Our Vision
Rally of New Zealand Limited, organisers of the International Rally of Whangarei, are committed to improving the sustainability of its events as well as highlighting sustainability initiatives to its wider audience of participants, media, spectators and volunteers.
Our Policy
Incorporating our existing responsibilities to our stakeholders, we will also undertake a commitment to consider environmental effects:
Among the actions taken as part of this policy are;
- The Board of Directors and Management Team will consider environmental impacts and encourage members of the Event Committee to adopt this culture as well.
- We work within current governing bodies, i.e. local councils and applicable legislation.
- We value the communities we work amongst and their support. In turn we support these communities by contributing half of the spectator ticket proceeds back to them.
- We will begin to publicly share our efforts towards sustainability and our environmental performance. This information will be used as a platform to begin to measure our progress.
- We have added the sustainability role to our event committee, this role will begin to encourage discussion and various actions we can take to improve in this area.
- We have had a longstanding culture to use our resources efficiently, this will continue as it is one of our core competencies.
- We encourage the adoption of new fuel technologies, within specifications, as available.
- As part of solidifying sustainability as part of our culture, we will communicate with our stakeholders (competitors, spectators, volunteers, to name a few) to encourage them to take personal commitment towards these issues.
- This initiative is a work in progress and as such we strive towards a culture of continuous improvement throughout our entire event and incorporating sustainability.
Principles of Environmentally Responsible Rallying
Here is a summary of some of the actions by Rally New Zealand in the area of sustainability. This encompasses all events run or supported by the organisation which are currently, Rally New Zealand, Rally of Whangarei and the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally.
1. We accept the need to be environmentally responsible in our actions
We can begin to show our commitment to the environment by starting to make public our efforts to date and continue to update this information each year.
2. We work in partnership with the communities
Whilst we choose to operate as a non profit organisation, we are very aware that our success is also a direct result of the relationship we have with the communities in which we operate. Therefore we have a culture of supporting these communities, both financially and nonfinancially.
Financial assistance:
- 50% of the ticket sales are refunded back to the local communities.
- E.g. on the Rally New Zealand event, where it has run through the Pirongia community, proceeds are returned to the community groups that assist us based in this area.
- Similarly with roads in the Franklin District and Raglan area. Various community groups receive support in these respective area’s.
- Examples of some of the community groups that benefit are Lion’s Clubs/ Rugby Clubs and in the case of Rally Whangarei, the Maungaturoto Community forms a Cooperative of various groups.
- Many districts take advantage of the opportunity this event brings to their region, in addition to supporting us with marshals, and receiving ticket proceeds, they will often run sausage sizzles and various food stalls in the area to generate additional fundraising. Also by providing parking for spectators.
We include the local farmers in event planning discussions. Some farmers are concerned as the noise associated with the cars and helicopters can upset their stock. We have involved farmers in these discussions, for many years. The decision of when to run this event is determined by the FIA World Rally Championship Commission as they plan the calendar. Rally New Zealand and it’s sister events also have considerations with regard to farming activities and ensuring neglibible disruption to the likes of lambing and calving cycles.
- We are grateful for the local farmer’s assistance to minimise this impact, some are able to relocate stock for the period of the event. The assistance of the farmer’s, also helps us identify landing sites for the helicopters to minimise the disruption to stock.
- We understand that not everyone is as passionate about motorsport as we are. We appreciate the consideration and effort local residents need to make on the day the event runs through their community, as often they are impacted by road closure for several hours. We write to the residents concerned many months ahead of the event to assist them in their planning around the event. We also provide passes for the residents.
3. Focus on minimising energy use and waste generation
Transport / Travel:
- The events have largely moved to a single base to reduce the amount of travel by competitors, their teams and spectators.
- The amount of overseas travel has been reduced and is closely examined. Where ever possible video conferencing is used.
- Travel schedules are planned to reduce doubling up of travel both domestically and internationally.
- Vehicle trips are minimised by combining meetings especially those out of Auckland and away from the Rally of New Zealand offices.
- Wherever possible multiple staff travel to meetings in the same vehicle.
- By using local resources within the community, as supplied by various community groups, consequently the organisation doesn’t need to transport in various food vendors to spectator viewing points.
Paper:
- Web based documentation has been deployed wherever possible to reduce both paper consumption and courier usage.
- Increased use of electronic means of communication, i.e. email to assist in the reduction of office paper usage.
- The amount of information produced in printed format has been reduced and continues to be so. Paper consumption has been reduced by a third per event compared with 2002.
- All waste paper is recycled from the event office before and during the event.
Other examples:
Waste Oil from teams is collected from the Service Park and recycled.
Phased elimination of leaded fuel use.
We work closely with suppliers and partners to reduce the environmental impact of the events.
4. Encourage a culture of innovation and creativity towards improving our environmental policy
Among the actions implemented in 2009 are:
- Formation of a sustainability group to accelerate sustainability focus.
- Targets set for reduction of resource usage.
- All competitors in Rally New Zealand will use unleaded fuel.
- Where directed by the FIA, single tyre manufacturers have been appointed for all WRC events and all tyres must be returned to the manufacturer at the end of the event to be exported for recycling in a dedicated plant in Italy.
- Waste bins at the Service Park, will include bins for recycling.
- Display area will be made available for exhibitions regarding biofuel and sustainability.
We have a social conscience so as challenging as it can be to find sponsors for our sport we also take in to account the history of actions of our sponsors and likewise their policies.
Fiona Whyte
Sustainability Manager
Rally New Zealand
