Nights of doing donuts numbered

Boy racers tearing around Warrington domain are terrorising residents and swift action will be taken to combat the problem, Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison says.

A public meeting on July 8 at Warrington Memorial Hall at 7.30pm will discuss ways to tackle the problem.

Mr Morrison said the domain was one of the few areas in Dunedin boy racers could go to do donuts, as most domains were locked at night.

The domain could not be completely shut, because part of it was ringed by houses, whose access could not be restricted.

If the interior of the domain was shut off, it would not cure the whole problem as one of the main areas for doing donuts, in front of the playground, was in the residential area.

Residents whose land bordered the domain were "terrorised" by boy racers hooning around at 1am or 2am, he said.

In addition, the boy racers were destroying parts of the domain doing donuts on winter-wet ground.

After the public meeting, ideas would be collected and sent out to residents for feedback, Mr Morrison said.

The community board would act swiftly on any recommendations, and money would be found if necessary.

The domain was popular with well-behaved visitors, especially in summer, and treasured by residents year-round.

Changes must not interfere with residents' or genuine visitors' ability to enjoy the area, he said.

Possible modifications included contouring the ground, landscaping and garden developments, mini chain fences, and strategically placed boulders to deter donuts.

Local resident Rhys Owen said it was not uncommon for convoys of up to 30 cars to converge on the domain.

The noise kept everyone awake.

Mr Owen's young children were often roused in the early hours of the morning, he said.

Mr Owen, a civil engineer, would be at the meeting with some ideas for physical modifications to the domain to discourage donuts.

He would be interested in other residents' ideas, he said.

Constable Jon-Paul Tremain, of Waikouaiti, said it was important the community came up with its own solution to deter the boy-racer menace.

He was concerned some people did not understand the domain, rather than Warrington itself, was the major drawcard.

The problem for police was that one or two boy racers usually had scanners to pick up police communications.

With the use of cellphones, information was swiftly spread about police whereabouts.

In November, three men were jailed and one sentenced to home detention for criminal damage after a couple in their 70s, parked in the domain, suffered a prolonged attack in May, 2009.

Their campervan was jumped on, rocked up and down, and one person had thrown a full can of beer through a window, showering the woman with alcohol and glass.

Six vehicles had entered the domain about 1.30am, one doing donuts.