The newly-formed Peaceful Streets Action Group, Bayside and Surrounds will present a 2,500 signature petition to Bayside Council next week calling for action to reduce the impact of car hoons.
The action group has been formed by local mother-of-two, Heidi Douglas after she was almost hit by speeding vehicles on two separate occasions, at Rockdale and Brighton-Le-Sands.
Since being formed in late September, the action group's Facebook page has gathered 400 followers.
Ms Douglas has met with Rockdale MP Steve Kamper on the issue and next week will present her petition to Bayside Council and address councillors.
The petition calls on Bayside Council Mayor Joe Awada to work with St George Police to better enforce Road Rule 291, requiring that a person must not start a vehicle or drive in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke.
It also calls for the Council and Police to explore other options for reducing ongoing disturbances such as unnecessary revving and backfiring of motor vehicles, drag races, speeding and other dangerous vehicle activity.
Ms Douglas said the petition is supported by more than 2500 Bayside residents who are deeply concerned about an increase in dangerous driving and excessive noise pollution from hoons unnecessarily revving and backfiring of motor vehicles in the area.
"I have been concerned for a considerable amount of time about excessive vehicle noise, being woken most nights in summer by hooning in Kyeemagh and on Bestic and West Botany Streets," Ms Douglas wrote in her letter to Mr Kamper and to all Bayside councillors.
"I have to keep an extra protective watchful eye on my children as we walk to school along Bestic Street as dangerous drivers speed, flying down from West Botany Street. And I had noticed my children and I were often scared by backfiring and dangerous driving on Bay Street and The Grand Parade, as we would go for ice cream on Sunday afternoons.
"Since establishing the petition, I have been overwhelmed by emails and personal messages about residents' ongoing concern and stress around excessive vehicle noise and dangerous driving. The problem is so massive that the Peaceful Streets Action Group: Bayside and Surrounds on Facebook was created to enable residents to work together to find solutions.
"So far, 400 people have joined the Facebook group, and this number is increasing daily. Nine core organisers now lead the Peaceful Streets Bayside and Surrounds Action Group, and together we are running a campaign called "Peaceful Bayside".
The Action Group recently conducted a poll which found 48 hotspots for dangerous driving and hooning noise in the Bayside area.
"This anti-social behaviour is damaging lives as well as business in the Brighton-Le-Sands restaurant and shopping area.
"The recent incident of a car smashing into a flag pole in Bay Street whilst doing a 'burnout' in front of families on a busy Sunday afternoon was a line-in-the-sand for the community."
"While Bay Street and The Grand Parade are the worst for dangerous driving and excessive vehicle noise, there are a number of other main 'hotspots' in the area: Bestic Street, Clareville Avenue, Moate Avenue, President Avenue, Princess Street, Russell Avenue, Sandringham Street, Princes Highway, and Fontainebleau Street.
"We would like our elected representatives to engage in thorough community consultation to get more details about the dangerous driving and hooning hotspots. We'd like them to listen to residents in these areas about the solutions they think are needed to ensure they are safe and can live in a peaceful Bayside. We would urge that the consultation commences by mid-December 2020."
After meeting with the local chamber of commerce and restaurateurs, the action groups propose several solutions to help the area recover from the blight of car hoons and encourage businesses.
These include community consultation, a visible police presence, speed cameras on a 40km zone on Bay Street.
Bay Street between The Grand Parade and Moate Avenue could be closed to traffic and turned into a corso (mall) on Sundays from 7am to midnight through summer and with a possible extension to easter.
There could be pop-up car parks on available grassed areas in summer with a shuttle bus to bring it to people at Bay Street.
The Peaceful Streets Action Group Facebook site is at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/349627069778351/about/
