Christchurch City Council Banks Peninsula Ward candidate and former Breeze radio presenter, Dave Dunlay, has been working with Cass Bay residents and Belfast Residents Association chair Charlotte Gavin to implement a solution to anti-social driving behaviour.
"We can move (the camera) to different locations and operate it at night-time, so anybody speeding through can be caught on cameras.
“Then those images can be sent through to NZTA to decide if they’ll fine them,” he said.
Gavin said a portable CCTV camera has been used in Belfast since April last year.
As a result, she said vehicles were impounded within weeks, burnout hotspots were abandoned, and by March this year, complaints had fallen to near zero.
The camera locations on the peninsula will be publicised to act as a deterrent.
The camera will be checked daily for evidence of speeding, which will be shared with NZTA for possible enforcement.
The initiative needs to raise $4180 to fund a two-month trial of the camera.
Not everyone is convinced the initiative will work. Dunlay’s opponent in October’s local body elections, city councillor Tyrone Fields, questioned the motivation behind it.
"I’ve been on the community board for six years, this is the first time I’ve heard him (Dunlay) come up with an initiative. What strange timing.
"Of course it’s electioneering, it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Said Dunlay: “Having lived on Brittan Tce for 20 years, we’ve experienced the noise, then through the campaign have met more residents who are affected.
"It’s just a group of us trying to do something because nothing’s been done all this time."
"You can come up with all the weird and wonderful solutions in the world, but until the Government properly resources the police to do the job we need them to do, we’re not going to solve the problem. You cannot camera away stupidity,” he said.
Said Dunlay: "That's been pretty much been his position the entire time he has been in council and nothing’s been done.
"The community feels like something's got to happen and this is a way of making something happen."
Fields said the city council is looking to implement measures at certain hotspots to make it more difficult for boy racers to congregate.
A community meeting has been organised for September 25 at 6pm at the Lyttelton Recreation Centre, where options to deter boy racers already used in Belfast will be outlined.
