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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Night after night, motorcyclists and hoon drivers gather beneath a Port Melbourne apartment, revving their engines into the early hours of the morning.<\/p>\n After months of sleepless nights, John Wickham finally had enough. One warm summer night, when the first drums of a motorcycle engine started, Wickham did as a local MP had suggested \u2013 he went downstairs to confront them.<\/p>\n Moments later, Wickham was punched in the face with so much force his front tooth still wobbles months later.<\/p>\n The man allegedly responsible has since been banned from the area before the case goes to court but every week, his friends return.<\/p>\n Wickham and wife Tammy Lindrum aren\u2019t the only ones who say they\u2019re increasingly scared to leave their home at night and feel trapped by the noise.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s often 2.30 in the morning when you\u2019re woken up by the sounds of cars revving,\u201d Lindrum says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got neighbours who moved because of it, because of the impact of the sound. New neighbours moved in only a few months ago, and they\u2019re already sick of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearby, Marion Sitter has lived in one of the residential towers on the waterside for five years, and says the piercing sound of revving engines often ruins what should be tranquillity by the bay. The problem is so pronounced that when The Age photographed Sitter and fellow resident Heather Brown one recent afternoon, a hoon motorcyclist sped behind them unexpectedly.<\/p>\n A group of Port Melbourne residents has formed an alliance to discuss a way forward without the sound.<\/p>\n Brown says the worst thing about the persistent noise is the powerlessness she feels each night.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel like there\u2019s absolutely no control, and you know this is illegal activity, but there\u2019s nothing you can do about it. [Hoons] are very aware of what the police are doing and when they\u2019re coming,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Residents say they\u2019ve lost count of how many times they\u2019ve called the police to respond to a group of hoons<\/a> outside their walls. \u201cWe call the police, and they tell us to keep calling when we hear it or see it, but we know there\u2019s much more serious crime they\u2019re dealing with. We all grew up being taught calling them was only for emergencies,\u201d Lindrum says.<\/p>\n Videos and photos seen by The Age show the terrifying moments cars speed along usually quiet Port Melbourne streets, their tyres screeching through all hours of the night. The videos and photos show groups of motorcyclists riding on footpaths and parking in groups along the foreshore.<\/p>\n Tim Norman, president of the Beacon Cove Neighbourhood Association, has a long list of everything the group has done recently to combat hoon driving in the area: petitions, meetings with Port Phillip Council, meetings with state and federal MPs and conversations with police, to name a few.<\/p>\n Social media events for car meets are published online regularly, with hundreds responding to meeting invitations on weekends. Although the group rules for events remain the same \u2013 no hooning, no littering, no drugs or alcohol and no \u201cexcessive\u201d revving \u2013 there are always drivers who ignore them.<\/p>\n Residents agree that for the most part, car meets are filled with people who just want to admire unique cars, but it\u2019s the hoons who join at the end of the meets that residents are most concerned about.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people are just there because they really love their cars, and they like a comrade, and there\u2019s clearly a community there,\u201d resident Luke Simpkin says.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe live here because it\u2019s lovely. It\u2019s all public space, and we don\u2019t have a problem with that. It\u2019s about how that later irresponsible behaviour affects us, and the ear-splitting noise out of the blue … it just really startles you.\u201d<\/p>\n In April, then-environment minister Steve Dimopoulos announced a $1.3 million trial of roadside acoustic cameras<\/a> that can detect excessive noise from vehicles and photograph their number plates. While this is a step in the right direction, residents say, the vague commitment does little to ease their concerns.<\/p>\n A police spokeswoman said officers were in regular discussions with the council and EPA, and supported the installation of the cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cRoad policing in and around Port Melbourne is a priority for local police, and as part of daily taskings, officers patrol known hoon hotspots both day and night,\u201d the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n Related Article When asked about how many reports relating to hoon behaviour had been made to police in the past year, the spokeswoman said all calls were triaged depending on their severity.<\/p>\n An EPA spokesman said the camera trial was \u201con track to begin on-road trials in coming months\u201d, but he could not confirm exactly when or where they\u2019d be installed.<\/p>\n \u201cEPA Victoria is consulting with Victoria Police as well as councils about potential locations for the seven cameras over the two-year trial period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In 2020-21, the EPA received 5405 noise reports across Victoria, and that number has nearly doubled to 9100 in the past year.<\/p>\n Be the first to know when major news happens. 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A hoon driver leaves a trail of smoke down a residential strip in Port Melbourne. <\/p>\n![\"Port](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4d89631fc9d875e9251b8a51f1a58a7da03e37d1.jpeg\")
Port Melbourne residents Marion Sitter (left) and Heather Brown and a motorcyclist who sped behind them while they were being photographed.Joe Armao<\/p>\n![\"Waterfront](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f27481e5a67bcc1890da66ba6deecb9a1b1a3cdc.jpeg\")
Waterfront Place, in Port Melbourne, full with cars and motorcycles on a summer\u2019s evening.<\/p>\n![\"Julie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3eeb1065c6935e3699ce04ad951f5ef9609b7675.jpeg\")
Julie Simpkin (left), Sitter, Brown and Luke Simpkin are part of a Port Melbourne community group pushing for action against hoon drivers in the area.Joe Armao<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9e6b5ad96fef7e37a36a74b0f5f418dada684f98.jpeg\")
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