Hoon activity along the George Booth Drive, including a well-established burnout pad, has nearby residents concerned that an accident involving innocent road-users is imminent.
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One resident, who declined to be named, said he could hear tyres screeching and exploding every weekend when groups of people meet at the site, located between the turnoffs to Richmond Vale Road and Blue Gum Drive.
“You can hear the cars screaming every Friday and Saturday night,” the resident said.
He said that the burnout escapades could be heard from as far away as West Wallsend, with locals concerned that a serious accident was inevitable.
“What they’re doing is unacceptable,” he said.
“It’s not safe for the community. The road is conditioned now to the point where it’s a complete burnout pad.”
The bush surrounding the pad has also been used as a tipping ground for tyres and household rubbish.
Central Hunter acting crime manager Detective Sergeant Mitch Dubojski said police were aware of antisocial behaviour in the area and were engaged in an ongoing operation to target criminal car activity.
Sergeant Dubojski said police were concerned that the hoon activities involved a group of people moving area to area.
He said police believed the group used social media to communicate about meet-up spots, which were often in secluded locations.
He said groups had been chased out of the Stockrington and Richmond Vale areas as well as the Hunter Economic Zone and Kurri Kurri McDonalds for similar offences.
He said it was easy for cars to lose control and if someone was injured, it would be harder for them to be treated in an isolated area, and police wouldn’t accept improper use of the road.
“We’re not going to condone people using public roads as skid pans,” Sergeant Dubojski said.