The City of New Westminster has put the brakes on the Hyack Grand Prix, an event organizers had hoped would be a great boost for local economy.
The Hyack Festival Association announced on Monday the city had cancelled next month’s provincial championship bike race.
The city claims organizers did not fulfil the requirements necessary to put on the event, but Hyack president-elect and lead organizer David Brett disagrees.
“They were displeased with what we provided, and we didn’t know why they were so concerned but that’s what it came down to,” Brett told the Record. “They focused on a handful of businesses we hadn’t heard back from yet.”
But when questioned by Brett during the open delegation session at Monday night’s city council meeting, councillors rejected the idea they were focusing on a small group of non-responders.
The proposed route would effectively shut down Fifth and Sixth streets between Fifth and Third avenues, cutting off access for about four hours to businesses and residences on the inner portion of the track. Hyack failed to get all businesses that would be directly affected by the race to fill out a form indicating they were in support of the event, Coun. Bill Harper said.
Instead, in some cases, Hyack presented the city with emails between themselves and businesses, which demonstrated the businesses were aware of the event but did not necessarily indicate support, Harper added.
“They had to indicate on the form that they actually supported it, and so that we wouldn’t have any liability issues with businesses,” Harper said. “We weren’t demanding 100 per cent, but what we wanted was a clear understanding where everybody was, and the numbers had to be high, we’d hoped for around the 90 to 95 per cent range.”
Harper said these requirements are asked of any event organizer who intends on blocking access to businesses or residences for an extended period of time. The upcoming zero-emissions kart race, planned for June 11 and 12, which will also require the closure of some downtown streets, was one example of an event that had to solicit support from residents and business owners in the area, Harper noted.
On Jan. 18, council approved $16,800 in funding for the Hyack Grand Prix, pending approval of the event, which it didn’t receive. The event had been scheduled for the same day as the Hyack International Parade, and it would have brought cyclists from across the province and beyond to the city for a provincial championship race.
Brett, who had been working with Cycling B.C. for the past two years to make this event happen, was visibly frustrated at Monday night’s meeting. He demanded council explain what these “unmet requirements” were, adding the response from the business community and residents had been, for the most part, positive.
“The results were trending in the right direction. There was only one business that actually said they don’t support it. So it’s not that we had opposition, we just had a few holes, and we thought, well surely, since the city wants this to happen, we’ve tipped the scales, this thing’s going ahead, but they said ‘No,’” he said.
One thing Brett and city council can agree on is they both want to see the race move forward next year.
“We thought it was a great event, and we still do think it’s a great event,” Harper said. “So basically, what we’re saying to them is, let’s put it off this year and let’s properly plan and get the support of the community in that area in order to put it on.”
