‘ Hoons ‘ upsetting residents

KATINA CURTIS

RESIDENTS living near Saddleback Mountain have asked the Kiama Council to consider closing the gates on to the mountain because of the hooligan behaviour of some people using the area.

The gates were opened permanently in 2000, about the time the new viewing platform was constructed.

The council's director of engineering and works, Bryan Whittaker, said that at the time there were concerns about restricting access to legitimate users, since the gate had been being locked at 4pm each day regardless of the season.

"The other problem was the operational requirements in that we had to get someone up there in the afternoon to lock it," he said.

"We often had problems with people parking up there and going for a walk down the track and not getting back by 4pm."

When the council decided to open the gates permanently, there were some concerns about the communication facilities located on the mountain, so a fence was built that limited people to accessing only the car park and the bottom lookout.

Anthony Bliss was one of seven residents who wrote to councillor Hamish East requesting the gates be locked in the evening as they used to be.

Mr Bliss said he and his wife often found signs of people having done wheelies and burning things on the mountain and cars sped past their house on a regular basis.

"People seem to regard (Fountaindale Road) as a good place to practice hill climbing and to practice going around bends very fast, particularly at night," Mr Bliss said.

"These people totally ignore the speed limits, judging from the sounds of their motors."

Another resident, Cathie Cook, said there had been incidents of gun shooting, graffiti, people leaving pornography stuck on posts, driving on road verges and churning up the grass and property damage, including towing bins around, breaking lights and removing fence railings.

"It's all been going on for a couple of years," she said.

"We're pretty vulnerable up there because a lot of the properties adjoin the lookout and the walking track."

Mr Bliss said that although having the gate open at night was nice for bushwalkers, he had observed that generally if there was a car in the mountain's car park its owners were just at the lookout.

"I don't think (having the gate closed at night) would inconvenience anybody much because the walkers can still go up there," he said.

Mr Whittaker said he thought the incidents the residents were concerned about were a police matter.

"(Council) will certainly be reporting these issues raised to police," he said.

"We will contact Kiama police to see if they can get some kind of police presence up there."