By Bridget Brady
Kilberry Valley Primary School students would jump at the chance to participate in a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) event in Casey. Gearing up for last year’s Maryborough event were, back from left, Ryan, Nicholas, Chiara, Nicole, Hayden and Reece. Front from left were Sabrina, Amarshi, Jaxon, Devon, Cassidy and Ricky. 38962
Picture: Stewart Chambers
COMMUNITY hopes for a large 24-hour Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) event in Casey may still eventuate, despite a council report saying exorbitant costs were hard to justify.
The Casey Cardinia Human Powered Vehicle and Cycling Club is hoping to host a 24-hour event at Cranbourne, but the council estimates that $194,985 worth of upgrades would be needed at Casey Fields for the event to go ahead.
But Casey councillors Kevin Bradford and Wayne Smith said the economic benefits of such an event in Casey, similar to the one that already exists at Maryborough, would be well worth the effort and said it would be a shame not to secure the event.
“The impact of this event on Casey could be amazing,” Cr Smith said.
Councillors Bradford and Smith said the many people who would visit, stay and therefore spend money in the town would contribute greatly to the Casey economy. The council estimated between $82,000 and $102,600 could be injected into the local economy if 2000 people visited the event.
But Casey’s manager of sport and leisure Richard Amon in his report said there was some uncertainty about the true economic impact of the event.
“While recognising the possible economic impact a large scale multi-day HPV event may have on Cranbourne and the surrounding area, the large cost to council is difficult to validate,” Mr Amon said.
Four Oaks Ward councillor Shar Balmes said she was not convinced a large number of people would stay in Casey as they did in their thousands in the rural community of Maryborough.
Cr Balmes said the benefits “don’t seem to outweigh the costs in my mind”.
The president of the Casey Cardinia Human Powered Vehicle and Cycling Club, John Mills, said it was a “natural extension” for the club to aim to host a 24-hour event.
“We have been talking about it for a long time. We see it as a great possibility to expand the sport in this area and give all the groups in this area a 24-hour race, which a lot of people aspire to,” he said.
Mr Mills said he envisaged anywhere between 120 and 150 school and community teams would participate in a 24-hour event in Casey in its first year.
Kilberry Valley Primary School teacher Mark Bailey, who coached the school’s HPV team last year, said he would welcome the opportunity to participate in a local event.
Council officers will prepare a further report about the possibility of securing the event for 2012 and investigate other funding sources.
