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Hoons fire it up By ANEEKA SIMONIS
EE
tured a number of cars involved. The images were provided by patrol cars and co-operating local businesses. He admitted Bate Close was a frequent target for hoons, believed to be travelling from the northern and western suburbs to rip up the industrial estate as part of the organised hoon gatherings. He recommended engineering solutions such as speed bumps should be considered to address the concern. The idea has strong support from fed-up factory owners who believe their business is suffering as a result of the repeated vandal hits. “Customers see that and it puts them off straight away,� a separate Bate Close factory owner said.
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“It’s a mess. It devalues our factory and the estate.� However, the installation of speed bumps was rejected by council spokesperson Paul Dunlop. “As Bate Close is located within a commercial/industrial area, speed humps and other types of traffic management devices are not appropriate as trucks and other heavy vehicles need to access this location,� he said. Council has vowed to reinvestigate the possibility of introducing a local law in relation hoon gatherings next year. It comes months after council shelved the legislative proposal endorsed by Cardinia Highway Patrol, due to the impact it could have on unrelated social gatherings in a public space.
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An Australian flag mangled into the remains of a burnt-out rubber tyre.
A factory owner who did not want to be identified supplied an image of the damage caused by the hoons. Empty alcohol contianers and hubcaps were among the waste left in Bate Close hours after the hoon incident.
Mr Dunlop said tyre marks ingrained into the asphalt could not be removed, instead left to fade over time.
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Parts of the sidewalk and business premises were destroyed by the 200-plus car hoon incident.
since 1989
Hu IN rry ST lim AL ite LA d t TI im O eo N nly !
HEAVILY outnumbered police called from several metropolitan stations could do little to stop the danger and destruction caused by more than 200 hoon drivers who ripped through a hard-hit industrial area in Pakenham. Factory owners in the hoon-frequented Bate Close, Pakenham area said the aftermath of the rowdy and reckless Tuesday 8 December gathering was the worst yet, saying something needed to be done to ward off the road menaces. Cardinia Highway Patrol Sergeant Allen Inderwisch said “upward of 200 vehicles� haunted the industrial estate after 11pm that night, performing dangerous burn-outs which left extensive surface damage to the road along with piles of burnt-out rubber and wire from their burnt-out, destroyed tyres. Cardinia Shire Council swept the extensive mess from the road the morning after, however several factory workers who would not reveal their identity for fear of retribution by the hoons said they were forced to take alternative routes to work to avoid the remains of the illegal night activity. “I couldn’t even drive down the street. I had to use a side street so I didn’t get metal in my tyres,� one Bate Close business owner said. Sgt Inderwisch said nine police officers from Pakenham, Dandenong and Frankston units were called in to bring the 200-plus gathering under control, but were required to take appropriate safety precautions due to the size of the gathering. “The police that attended were vastly outnumbered so we had to take a safe approach,� he said, explaining the area was cordoned-off to make sure “innocent bystanders were not caught up in the middle of it.� Police are currently assessing CCTV surveillance footage which cap-
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