Calls for parking overhaul at Yarra’s Edge to deter hooning activity

A Yarra’s Edge resident is calling on the City of Melbourne to consider making substantial changes to car parking arrangements surrounding Point Park in response to past hooning activity seen in the area.

Resident Sean O’Brien told Docklands News last month that since developer Mirvac closed off large sections of the area to begin construction on its Trielle project in December last year, hooning activity had become “practically non-existent”.

“I believe the reason that the issue has improved so substantially is simply because the car parking area along South Wharf Drive (between Mills Place and Point Park Crescent) was closed off in late 2024,” Mr O’Brien said.

However, he said residents were concerned that once Mirvac finished construction that hoons would return to the area, and have called on the council to use the opportunity to consider reforms in preparation for Trielle’s opening.

“Perhaps it could be closed off permanently and replaced with public gardens,” Mr O’Brien said. “Alternatively, various other strategies could be put in place.”

“For example, the City of Melbourne could install visual barriers to deter hoons from sitting around in the eatery areas near the corner of South Wharf Drive and Point Park Crescent and just ‘looking’ at their parked hoon cars, which they always seemed to love doing when the parking was available on a Friday and Saturday night.”

“The high construction site walls that Mirvac has installed in the area has certainly stopped that.”

A City of Melbourne spokesperson said the council regularly monitored changes to street and parking conditions to help inform future planning, and that it would commence formal community engagement on parking in Docklands by early 2026.

“All on-street parking managed by the council across Docklands and Fishermans Bend will be reviewed – and we will be guided on areas for improvement identified by residents and businesses,” the spokesperson said.

The council also stated that feedback on parking conditions could be made by the community at any time online through Participate Melbourne.

But Mr O’Brien said the council’s response didn’t specifically refer to the hoon issue. “We don’t even know whether or not solving the hoon issue would be an objective of the City of Melbourne’s car parking review,” he said.

As previously reported by Docklands News, hooning activity has plagued the Yarra’s Edge community along Lorimer St and the area surrounding Point Park for several years over Friday and Saturday nights.

In 2019, residents formed a new action group in response to issues including dangerous driving, revving engines, “illegal parking” and antisocial behaviour, caused by regular weekend car and motorcycle meet-ups. •