Council declares war on illegal e-bikes with new police crackdown in city parks

Gold Coast City Council has secured $100,000 to fund a crackdown on illegal e-bike riders after recent accidents left multiple people injured.

Illegal e-bike riders are being warned they will be “busted” with the Gold Coast City Council ramping up its compliance in a crackdown with police.

Senior councillor Bob La Castra, after lobbying and gaining support from Mayor Tom Tate, has secured $100,000 for a trial which will continue until March next year.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the measure at a full council meeting last Tuesday, but some have questioned how City officers will chase down illegal teenage hoons.

Mr La Castra said it was not an unprecedented idea for council to engage the Queensland Police Service.

“Several years ago we did so to enforce and stamp out touting, which was once a terrible problem in Surfers Paradise,” he said.

“There is a big percentage of adult riders on e-mobility devices The blitz only needs to be undertaken for an intensive, definitive period.

“If done strategically and smartly, I believe the results will prove to be of major benefit to the wider community.

“The message will quickly get out – that if you’re doing the wrong thing and endangering public safety in our parks, on our footpaths, and in our malls – you’ll likely get busted.”

A teenager on an e-bike on a Mermaid Waters road. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

City CEO Tim Baker assured councillors the funding was in the City’s Priority Reserve.

Resources would be used to target known hot spots with officers to bring a report back to council in March next year.

Some councillors voiced concerns that not only were police stretched with resources but City compliance officers were “sparse on the ground”.

The City administration will consider appointing a designated officer to investigate parks where e-bikes are illegal.

“We need to enforce it because we have local laws in place which tell us we should be enforcing it and we are not,” Mr La Castra told councillors.

“I’m going to lose sleep if another kid is killed on an e-bike, when we are not enforcing laws that are clearly defined and clearly in place. It’s our obligation to do that.”

Mayor Tate emphasised the enforcement of e-bikes would be on council property like parks.

“All those injured on roadways, it’s still the State legislation and responsibility,” he said.

The trial review next year would determine whether a “good sized budget” was necessary “to curtail this”.

Councillors at a previous meeting last month said parents need to stop their children illegally riding e-bikes, as the City “lacks a silver bullet” to stop teenage hoons causing accidents.

Councillor Naomi Fowler backed a recommendation by City officers that the Government – through the QPS – continue to lead the crackdown on offenders.

Footage from a group of teenagers riding e-bikes through the Gold Coast on Thursday, September 24.

Ms Fowler pointed to parents stepping up to protect their children. She was backed by City planning chair and Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel.

The Coast has at least 30,000 privately-owned e-bikes and 8000 e-scooters, an updated council report said.

After a horror night last Friday where 12 riders were injured on State roads, the father of a Gold Coast teen killed in an e-bike crash has slammed delays in introducing tougher laws.

Jason Gagg, the father of 17-year-old Hudson Gagg who died in an e-bike crash at Tallebudgera in September, said the Government needed to act “now” and not wait for the results of a parliamentary review into e-devices due in March.

Councillor Bob La Castra — wanting council to lead the way in enforcement in parks to stop illegal E-bike hoons. Photo: Jerad Williams.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous to wait until March when there are so many kids and adults getting killed or hurt,” he said.

“A lot of families are buying their kids e-bikes and e-scooters for Christmas so by March it’s going to be too late.”

Those injured last Friday night included two teenage girls who suffered head and arm injuries in an e-scooter incident at Eli Waters at Hervey Bay, a boy with a serious foot injury at Palm Beach, and a man in his 30s with a leg injury at Crestmead.

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Originally published as Council declares war on illegal e-bikes with new police crackdown in city parks