It seems this week that life is returning to normal here in Hamilton after the V8’s. King St head office has had its fair share of disruption over the last few weeks as have many other businesses on and around the track so it’s good to have the street back.

Much has been written about every aspect of the event, from the smooth running of one the largest events ever to be staged in New Zealand to some of the businesses who invested heavily in anticipation of a huge weekend only to find the exact opposite.

The upshot of it all is that we have realised that the V8’s are here to stay so we need to learn to live with them. Furthermore, it’s not just a case of it being one weekend a year; the V8’s will be a permanent part of our lives and will make a big difference to how we develop as a city and how we are perceived.

As a devout Hamiltonian and advocate of the V8’s I must admit to a range of different emotions as I observed the event unfold. The overriding feeling was that life has changed drastically and will never be the same again. And while it’s good to embrace change, sometimes it comes with a period of mourning for what we had before – even when we find ourselves in a much better position.

There’s an old American proverb that goes “It doesn’t work to leap a 20 foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.” To me, this sums up what happened with the first V8’s event. A massive achievement.

Now that the first leap has been made, it’s about learning and growing. I am not an event organiser so I can only go on what was reported about how it ran – this was along the lines that it was absolutely world-class. But what of what happened in the rest of the city?

With all the people in town, it would have been fair to expect chaos in the shops, bars and restaurants. This did not eventuate apart from in some pockets. My theory on this is that we forgot to invite ourselves to our own party. While we fretted and worried about making sure there were no traffic jams and queues everywhere, many locals didn’t get involved for fear of not getting served in their own home town.

The fact of the matter is that this is our event and we need to be encouraged to take part and play host. Next year I predict it will be completely different as even more people come to town and the locals engage more fully with the festivities. It might help also if the cover charges are lifted – I personally found it offensive to be charged to go into bars I have frequented regularly over the years. This is not a way to reward me for my loyalty. But the promotion also needs to ensure we are all encouraged to take part – even if it is about heading to town for the biggest party of the year.

The City Council, the event organisers and all businesses who made the event a success deserve a great deal of credit for what was achieved. But credit is also due to everyone who has had to deal with the massive change to the make up of our city; and to the businesses who had to endure major inconvenience and loss of turnover in an already tight year but just got on with it, credit and thanks is also deserved. These businesses are what sum up things up to me and underline why the event will go from strength to strength. Instead of moaning, kicking and screaming they realised that Hamilton will be better off for the V8’s, irrespective of how they were individually affected. And while this shows a real maturity as a city, it also shows we are ready to go to the next level.

As a business on the circuit all I would like is a thanks from the city for accepting their vision, living with change and quietly working around all the inconvenience.