A convoy of Triumph cars rolled into Wagga in support of The Leisure Company despite multiple road blocks from Wagga council that could have seen the event cancelled.
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More than 40 vehicles and 65 drivers from the Triumph Car Club turned out for the day to take people with a disability for rides in the vintage vehicles.
Event coordinator Graeme Oxley was surprised by what was required by council and said the car club continued with the event because of a promise made to The Leisure Company.
“The reason for coming here is to take some special needs people from the leisure company for rides in these cars because these type of people never get the opportunity to go in open top convertible cars,” he said.
“We had to go through the issues of risk assessments, we had to have special insurance or public liability which was up to $20 million and our club only had $10 million.
“We had to increase that if we wanted to do (the event), which we did.”
For two hours in the city, Mr Oxley said the club had to apply for a land permit to park outside the Riverina Playhouse, then pay a flat fee for the privilege of parking their cars at the venue.
Mayor Greg Conkey lead the convoy into Wagga and said it was a standard requirement for organisers of such events to meet council regulations before being given the all-clear.
“There is a number of rules and regulations which unfortunately have to be in place for events like this,” he said.
“There is a number of policies involved we need to cover off as far as insurance is concerned. They needed an insurance policy with $20 million of cover and needed a few other things.
“It is a fairly big event and safety is a number-one priority.”
The Triumph Car Club drove from Uranquinty to Wagga on Friday morning, October 6 before heading off to Cootamundra to finish the event there.
About 20 people with a disability were taken for rides in the vehicles. Leisure Company program officer Sarah Manley was thankful for the car club’s support and said it was a “great” way to raise awareness within the local community for the organisation.
“The Leisure Company is always searching for community events and activities and clubs that we can link up with so our participants can be more involved in the community,” she said.
“We do have a lot of car enthusiasts so everybody is going to have a really fun time but also having that community involvement and community participation is really a positive thing for our participants.”
