The controversy surrounding a world-class surfing competition, slated for Halifax this fall, is over.
Surf wear giant O’Neill has dropped its plans to hold the Cold Water Classic in the municipality, Mayor Peter Kelly revealed Friday.
“The O’Neill Surf Classic is welcome to bring their proposal forward again next year,” Kelly says.
“The waves will still be there if they want to consider our unique location for 2012.”
According to a press release from HRM, O’Neil pulled out because there wasn’t enough time to plan such a major competition properly.
The competition was scheduled for Sept. 19-25.
The city’s Special Events Advisory Committee last month approved a $145,000 grant for the event.
That raised some eyebrows because the amount was equal to what O’Neill promised to hand out in awards at the competition.
The committee’s chair, councillor Sue Uteck, said in an interview May 25 HRM would never approve a grant for prize money.
Surfers from the area were disappointed with HRM for approving the event without consulting them about holding such a huge event at Cow Bay, a small community about 30 minutes from downtown Halifax.
The spot is quite popular with local wave riders and most have worked hard to form a good relationship with nearby residents, Surfing Association of Nova Scotia (SANS) co-president Justin Huston said at the time.
Huston had reservations about HRM hosting a global event at Cow Bay, where waves aren’t consistent and the breaks aren’t huge.
He also had concerns about the possibility of thousands of visitors taking over the quiet Eastern Shore community.
O’Neill still has two other Cold Water Classic events on the books for this year; one in New Zealand and another in Scotland.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.