Hoons in cars and on bikes: Residents deserve to live in peace – Editorial

Damaged grass at the Recreation Reserve between Susan St and Homedale St in Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser

Editorial

THE FACTS

• Hoons on dirt bikes and in cars are terrorising locals and damaging parks.
• Police plan a crackdown in Rotorua after numerous reports of illegal dirt bike activity.
• Residents are urged to report incidents, as police warn the situation could escalate further.

Hoons on dirt bikes and in cars, terrorising locals and damaging parks, have no place in our communities.

The issue has repeatedly played out across New Zealand, with Bay of Plenty and Northland among the regions affected this month.

Residents are, quite rightly, upset and fed-up.

In Tauranga, idiots on motorbikes riding illegally in parks have upset residents and have them worried about people’s safety after near misses.

One Gate Pā resident describes them as a “plague of hoons” and tells of how bike riders have used Kōpūrererua Valley wetland most days this year, even though motorcycles are banned there.

Another resident says the bikes are “loud and dangerous” and riders are making life unpleasant for others. The bikes, he says, are not roadworthy and are often ridden at night.

In Rotorua, police are planning a crackdown on illegal dirt bike riders after “numerous reports” over recent weeks. Most of the damage has been to council-owned parks, fields and reserves, with ratepayers paying to fix it.

The noise and damage are not the only problems.

These incidents have the potential to escalate. Last week, an elderly person was assaulted after confronting riders, and earlier this month, a rider hit a lamppost.

Police warn that it could be only a matter of time before someone is killed.

In response, they are planning an operation in Rotorua and want public help to solve the issue.

Hoons have hit the Rotorua district particularly hard, and it’s not just on bikes.

In the village of Mamaku, about 20km north of Rotorua, hooligans in cars have been doing burnouts, doughnuts, vandalising property and letting off fireworks.

It’s got so bad that residents say the unruly drivers are holding them to ransom. One local describes those responsible as “playing up merry hell”.

This problem is not unique to Bay of Plenty. Examples can be found in other parts of the country, including Northland, Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Whanganui.

It’s easy to feel sorry for the people impacted. It affects neighbouring households, people walking their dogs and children playing sports.

It affects people’s peace, sense of community and feeling of security.

The police message to dirt bike riders is to consider their impact on others in the community.

That’s a good message. However, it’s a fair bet those responsible don’t particularly care what the police or law-abiding residents think.

So, can the problem ever be fixed?

Hoons in cars have been around for generations, and those on dirt bikes can quickly vanish before police arrive.

It is frustrating, but that does not mean communities should give up.

More police operations and security cameras, residents speaking out and immediately reporting incidents to police, witnesses safely recording culprits on video, families taking steps to own the problem and the courts holding culprits to account will all help.

People have every right to live in peace and feel safe.