Rip out the speed humps and ban boy racers' modified exhaust systems.
That's Mount Maunganui resident Alan Skousgaard's simple solution to the problems plaguing his neighbourhood.
The good-natured, retired panelbeater has witnessed huge changes since he bought his Marine Parade home in 1975 when Mount Maunganui was still laid-back and homely. His
old neighbourhood has gone, overwhelmed by high rises and upmarket cafes.
But the constants remain - Mauao, the beautiful beach and lots of young people.
Mr Skousgaard remembers his own youth in American V8s and lowered Mk 1 Zephyrs, and he still loves motorbikes.
He said that if the current crop of kids drove cars that rumbled around quietly, he would have nothing to complain about. But the boosted engines and exhausts were quite another matter.
He is not as unhappy about boy racers as nearby apartment dwellers, partly because sound rises and he lives in a conventional home. Although sometimes his wife will lean over at night and say "listen to the lunatics".
Friends and family who stay can scarcely believe what the couple endure.
Mr Skousgaard is certain about one thing - the speed humps must go.
"They are no use whatsoever."
Boy racers were forced to crawl across the humps to save their cars' bodywork, then they accelerate at high speeds to the next hump.
"As soon as they are over, it's `Voom!' - and there are 10 humps between here and Banks Ave. You can hear them accelerating between every single hump."
He also complained that speed humps swallowed car parks - in very short supply around the Main Beach.
Mr Skousgaard said the other way to combat the noise problem was to make modified exhausts illegal. He cannot understand why the Government has taken so long to deal with this issue.
