TAURANGA CITY COUNCIL
News
Mayor Postpones Fireworks for Birds
The Mayor of Tauranga City, Stuart Crosby and General Manager of Baypark Speedway Ltd, Erwin McSweeney, have made the tough decision to cancel the fireworks display traditionally held on the opening weekend (and Guy Fawkes) at Baypark Speedway this Saturday.This follows discussions with the wildlife response team and Maritime NZ over the impact of the fireworks display on rescued birds being cared for at the wildlife refuge which is right next door to the Baypark Speedway. The birds would have been subjected to the incredibly loud noise and the strobe effect lights of the major fireworks display that was planned.
The discussions with promoters tried to find a compromise such as reducing the noise levels of the fireworks and even looking at relocating the birds. Neither of these options proved to be viable.
Mayor Stuart Crosby said the fireworks display traditionally made this the most successful weekend of the season and that much local economic benefit rested on this going ahead. "There is already a misconception that Tauranga and the Mount are 'closed' due to the Rena disaster and we want people to know that nothing could be further from the truth. The City is well prepared for the coming summer influx and we will work around whatever the Rena throws at us and keep our City and beaches open for business ", he said.
Mr Crosby however decided, that with all the effort going into saving wildlife, it would be worse than foolish to now compromise those values. "Especially since we know how fragile the current environment is for the 60 rescued dotterels and the 340 penguins who have been saved so far, " he added.
Mr Crosby said that he and Mr McSweeney would be working on a separate fireworks event for the future - perhaps to celebrate when the wildlife has been freed again.
Published: Wednesday, 02 Nov 2011 14:00 by TaurangaCity Council