Residents say run hoons off roads

By Kath Gannaway
THE attendance of more than 100 people at Healesville’s Memorial Hall last Thursday night left no one in any doubt that a large section of the community was no longer prepared to tolerate ‘hooning’ behavour on the town’s roads.
Convenor Kerri Goding said she feared a burst of torrential rain just before the meeting might have kept people at home, but was pleased that so many people had made the effort to brave the rain to speak out about an issue which is increasingly affecting the lives and well-being of residents.
District Inspector Mick Beattie, Region 4 Inspector Leo Potter and Mt Evelyn Traffic Management Unit member Senior Constable Ron Veldman spelled out a dismal record of road safety in Yarra Ranges.
Insp Beattie said 84 people had died on Yarra Ranges roads between January 2000 and now.
“If 84 people had died from any other cause – plane crash, avian flu … it would be in the national headlines, but on-road deaths are seen as something different,” Insp Beattie said.
Together with the Shire of Yarra Ranges road safety officer, Mark McGuire, they spelled out to the meeting their view of road safety issues – including alcohol and drug abuse and disregard of the road rules by some drivers – as well as an overview of enforcement strategies by police and education programs aimed at reducing dangerous driving.
Residents told of their exasperation and anger with speeding drivers, wheelies, fishtailing and in two cases drivers hitting high speeds along residential roads where speed monitors had been placed.
The Don Road complex, the corner of Maroondah Highway and Church Street and a number of other ‘hot spots’ were identified by residents as problem areas.
The level of policing in the town came under scrutiny with an obvious perception that there were inadequate police numbers to deal with the problems.
Despite assurances from Insp Beattie that the level of policing is adequate the revelation that out of six of Healesville’s permanent officers, four officers currently off duty was clearly a concern reflected in a motion put by Healesville businesswoman Mary Hookey.
Ms Hookey’s motion that Ms Goding, as convenor of the meeting, write “in strong but realistic terms” to a number of people including the Minister for Emergency Services, Tim Holding, local member, Ben Hardman, Police Chief Christine Nixon, Insp Beattie and local police chief, Sgt Tony Van Gorp, calling for extra traffic management personnel to be based in the town.
Insp Beattie said another initiative which police would work with the community on was a local reporting procedure where residents would be encouraged to notify police in person, by letter, or on the phone. He said police would undertake to follow up the reports and provide feedback to residents within 10 days.
He also encouraged people to phone ‘000’ to report dangerous driving.