Sam Bradbrook

PLAYFORD Council has hit a dead end in its attempt to curb hoon driving at a notorious Penfield intersection, after being told by police no speed or surveillance cameras would be installed in the area.

At a meeting last month elected members discussed a staff report into the feasibility of setting up surveillance of the Taylors and Robert roads intersection at Penfield – a well-known hoon driving hotspot.

Council had previously installed street lighting at the intersection to deter hoons, but it has failed to prevent drivers doing burnouts and racing along the road.

The report stated council had no authority to install surveillance cameras in the area under the Road Traffic Act, but, pending further investigation and legal advice, could utilise the Surveillance Devices Act to have them installed.

“Council staff have identified that under the Road Traffic Act 1961, council does not have designated authority to install traffic surveillance cameras,” the report read.

“There may be an opportunity to install surveillance cameras at the intersection under the Surveillance Devices Act 2016, however this requires further legal advice.

“This advice was not able to be obtained in time to prepare this report due to the March ordinary council deadline associated with the motion.”

Despite staff recommending elected members vote to further investigate the possibilities of the Surveillance Devices Act, councillors moved to not take any further immediate action.

While compiling the report, the council contacted Northern District police as the party responsible for catching and punishing hoon drivers.

Amongst their queries was the installation of fixed speed cameras in the area to catch drivers and make it easier to issue fines.

In its reply, a police spokesperson said all fixed speed camera installations need to meet the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure’s “collision risk matrix” and that no plans existed to install cameras in the area.

“The cameras are installed as a road safety measure and need to meet certain criteria,” the spokesperson said.

“Traffic Services Branch and Northern District police are aware of the driver behaviour occurring at the junction of Robert and Taylors Road and proactively attend the area to prevent and detect hoon driver behaviour.

“At this time there is no intention to install a camera at the location. Preferred action is both overt and covert attendance of police to the area.”

Council had also investigated other measures in the area to curb hoon driving, including physical traffic control devices or narrowing the intersection, but the roads’ are gazetted for B-double access, meaning they can’t be altered.

Physical traffic control measures are also unable to be installed on rural roads where the speed limit exceeds 80km/h.