Secret meeting called over MotoGP as track leaks flow
A special meeting of a major Adelaide council was rapidly organised yesterday after a purported draft map of the MotoGP track was sent to politicians and journalists.
A ‘special’ City of Adelaide council meeting was organised yesterday morning, as new rumours swirl around potential park lands impacts arising from the construction of a new city circuit for the 2027 MotoGP.
The council, led by Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith, is planning to meet ‘in confidence’ tonight – in addition to the regular Tuesday evening meeting – for a ‘special’ meeting.
While no details were included in the meeting listing, InDaily understands councillors will be discussing MotoGP.
It comes after a number of politicians and members of the media were sent a copy purportedly of a draft map of the proposed MotoGP track.
InDaily has chosen not to publish the map without verification, but it shows the course of the city circuit cutting through eastern park lands and taking out hundreds of trees. If it is the final map, it would include a track cutting through the park lands’ heritage-listed olive grove and being constructed close to the butterfly conservation area in Victoria Park.
The state government has promised to unveil its map “within weeks” and previously said the track construction would result in the removal of at least 45 trees.
You might like
While InDaily and other media outlets have been unable to verify whether the draft map is legitimate, the document is headed with ‘OFFICIAL Sensitive – SA Cabinet’.
Asked by reporters at a press conference yesterday about the map, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the broad outline of the MotoGP track was released in February when he announced the state’s deal with the sporting organisation.
“I think there have been somewhere around about 25 different iterations of that track in various forms because the team is working to minimise the tree loss,” he said.
“We hope to have it finalised in the not too distant future. We have to get this out to community consultation so we have plenty of time to complete the track by November next year.
“I think we need to have the track out for public consultation at some point in the next four to six weeks.”
Stay informed, daily
The Premier said the leaked document was “not a Cabinet document”.
“Because we have not yet gone to Cabinet with the final track design.”
SA Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn told reporters yesterday that “the park lands belong to everyone”.
“The best thing that the government can do to end speculation about the MotoGP track is to release the design,” she said.
“South Australians were promised consultation on the track would start in July.
“We need to make sure that the community are involved in this.”
Adelaide Park Lands Association president Mat Monti told InDaily: “If this map turns out to be true, this is worse than first thought and a serious blow to our park lands”.
“A map should have already been made public by now, so to have this leak rather than come directly from the government is disappointing.”
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
