Basalt boulders trial to stop sports field hooning
Date published: 24 February 2022
A trial to keep hooning vehicles out of Townsville’s sports fields will use basalt rocks as an alternative to bollards and fences.
The trial, which was recommended at yesterday’s Townsville City Council meeting, comes after a number of prestige sporting fields and public parks were driven over in 2021, rendering the grounds unusable for many weeks and leaving Council and sports clubs out of pocket.
Community Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability Committee chairperson Maurie Soars said the new trial would reduce the risk of cars hooning through parks without decreasing the amenity of the outdoor spaces.
“Residents and sporting associations are frustrated with the damage being done to public parks and sporting fields by hoons, and rightly so. Hooning is dangerous, it is illegal, and it has a lasting impact on the sporting clubs and Council who both have to carry the financial burden of the vandalism,” Cr Soars said.
“Council currently has bollards for sporting field protection, however bollards aren’t designed to withstand wilful damage. Council will look to use basalt boulders to protect sports fields from deliberate vehicle vandalism.
“Council has identified nine parks between Bushland Beach and Kelso for this trial, which will increase protection against wilful damage to these sporting grounds.
“The trial will hopefully prove successful in reducing the number of hooning incidents on sporting grounds and, in turn, reduce the amount of rate payer dollars used to fix this senseless vandalism.”
The basalt rock trial will run at:
- Charles Moroney Park at Kelso
- Gill Park at Gulliver
- Heatley Park at Heatley
- High Vista Park at Mount Louisa
- Illich Park at Aitkenvale
- Melrose Park at Garbutt
- Peggy Banfield Park at Bushland Beach
- Warrina Park at Currajong
- Western Lions Park at Heatley.
