A group of Newcastle East residents dumped thousands of plastic cable ties on the doorstep of Newcastle council on Friday in protest at the rubbish left behind by the Supercars weekend.
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Newcastle East Residents Group says it collected about 4500 cable ties after this year's race.
"In a sensitive coastal location, plastic is the enemy of the ocean," NERG said in a media release.
"Yet every year the Supercars race generates huge amounts of plastic and tyre rubber with no apparent plan in place to rectify the situation."
NERG said it had asked City of Newcastle, Destination NSW, the Environment Protection Authority and Supercars who was responsible for cleaning up the race precinct, but the organisations had passed the buck to each other.
"Today we are delivering some of the race residue to the agency supposedly responsible for it," the group said.
Residents claimed one victory on Friday after the Alcohol Advertising Review Board upheld their complaint about a large Jim Beam logo on the track fence opposite houses in Parnell Place.
The board, which has no statutory authority, found that the advertisement contravened its Placement Code because it was likely to be seen by young people and was at a sport which appeals to young people.
"Several Panel members commented that the association between a motor racing sport and alcohol is highly inappropriate and conveys a poor message to young people," the board said in its ruling.
"The Alcohol Advertising Review Board requests the Advertiser cease the sponsorship of sport due to the likely exposure of young people."
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Meanwhile, Supercars says it is working with the council and racetrack engineering team iEDM "with the focus on speeding up the time it takes to remove the race infrastructure" after concerns the later date for next year's race will be even more disruptive to businesses' pre-Christmas trade.
The 2020 race will be from December 4 to 6, and lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said recently that she had written to Supercars to try to speed up the race's "bump-out".
Supercars said on Friday that its agreement with the council "does not have any restriction on when the event is held throughout the year".
"Local residents and businesses will be informed of all track build and track deconstruction information regarding the 2020 event in due course," it said.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
