Keeping an eye out for hoons

City of Port Phillip
Port Phillip Council will immediately order a mobile CCTV trailer following the success of a rented trial trailer in helping drive down hooning complaints.

Up to $150,000 has been allocated to buy a permanent mobile CCTV to be used by Victoria Police across the City.

In the meantime, up to $35,000 will be provided for the rented trial trailer to continue operating until the permanent CCTV arrives, which could take several months.

The decision follows community concern about hoon driving from Elwood to Port Melbourne, especially at Waterfront Place and near Station Pier.

This includes Port Melbourne residents complaining about noise, fumes and parking chaos caused by car and motorcycle drivers gathering to attend illegal car meets.

Mayor Marcus Pearl said police had welcomed the trial trailer as a useful tool in both spotting and deterring bad driving behaviour.

“There is no one solution to hooning but a permanent mobile CCTV unit will be another tool in helping stamp out this unacceptable behaviour,” Cr Pearl aid.

Council also decided to:

  • Consider the merits of introducing a hoon by-law to assist police in addressing hooning on the foreshore as part of the Local Law review being undertaking over the next 18 months.
  • Draw $40,000 from the 2021/22 financial year surplus to install a temporary raised pedestrian crossing at an existing pedestrian crossing on Waterfront Place as a 12-month trial
  • Investigate collaborating with Victoria Police in late-night enforcement of metered parking in the Station Pier carpark to deter hoons.

Police have asked Port Phillip to develop a by-law for them to issue on-the-spot fines for participating, encouraging or watching hooning events.

This follows a few non-inner metro councils creating a by-law to stop organised hooning. Brimbank and Greater Dandenong Councils say this has discouraged big groups of cars from doing burnouts, creating noise and disturbing the peace in industrial areas and large car parks.

“Preliminary investigations have indicated this approach may not be the best solution for our City where hooning typically involves small groups of drivers in car parks and roads along the foreshore and loud vehicles, including motorbikes, on main roads. The most recent ‘large scale’ hooning event was at Station Pier in October last year,” Cr Pearl said.

“However, as regular complaints show that hoon behaviour is a concerning, continuing issue for some residents, we will explore whether to consider implementing a by-law as part of our local law review.”

Incorporating a proposed by-law analysis into the review also saves the $130,000 cost of a stand-alone evaluation and allows for a thorough look at whether existing laws are sufficient and if there would be any unintended consequences, such as public gatherings being affected.

Council will continue to seek funding from external sources to help offset the cost of the permanent CCTV trailer.

/Public Release. View in full here.