Logan locals are gripped by fears of rising hooning offences as damaged roads, noise pollution and safety concerns surge.
A 62-year-old woman who lives on Furzer Street in Browns Plains – who has asked not to be named over safety concerns – said she noticed a significant increase in hooning behaviour in the last year.
“Once a night you’ll get somebody tearing up the road, but on Friday and Saturday nights there can be four within a space of two hours,” she said.
“I’ve been here for three years, but it’s getting worse and worse all around Browns Plains.”
The resident said she began putting letters in her neighbours’ letterboxes, asking them to report the behaviour to the police hotline or to Logan City Council.
“Obviously it can’t be just one person who complains, and I don’t know if anybody else has bothered to contact council, but I personally have contacted them twice and they said it would be four or five weeks before they can look into it.
“But you’ve only got to come out and see the burnout marks on the road to see that it’s happening.
She said she wasn’t sure what could be done but said speed bumps and speed cameras would “go a long way”.
“I know the coppers hands are tied and there’s only so much they could do,” she said.
“I’m just fed up.”
In June this year the Queensland government announced anti-hooning cameras for Logan, along with tougher laws state-wide to crack down on reckless driving.
These followed a series of “mass hooning events” in Logan, including one in Greenbank that saw 40 people arrested.
The March event resulted in 47 charges, including 11 alleged drink-drivers, 9 alleged drug-drivers, 27 alleged unlicenced drivers, and 262 traffic infringements, including 29 for defective vehicles.
It was one of many hooning events intercepted by police as part of what they called: ‘Operation Victor Kamino’.
An independent candidate for Algester, Rhys Bosley, said the state government should hold more responsibility for managing hooning.
“Lack of action on hooning is one of the biggest complaints that I get when door knocking in the Logan parts of the Algester electorate, like Browns Plains and Hillcrest,” Mr Bosley said.
“Law enforcement is a Queensland government responsibility.
“If they cannot resource police well enough to get hoons off our roads, they should fund fixed anti-hooning upgrades,” he said.
“Councils have enough of their own financial responsibilities, without having to pick up the tab for the Queensland government’s failures on crime.”
