Antics of quad bike 'hoons' in spotlight

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Hoons on quad bikes are a tragedy waiting to happen, according to concerned Castlecliff residents.

Lynne Douglas from the Castlecliff Residents' Association said some riders went too fast and were dangerous on their quad bikes.

"Many a person has been going for a walk through the sand dunes and they whip past," she said. "It is becoming more of a problem with the minority of them that want to hoon around and rip up the place.

"We certainly don't want to see any tragedies out here."

She said she had seen a man driving a quad bike with one hand while holding a toddler with the other.

"One of our concerns is the number of children on them and that sooner or later there will be a tragedy."

About half the quad bike users she saw were responsible, but the other half were ruining it for everybody. "They're spoiling it for the granddads, who perhaps just want to have a toddle on the beach and the people who want to go for a fish.

"We don't want to see the good folk penalised because of the terrible ones."

She wanted to see quad bikes banned from the main swimming area, sand dunes and the domain.

Castlecliff Coast Care's Graham Pearson said he was concerned about potential damage to sand dunes from quad bikes. Plants introduced by the group to the sand dunes had fortunately not been damaged, he said. He wanted the Wanganui council to get the parties together for a discussion. He had seen up to five people on a quad bike at once. "I worry about people overloading them and putting kids on them," he said.

Wanganui district council spokeswoman Sue Dudman said the Land Transport Act 1998 allowed the council to put a speed limit on beaches. There are no speed limits on Wanganui beaches, and any behaviour issues were a matter for police, she said.