Four Oaks Ward councillor Shar Balmes, Jayden Gorsuch, Jared Parsons and Wayne Gorsuch are disgusted with the damage on the Gleneagles Secondary College oval caused by hoons taking part in illegal drag races. Picture: Meagan Rogers.
By Kelly Yates
HOONS tearing up an Endeavour Hills school oval are leaving behind condoms, cigarette packets, beer bottles and bongs.
Wayne Gorsuch told the News the ongoing weekly problem of hoons doing drag races in the early hours of the morning on the Gleneagles Secondary College oval was unbearable.
Mr Gorsuch, who lives along Maryrose Crescent, said the drivers congregated with their hotted up cars and yelled over blaring music.
He said more than four cars were doing drag races around the Reema Boulevard oval about 2am on Saturday.
Mr Gorsuch took pictures of some of the hoons, the destruction of the oval and a piece of paper with what appeared to be the drivers’ lap scores.
“It gets very noisy at night and we’re woken up by the sounds of screeching tyres and revving engines,” he said.
The 47-year-old has raised the issue with the school principal who, according to Mr Gorsuch, requested that the concerned residents call the emergency school security number.
“We did that on two separate occasions and their response was to call the police,” he said.
As the Endeavour Hills police station is not manned 24 hours a day, Mr Gorsuch said that the hoons have often fled the scene by the time the police from Narre Warren arrive.
Acting Sergeant of the Casey Traffic Management Unit (TMU) Allen Inderwisch said police would be stepping up patrols in the area in an effort to catch people taking part in anti social behaviour such as hoon driving, damaging property and littering.
“Anyone possessing drugs or drug paraphernalia will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
“Police will not be putting up with this behaviour and don’t expect the residents to either.”
Mr Gorsuch said the answer to the problem was simple.
“The school must take action and repair the gates to the oval so they can be locked outside of school hours to prevent access onto the oval,” he said.
“The authorised soccer and cricket clubs that use the oval on the weekends should be given keys to gain entry,” Mr Gorsuch said.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said the department had increased security at Gleneagles Secondary College to protect property and address the concerns of neighbouring residents following reports of trespassers causing damage.
She said preparations were also being made for bollards to be erected around the perimeter of the school grounds to further prevent car access.
Mr Gorsuch and his family have been living in Endeavour Hills for 15 years and he said there was one occasion while walking his dog with his eight-year-old son on a Sunday that they saw a car parked next to the oval with people having sex in the front seat.
Four Oaks Ward councillor Shar Balmes described the hooning behaviour as appalling.
“It’s sheer vandalism and these poor residents should not be faced with this,” she said.
Cr Balmes said she had received several complaints over the past couple of months about the hooning activities on the oval.
“I’ll be getting in touch with the principal to get the gates fixed and implement some regulations for people using the oval after school hours,” she said.
