Noise and congestion in Newport caused by supercar exhibit ‘mayhem’

Police received numerous complaints about revving engines and speeding cars during an early morning “supercar” event backed by The Newport hotel on Sunday.

A "super car" parked at The Newport during the Cars and Coffee event. Picture: Facebook

• Third of Manly parking permits to be rescinded
• First look at Brookvale Oval’s $36m upgrade

Police received numerous complaints about revving engines and speeding cars during an early morning “supercar” event backed by The Newport hotel on Sunday.

Residents told police that expensive sports cars such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris began turning up for the Cars & Coffee gathering from 7am.

One resident living near the hotel described the event as “mayhem”.

“We came across numerous angry, stressed and upset residents discussing the matter in the streets,” the resident, who asked not to be named, said.

“By 9am the neighbourhood was flooded with cars.

“There were myriad cars parked illegally, cars and motorbikes were racing around local streets, revving engines on a regular basis.

“This went on throughout the morning up until early afternoon. The noise pollution and disturbance was horrendous.”

The Cars & Coffee event at The Newport attracted dozens of high-powered supercars. Picture: Facebook

Police confirmed it sent vehicles to Newport after residents complained about revving engines and high-powered cars speeding in Queens Pde as well as on Beaconsfield and Kalinya streets.

Organisers said they were invited by hotel owner Merivale to host the event that included a display of 120 “classic and high performance vehicles”.

Sponsors included Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini dealerships in Sydney as well as Merivale, owners of The Newport.

The static display of supercars at the Cars & Coffee event at The Newport. Picture: Facebook

In its event publicity organisers said “this event will have a private breakfast element for registered owners and their guests as well as a large public display of over 120 of Sydney’s most exclusive luxury, classic and high performance vehicles providing everyone with the opportunity to enjoy talking to like minded people”.

The event was also keen to be seen as a child-friendly, family event.

The Cars & Coffee event at The Newport attracted curious onlookers. Picture: Facebook

A Merivale spokesman said Cars & Coffee organisers booked the hotel from 8am to host a community event that “showcased Sydney’s most exclusive luxury, classic and high performance cars”.

“The display-only event, which was designed to bring people together and offer the northern beaches community an opportunity to view these beautiful vehicles, proved so popular that a number of cars that had not registered for the showcase turned up,” the spokesman said.

“This unfortunately lead to some local congestion as they were leaving the area.

The organisers said they notified the police Highway Patrol in advance of the potential for increased traffic and provided a full team of staff to assist in managing traffic on the day.