Burnout pad, not a chance
Hoons will continue to break law
A RATEPAYER-funded “burnout” or “drifting pad” on the Gold Coast is never going to happen, claims a Gold Coast councillor.
Mark Hammel, who represents Division 1 on the northern Gold Coast, said he was aware of a number of applications over the years on the far northern Gold Coast for a dedicated burnout or drifting pad specifically designed for car enthusiasts.
“In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing stopping any club or community group bringing forward a proposal to the City to establish a specialised facility for car enthusiasts,” Cr Hammel said.
His comments follow requests from hoons for a designated place to “let of steam” after they were last month slammed by Bonney MP Sam O’Connor for leaving skid marks on a newly-surfaced road in Labrador.
“They should be treated no differently than any organised group seeking to apply for their own facility. As with any
application of this nature, it would need to be vigorously asked by council in terms of the potential impact on the local community.”
Cr Hammel said he knew many locals had a number of serious concerns when it came to burnout pads, particularly in regards to excessive noise and impacts on their way of life.
“Regarding calls from the car enthusiast community for the ratepayer to wholly fund this kind of facility – frankly, it’s never going to happen,” he said.
“If it is ever going to be successful, it would need to be in an appropriate location that has the backing of the community and council, and be funded by not only government, but private enterprise and the car enthusiasts themselves.
“I feel very strongly that ratepayers should not have to completely foot the bill so car enthusiasts have somewhere to go and do burnouts.”
Cr Hammel said he recognised such a facility might take some issues off public streets but it would not even come close to solving the problem with hooning on public streets and roads.
“Hoons will continue to break the law, so regardless of any purpose-built car enthusiast facility, there will still be a need for us to keep pushing the state government for stronger laws and more police resources to deal with the issue of speeding and hooning on the Gold Coast.”
Mr O’Connor said he liked the idea of a motorsport precinct and there was nothing stopping an individual or a group proposing one and meeting the approvals.
To report illegal street racing call 134 666.