Revealed: Gold Coast suburbs worst for hooning

New police data has revealed the worst spots for hooning on the Gold Coast, where residents are “terrified” by the nightly chaos.

FAST-growing northern suburbs are becoming the Gold Coast’s hot spot for hooning, according to new police data.

Theodore MP Mark Boothman used a Question on Notice in State Parliament to seek Queensland Police Service data covering the Gold Coast police district across five years, showing offences for unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Member for Albert Mark Boothman supplied images of Hooning area's in his electorate - Blank Street, Ormeau.

The report back showed the city’s tourism heart and CBD continued to get high numbers of offenders, but other suburbs like Coomera, Helensvale, Labrador and Nerang were consistently recording high numbers too.

From January to May this year, the top six suburbs for the number of calls for unlawful use of a motor vehicle were Southport (206), Surfers Paradise (147), Upper Coomera (95), Nerang and Burleigh Heads (both 88), and Labrador (82).

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Call-outs to Upper Coomera in 2019 peaked at 151, and in Coomera totalled 129. Helensvale residents made 146 complaints about hoons last year.

This compared to nine in the Currumbin Valley, five in the Tallebudgera Valley and two in the Numinbah Valley – all recently highlighted in reports for hooning.

Hooning incidents have spiked on the northern Gold Coast.

“Hooning hasn’t stopped increasing (in my electorate),’’ Mr Boothman told the Bulletin.

“I’ve spoken to residents up there (at Coomera) and they’re fed up with it.

“We have also had hooning along Discovery Drive at Helensvale. It’s got to the point where I have residents terrified there will be a car coming through their house.”

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In his response to Mr Boothman, Police Minister Mark Ryan said the MP might be interested to know the Palaszczuk Government had restored funding to the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, which he said was cut by the previous LNP government.

“I can advise that the RACQ was particularly pleased to have funding restored to this important national organisation,” Mr Ryan said.

A council report earlier this month revealed hoons were winning the battle against hinterland residents because a lack of lighting on winding roads made it challenging for CCTV cameras to capture evidence identifying offenders.

Hooning is a major concern on the north of the Gold Coast.

Councillors backed a move to lobby the State Government to reform laws that would make car owners culpable for a crime unless they gave up the driver to police.

Some residents, realising it would take 20 minutes for police to get to an incident, have said they have given up reporting crimes.

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A Tallebudgera Valley resident told the Bulletin: “Last week our neighbour caught a hoon red-handed doing doughnuts on my lawn. Not merely sliding his car on to my lawn and back on to the road – this is common – but doing doughnuts. Of course, this shredded my lawn which will remain as such for the remainder of winter.”

LNP Member for Theodore Mark Boothman — some residents are terrified. Picture: Jerad Williams

But the hoon refused to apologise and allegedly threatened the neighbour, saying “I’ll have you for a hit and run”.

“It has been reported to the hoon line but nobody has heard anything. I think the hoon line might be a data gathering exercise rather than a path to punishing the hoons,” the resident said.