Rollercoaster for just $50?

Press, 14 July 1989, Page 2

Rollercoaster for just $50?

by

KAY FORRESTER

Psst. Want to buy a rollercoaster? Mr Bill Finnerty, of Rangiora says he is prepared to take as little as $5O to get rid of his. Mr Finnerty, who owns the rollercoaster at Queen Elizabeth II Park, says he has had a gutsful and is going to Australia. He stopped the rollercoaster from running just before Christmas “because it had become unsafe. Any stories about it being unsafe before were wholly untrue but it became unsafe before Christmas so I stopped operating it.” The rollercoaster had been the subject of noise complaints from residents during its time at the park. Mr Finnerty says the coaster was never given a fair go. When he stopped it for safety reasons it was not earning enough revenue to make ends meet. That, he says, was because of the stories about it.

The Christchurch City Council took court action against the coaster’s operator earlier this year over unpaid rent. Mr Finnerty says two judgments against him have since been set aside and he disputes that he owes the council several thousand dollars in unpaid rent. The rollercoaster began life at the park with a loop, but that was removed by Mr Finnerty after negotiations with the council. He now says he has had enough. The coaster is for unreserved sale at auction in Rangiora tomorrow morning. A condition of sale will be its removal from the park. “I’ve had a gutsful. I’ll take whatever is bid for it — $5O, whatever,” he said.