Council shuts Millers Pool carpark in bid to put brakes on hoons at South Perth peninsula

Hoons have forced the City of South Perth to close part of the South Perth peninsula.

The Millers Pool carpark — an isolated area under the Narrows Bridge — and the thoroughfare leading to the Mill Point boat ramp jet ski area have been closed after the proposal was unanimously backed by the council last month.

Millers Pool carpark and the Mill Point boat ramp jet ski area will be closed between 9pm and 5am for three and four weeks respectively.

Cameras and lighting have also been added to the Millers Pool carpark to “monitor and deter antisocial behaviour”.

Mill Point Road is a straight road running next to the Kwinana Freeway which a council report said was “akin to a drag strip”. Hoons regularly used the freeway on and off ramps as a “race track loop”.

The South Perth council will also record vehicle speeds on parts of Mill Point Road to provide to police and engage in “advocacy work” with South Perth MLA Geoff Baker, Kensington police, Police Minister Paul Papalia and Police Commissioner Col Blanch.

The council will also ask Main Roads to reduce the speed limit on parts of Mill Point Road from 50km/h to 40km/h.

A report will be presented to the council in May.

The city has tried traffic calming measures since 2021 including speed detection and display signs on Mill Point Road, speed humps at Millers Pool Car Park, and raised safety platforms at multiple intersections.

But Cr Nic Coveney, who asked for the closures, said the safety platforms had created “new issues” as hoons used them to accelerate and rev their engines even louder.

He said hooning was the “single biggest issue” raised by residents living along the South Perth peninsula during his election campaign, who compared their streets to a motorplex.

“I have spoken with hundreds of residents and continue to liaise with them regularly (and) they tell me that after dark their backyards have become more akin to Perth Motorplex,” he said in his proposal.

“I am told these hoons are revving their engines every second day and at all hours of the night, spoiling residents’ rights to the peaceful enjoyment of their own property, whether that be sitting on their balcony, watching a movie or sleeping in peace.

“Almost everyone that I spoke to on the peninsula knew someone who had either just sold their apartment, or who was about to sell their apartment, or had gone to considerable expense installing double glazed windows because they were fed up with the hooning.”

While Cr Coveney said there was “no silver bullet” to completely eliminate hooning, he said it required “all of the community to work together to address it ... in a strategic manner”.

“Unfortunately it (the hooning) is not isolated to South Perth,” one resident told PerthNow.

“They’ve moved to Como on Monday nights and are so noisy ... they generally do the loop along Canning Highway to Manning Road passing the Mt Henry Tavern.

“It is very frustrating as we are all in a cul-de-sac ... and calling police doesn’t seem to make a difference.”