Neighbours angry at drifting at abandoned prison
Boyracers drift in smokey circles at an abandoned prison near Mt Ruapehu. Engines deafen. Brakes screech. The stink of burnt rubber assaults the nose.
It is New Year’s Eve at Waikune Prison. The empty prison grounds have become a mecca for burnout bums every New Year.
But sound travels. This year, holidaymakers and locals at the nearby settlement of Erua were kept awake for six nights, from Boxing Day to January 1.
When resident Bryan Finnerty went to complain, a golf club was swung at his head. He shielded it with his hand, breaking it.
‘‘It’s like a drip of water hitting your head until you snap. And I did snap,’’ Finnerty said.
On December 29 – the third full day of drifting screeches – Finnerty drove up to the prison grounds and tried to find an organiser to speak to. ‘‘A man approached me, told me to get the f... off his land, and swung a golf club at my head two seconds later.’’
Finnerty deflected the blow with his hand, shattering the bones. He floored the accelerator, hitting his assailant. ‘‘I just had my hand broken so I was under panic.’’
Finnerty drove to Whanganui Hospital in the morning, where his hand was operated on. His bones cling to metal supports. With his right hand in a cast, Finnerty can still run his boutique accommodation business in Erua.
‘‘Any organised commercial race track would never get away with that conduct; they’d be limited to civilised hours,’’ he said. ‘‘We hear the screech of tyres all day and into the early hours of the morning.’’
Finnerty enjoyed motorsport, but the endless noise was torture – Waikune Prison had been used for burnouts since 2013. ‘‘They have escalated in frequency and magnitude. They’ve become quite entrenched.’’
NZ Police said, after a number of complaints, officers attended the event and spoke to those hosting it but no action was taken to shut it down. Police powers over motorsport events on private properties are limited.
Inspector Nigel Allan, Whanganui Area Commander, said the situation was complicated.
‘‘There are a number of complexities around ownership and occupancy of the land in question, which police will work through alongside Ruapehu District Council and other interested parties, to best ensure that those hosting and attending these events comply with all relevant legislation,’’ he said in a statement.
Police officers delivered Finnerty a trespass notice when he returned home from hospital. He is not to set foot on the prison grounds.
The business owner is furious neither authority – the police nor the council – will intervene. ‘‘It’s like the wild West,’’ he said. ‘‘The police say it’s happening on a private property, so they don’t have grounds to intervene.
‘‘The council noise control say it’s a rare, private event, and police should deal with it because it’s on a public road.’’
Ruapehu District Council chief executive Clive Manley said council planners briefed him on a planned Waikune Prison event in December.
‘‘My understanding was it was only going to be taking place on New Year’s Eve,’’ he said.
Manley was aware of earlier drifting activities at the prison. ‘‘There has always been some activities on that site. The reason the residents are raising it now is that it’s becoming more frequent,’’ he said.
Manley said the council would follow up the issue in the coming week. ‘‘If it was going to become more frequent, we’d have to look at it from a resource consent point of view,’’ he said.
Finnerty said motorsport during reasonable hours would be acceptable – but burnouts after midnight were not.
National Park businesses primarily cater for skiers and Tongariro Alpine Crossing visitors, who come in their thousands to visit the World Heritage area, he said.
‘‘This is a tourism-driven area. In the Resource Management Act, visitor accommodation is classified as a noise-sensitive activity, he said.
‘‘We are noise-sensitive: we are entitled to be making these complaints,’’ he said.
‘‘Ultimately, my goal is to bring light to the subject, so that someone finally says, ‘this is the course of action we can take’, and we can get this situation resolved.’’
Stuff has spoken to a prior organiser of the event and several attendees, but none were willing to speak on the record.