from the city.
This does not mean the council has agreed to build the complex, but to attempt to lease government-owned land currently used by the Mount Isa Water Board.
If the land was leased then it would be divided up among the motorsport groups for their use of driver training, drag racing, go-karts and off-road driving.
Not all councillors were supportive of the motion to lease the land.
Cr George Fortune did not agree to the motion because he believed motorsport groups need to first demonstrate more commitment for a complex to be built.
If there was not enough commitment then ratepayers who were not interested in motorsports could be burdened with the cost of building the complex.
“To me it’s all about the sustainability.
“I don’t have any opposition to any motorsports in town; I think they’ll add to the community in many ways,” Cr Fortune said.
The motor groups needed to take ownership.
“Sustainability is a big issue for me.”
Deputy Mayor Brett Peterson – who strongly supports the motorsport complex – said if the motion was rejected by councillors he would have ensured the public gallery would be filled with advocates for the complex at the next full council meeting.
Community consultation for the complex released in March 2013 showed that the majority of the Mount Isa community would attend events at the complex, Cr Peterson said.
He pointed out the section of the Mineral City Driver Training and Motorsports Complex Operational Plan 2013, which stated that 92 per cent of the 300 people surveyed in Mount Isa were supportive of a driver training and motorsports complex.
Cr Peterson said he was particularly supportive of facilities for driver training.
But the only thing the council wanted to do was secure the land, Cr Peterson said.
The complex could have been owned and operated if the state government had funded it through round one of Royalties for Regions.
But the funding was declined for the complex.
He hoped the council could lease the land within a year.
Cr Peterson said the community would be better off leasing the land from the state government directly, because otherwise it would be subject to conditions of the Mount Isa Water Board even if a complex was built.
A State Department of Natural Resources and Mines spokesperson said it was difficult to provide a response regarding the process of the council’s lease application, because none had yet been made.
“The Department of Natural Resources and Mines has received no approach or application to date from the Mount Isa City Council or the Mount Isa Water Board about this matter.”
