A Dannevirke car group is fighting to keep its skidpad running.
As a skidpad in Dannevirke shuts down, locals are revving up and fighting to keep it running. Georgia Forrester investigates.
For a group of Dannevirke drivers, the hope of seeing drifting smoke and spinning car tyres has come to a screeching halt.
Dannevirke's SLOT car club members have been shredding tyres, socialising with other car enthusiasts, and raising money for charity in the past seven weeks, as a skidpad sparked up in town.
A busted wheel as a result of burnouts.
The skidpad was made by Tararua District councillor and contractor Ernie Christison. He says he saw a need for local car enthusiasts to enjoy the sport they love in a safe and controlled environment. So he laid concrete in his yard at Laws Rd and opened the gates.
But to the disappointment of many budding drivers, the council shut the skidpad two months later. Christison was served an abatement notice from his council because the pad did not have resource consents, and thus was forced to close the gates.
SLOT car club co-organiser and boy racer Kyle Berkahn says the closure is a shame. The 22-year-old says he grew up around cars. He collects them, drives them, and works on them as a sport and a hobby.
Kyle Berkahn, 22, hopes the skidpad in Dannevirke can be used in the future.
During the time the skidpad was open, his car club grew from three main members to about 30, with some joining from Pahiatua and Woodville.
Drivers would meet about once a week and use the pad between 6pm and 8pm. Spectators could watch for a gold coin donation and people paid $10 to drive.
Berkahn says $800 of the money raised from the event went to the Relay for Life charity.
A place for cars to do burnouts has been shut down by Tararua District Council.
Berkahn is aware of the stereotype around 'boy racers'. Because of the actions and behaviours of a small percentage of car enthusiasts, the whole group gets blamed, he says.
"When they do stuff up, they end up hurting others or hurting themselves, and that reflects badly on others."
Berkahn also knows what can happen when doing skids in public places. Around the age of 20, he was arrested and charged with driving with loss of traction, after being caught skidding in a public car park. He went through the court system, was fined, and lost his licence for six months.
The inside of one of Kyle Berkahn's cars.
He says if he were to lose his licence again he could also lose his job. But Berkahn doesn't plan to skid about town any time soon. He says he's learned his lesson.
He wants to pursue his hobby in a way that's acceptable. Some people skateboard, play golf, or go kayaking. Cars are his passion and skidpads are a way to offer people the chance to do what they love in a safe environment, rather than out on the roads, he says.
"It's a great idea. It's like skate parks. Everyone was worried about the kids on scooters and skateboards flying around the streets, so they gave them a skate park."
Chris Berkahn and his son Kyle hope to keep the skidpad in Dannevirke.
He sees it as a sport.
The Manfeild circuit in Feilding held the V 4 and Rotary North Island Jamboree at the end of March. Cars with all motor sizes were shown off, and Berkahn says a skidpad was also set up for people to have a go on.
People from the Tararua District came first, second and third in the skidding part of the competition.
"It's becoming an international sport. New Zealand's cars are going to Aussie for it to do the burnout competitions – it's getting huge."
Since the skidpad closure, Berkahn says he has noticed skid marks back in the Dannevirke streets.
"While the pad was open, there was no-one making skids around town and our little group was making sure of it because we didn't want to lose it. But we have."
He is hopeful the pad will open again.
Central District roading policing manager Inspector Brett Calkin says police do not support the idea of burnout pads. Spinning wheels and bald tyres are a road safety issue. There is also the issue of liability, and health and safety laws, he says.
To operate safely, there would need to be helmets, harnesses, seatbelts and safe areas for spectators. There would probably need to be security guards and officials, but such an event would come at a price, Calkin says.
Calkin says illegal street racing is more common in Palmerston North than in Tararua, especially in the warmer months. Police would expect a couple of noise complaints most Friday and Saturday nights in the city.
"It's dangerous and it's an offence. Just don't do it."
Tararua District Council chief executive Blair King says an abatement notice was issued to the owners of the land, one of which is Christison, to prevent continuation of the burnouts on the pad.
Under the District Plan, any burnout pad would require a resource consent, he says.
Christison says safety measures were in place, such as safety glasses, concrete walls, hi-vis clothing and organisers being on site.
He is aware of concerns around smoke and noise, but says nearby residents were informed of the pad. He hopes to work through the consents and requirements needed in the future.
Chris Berkahn, Kyle's father and a long-time car enthusiast, says burnouts are "just part of growing up".
"In reality, if these kids were into river rafting or long boarding or [doing] any sport that didn't have a social stigma attached to it, the council would be getting behind them. Especially when they're competing against international entrants at national events."
He, too, was raised around cars and has spent decades collecting old-fashioned cars, doing them up and racing.
He says there are car clubs about the country that open up paddocks and run skid events.
"A lot of people say go to a race track. But a friend of mine and I have got a race car and you're looking at huge money and thousands of dollars for a weekend. Twenty-year-olds can't afford that."
Although the law around boy racers has tightened, he says it only "pushed the problem under the carpet". The way forward is to set up safe, designated areas for drivers and teach them how to drive. Anyone caught driving dangerously or skidding outside of the designated areas should be "prosecuted huge".
Having designated skid areas could prevent young people from taking to the streets, he says.
"For some of the kids it gives them an opportunity to have a go at it without getting into trouble. It's all just driving experience over and above that. It's a bit of fun. They enjoy it. It's quite harmless.
"I think people just need to be a bit more accepting of other people's behaviours."
- Stuff
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