By DANIELLE GALVIN
GEMBROOK is under siege from hoons and drunken louts – but angry residents are ready to take their town back.
Fed up locals have called for a greater police presence to combat dangerous drivers and aggressive drunks who are making streets unsafe and creating no-go zones for residents and tourists.
Bobby Gordon lives in the hills town with his young family and said that in the past few weeks, Thursday nights had become drag racing nights for local hoons.
He said the hooning made Gembrook’s main strip look like a “third world country” and that there were a number of residents fed-up with the anti-social behaviour.
“I was speaking to a neighbour about it who was saying that the street is being treated like a drag strip,” Mr Gordon said.
“There needs to be a traffic island and a crossing, as well as more police presence here.”
The young dad’s father Robert Gordon agreed and said he felt as if Gembrook was on a tipping point.
“It is such a lovely little town – but we don’t want it to turn into a dump,” Robert Gordon said.
“There are people who are scared to walk on this side of the road because of this issue.”
The family also believes that there is a lack of police presence, and are eagerly waiting for the 24-hour Emerald police station to open.
But Robert Gordon said his family had lived in Gembrook for three generations and he had grown up there, and that there was still a lot to be proud of.
“It is a lovely little community – and there are still some great people here,” he said.
Mr Gordon, who owns Robert Gordon Pottery in Pakenham, said he had bought a parcel of land in the main strip and had plans to turn it into a restaurant. He said that when the pub was open, police would patrol the street at night, but since it had closed, their presence had waned.
“There is just too much speed in the street,” he said.
Sam Gordon also weighed into the hooning and said that “everyone had a story” about the anti-social behaviour.
The family met with other residents and business owners on Monday afternoon to discuss the plan of action, and said local businesses were also affected.
Bobby Gordon said it was an “accident waiting to happen” and that the hoons were acting out like they were part of a gang.
He said they supported the Cardinia Shire Council’s township strategy for Gembrook which would help alleviate some of their concerns when it was implemented.
“We just want it to stop,” he said.
