By BRIDGET COOK
HOONING is rife in the Brookland Greens estate, according to one local resident.
Charles Hall, who lives along The Belfry, said hooning was a problem in his street and many others in the Cranbourne estate.
Mr Hall contacted the News after reading an article this month about residents along Cherryhills Drive, also in the estate, renewing calls for traffic calming measures in their streets after a car smashed through a resident’s front fence.
“We have the same problem, if not worse, going on just around the corner in The Belfry,” Mr Hall said.
“Hoons use it like a racetrack.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen.
“I’ve seen cars going slower at Bathurst, than the speed they fly along here at.”
Mr Hall said what made the situation worse was that there’s a children’s playground with swings along the road.
“What’s most concerning is there’s a playground and a walking path nearby that young people use,” he said.
“You only need one of these kids to run out on the road when there’s a hoon around, and it’s not going to end well.”
Mr Hall said like Cherryhills Drive, The Belfry also had an incident of a speeding driver running off the road and crashing into a parked car recently.
“I’ve been onto the council to get speed humps in our street,” he said.
“The police also need to step in.
“We don’t need police here at 1pm booking old ladies going shopping in the afternoon, we need them here in the late afternoon after work and at night.”
City of Casey manager transport Paul Hamilton said there was no proposal to install traffic calming measures in The Belfry at this juncture.
“Council has a number of programs that can be implemented to assist residents who experience issues with hoon driving and speeding vehicles in their street,” he said.
“The programs include the Hoon Hotline, Speed Alert Mobile Program and installation of physical traffic calming measures through council’s Local Traffic Management (LTM) program.
“Council’s LTM Program provides annual funding for the installation of traffic calming devices in roads throughout the municipality.
“The LTM program assesses and prioritises roads on the need for traffic calming measures, based on traffic speeds, traffic volumes and casualty accidents, as well as considering factors such as road geometry and proximity to schools, shops and playgrounds.
“The current assessment of The Belfry in council’s LTM program is that there are many other locations within the municipality that have a higher relative need for traffic calming measures to be installed and there is no proposal to install traffic calming devices in The Belfry at this time.”
The council urged residents who witness incidents of ‘hoon driver behaviour’ or has information about people driving in a careless or irresponsible manner to call the council’s toll free Hoon Hotline number on 1800 18 HOON.
