Boy Racers
From:
W Shaw
Date:
Mar 16 00:07 UTC
Short link
Karen said " Ask them what they would like
to see happen over this problem. GET THEM INVOLVED. Thirdly, open Rapuna or for
them to use again, after all it is a speedway track. I do understand that this
was trailed but shut down due to the residents in that area kicking up a fuss
on noise."
A brief history of the $70,000 burnout pad at Ruapuna :
Firstly, at a crowded meeting held at the local hall all but TWO of those
attending voted against a burnout pad being built out here. Boyracers who
attended the meeting said they weren't interested in it as it "wouldn't be as
much fun as street burnouts ".
Locals were told at the end of the meeting that they would have a say when the
Pad went for Consent. So we all lined up and wrote our names and addresses on a
sheet of paper so we could participate.
About a month later we all got a letter telling us the Pad was Non Notifiable
and was going in.
From memory it was used 2-3 times, there was a total lack of interest in it.
There were no complaints about the noise from it but there WERE complaints
about the attendant behaviour ( letterboxes mowed down, vandalism,, dangerous
driving etc etc, rubbish, bottles thrown from cars etc )
Boyracers complained that they were charged to use it ( GOSH ! how dare they
charge us ! ) and that rules were too strict - ie : it wasn't as much fun as
doing it on the road.
The Burnout pad is still there , $70,000 of ratepayers money went into it.
I too have two sons, they are into cars, but only as a means of transport, they
use them to travel to work and sport. They don't plough all of their earnings
into their vehicles, they've saved for travel and to put deposits on houses.
They both drive pretty beat-up looking cars but they have NEVER been stopped
randomly by Traffic police ( one of them is totally anal about speed limits but
mainly because he tries to save money on petrol by not speeding , accelerating
from lights etc etc ) Neither of them has had a ticket or demerit points and
neither of them feels they are targetted in any way because they are young
males in cars.
Having seen police cars leaving this area with shattered windscreens, having
seen these boyracers in mobs throwing stones and bottles at passing cars,
having picked up the appalling rubbish after their burnouts, having had our
property tagged, vandalised and watched our neighbours cowering in fear when
squadrons of boy racers descend upon our area, i'm sorry, i have NO sympathy at
all. Sorry.