The end of the road for Killarney Racetrack

The possible closure of Killarney racetrack will solve multiple issues, but with petrolheads nowhere to turn; it could lead to more and bigger issues.

Killarney Racetrack  

The Killarney Racetrack, appreciated by many Capetonians would be a sad sacrifice to noise pollution.

“The best event I attended at Killarney was the North VS South quarter mile final. It was awesome; it was so loud everybody had to close their ears when it started up.” Says Graeme Petersen from Cape Town.

Many car fanatics have their best memories at Killarney.  

The Killarney Racetrack has been around for 53years, however the intense sound of the screeching tyres and revving engines are now been seen as noise pollution by the residents of Table View. It is a big possibility that all the petrol heads in the Western Cape can say goodbye to the biggest and baddest car events. “The noises of the car are too loud at night; it keeps me out of sleep. I wouldn’t want Killarney to close down; if they could change the programming it would be fine.” Says Tyler Oliver a local.

With the track's lease due for renewal in 2022, management is eager to stay on the city’s good side. The Western Cape Motor Club’s manager Des Eaton says the company has strategies to reduce sound levels for future events. "We are confident that working with the City of Cape Town, racing at Killarney will continue -- albeit at a lower noise level,” he said.

 The Killarney race track in Table View, Western Cape is the only race track in the whole of Western Cape. The race track was used for racing in 1947 and was rebuilt in 1959-1960 to confirm to the standard required for the 1500cc Formula One Cars of the time. Today Killarney race track is the home of Fantastic Racing and connects Cape Town with individual outings, corporate events, entertaining, networking and even teambuilding. Recently the residents of Table View have been complaining about noise and protesters are asking to use the land for housing settlements which might be the cause of Killarney being closed for good.

Killarney closing could make an even bigger problem in terms of “Street Racing”. After Killarney started having huge events it decreased the number of Illegal Street racing in the Cape Town area. Killarney offers their race track to amateurs too which is a way better experience than the fear of getting locked up or causing an accident while racing through traffic.

The public are can solve this problem by speaking up. It is because of the publics complaints that there is a fear of Killarney closing. The public can help by tweeting, updating their facebook status’s or even word of mouth.