Save Albert Park is just one of a series of community movements which have had to fight the incursions of Formula One Grand Prix racing in parkland and residential areas.
The circuit for the Dutch Grand Prix was constructed in 1948 near the growing seaside resort of Zandvoort. Formula One racing was effectively ended in 1985 by imminent new Dutch noise pollution law. A man-made sand dune to act as a sound barrier had to be built between the resort and the circuit to allow other racing to continue.
Flushing Meadow-Corona Park is a 1257 acre park, built on a former swamp and landfill. It was developed for the 1939 New York City Fair and contains two major stadiums in the northern section. The southern section is more natural and contains a 3/4 mile narrow artificial lake similar in shape to Albert Park Lake. Although neglected, it is a popular park , with an estimated 6 million visitors per year. The park is bordered by expressways.
In late 1982 the New York Grand Prix Inc. announced a Grand Prix proposal for the Park. This called for the removal of 113 trees surrounding Meadow Lake and construction of a track to replace the strolling paths, just 40 feet from the lakefront.
The proposal had been initiated in 1981 by Eccelestone, the local President of Queens Borough, and his executive assistant, who subsequently resigned to take up the position of chief executive of the New York Grand Prix Inc. A Toronto real estate developer was to underwrite the proposal with $US12 million.
The Borough President attempted to push the project through, by-passing the usual Uniform Land Use Reporting Procedures that required any major land-use issue be presented to all affected community boards, the City Planning Commission and the Board of Estimates.
A Stop Grand Prix Auto Racing Committee made up of representatives of local councils, park groups, civic associations, New York councillors and Senators began a successful campaign to stop this proposal.
Fortunately the Stop Grand Prix Auto Racing Committee was assisted in its campaign by:
Once opposition began to build, the Park Commissioner, under the requirements of the New York City Charter, sought a legal opinion on the necessity for a full environmental effects review from the City Corporation Counsel, who ruled that one was required. That held up the plans.
The report by the City Planning Commission and Department of Environmental Protection on the promoters' Environment Impact Study found that "joggers, cyclists and ball players might lose large chunks of the park for up to four months a year" and that the roadway around the lake "would have a significant adverse aesthetic impact" and "The natural character and visual character of the park would be affected by the removal of approximately 113 trees...
The track works required approval from the City Commission, which despite political pressure to approve the project was able to attach tough requirements: the promoters were allowed to remove only 60 trees and would have to show how they would return the park to its original condition after the race.
In March 1986, after a three year battle, the proposal was declared dead.
In October 1993, a local promoter, Louis Ruzzi, signed an 8 year contract to hold the Argentinian Grand Prix on a street circuit in the suburb of Palermo. Palermo Park, reported to have been the scene of races in the 1940s, was to be used for part of the circuit. From 1953 till the last Argentinian Grand Prix in 1981, the race had been run at the city's Autodrome Oscar Galvez.
Palermo Park, situated in the centre of Buenos Aires, is former marshland, drained in 1836, and declared a public park in 1872. The present park- Buenos Aires' largest, contains five lakes, sports fields, botanical gardens, a zoo, rosegarden, polo ground, horse racing track and planetarium.
On 15 November 1993 President Menem signed a decree authorising the event. The proposal for the Palermo street and park circuit met opposition from local residents, environmentalists, the Buenos Aires city council, and operators of the established Autodrome. Despite warnings from the Government that the protests would lose the event for Argentina, the race contract was eventually rewritten and Eccelestone, the financiers and the Argentinian Government agreed to return the race to the city Autodrome.
While the reasons for the shift were not released, it is believed that the protests plus the Government's refusal to underwrite a more expensive street circuit when there was the option of upgrading the existing autodrome (The Age, 27/5/94) were the reason. This was politically a sensitive time for President Menem who was seeking a change to the constitution to enable him to run for a second term of office.
Monza is an 800 hectare former royal park which contains the remnants of the 500 year old Bosco Bello (Beautiful Wood) . The northern part of the park now contains 2 golf courses and a horse racing course as well as the motor race track.
In 1922 the Milan Automobile Club (now SIAS) obtained a 30 year lease for 260 hectares of the Bosco Bello section of the park shortly after it had been handed over by the King of Italy to the State. Since the first track was built in 1922, there have been modifications in 1948, 1955, 1972 , 1976 and more recently in 1994 and 1995. All modifications have involved removal of trees from the ancient forest.
Since 1994, however, demands by the FIA for the removal of 300 trees to improve track safety have been opposed by the regional Lombardy Government, a coalition of local environmental groups, and the Italian Greens. Local commercial bodies and the Monza/Milan Councils, with vested economic and political prestige interests, supported the demands for the modifications.
In 1994 the race finally went ahead after a compromise agreement between race officials and the Italian government to allow the removal of 24 trees for track modifications. In 1995 the dispute resumed over 185 trees. Finally 115 trees were moved , but not destroyed, to enable the race to proceed.
The story is familiar in one respect. The park has been subject to excision and commercialisation, while the public areas have been neglected. According to a mid-July 1995 report the Italian cabinet has approved the safety work and backed an $8.49 million plan to revitalise the Monza Park.
The tortuous process surrounding the decision to remove trees and further degrade the park indicates that a race-track would not have been built in Monza Park in 1994.
When Hungary began hosting a Formula One Grand Prix in 1986, there was no attempt to use an existing circuit in Budapest's Nepliget Park. A new circuit, the Hungaroring, was built on empty land near the village of Mogyorod, 22km from Budapest.
Bernie Eccelestone may say that "he would like one day to see a race in London's Hyde Park" (The Age, 9/11/95). He knows that no-one would dare to attempt such a proposal.
Top of this page
Search our site 
Back to our Factsheets
© 1995 - 1999 Save Albert Park ; permission to copy is given provided this copyright notice is reproduced in full
Postal Address: PO Box 1300, South Melbourne DC, Victoria, Australia 3205
Telephone: 61 3 9690 3855 ; Fax: 61 3 9690 3544
Email: SAP (sapark@save-albert-park.org.au) ; you may encrypt email sent to us - click here or contact us for more information