Residents are complaining about Lakeside raceway again
Owner of property adjacent to Lakeside Park says noise from the track is ruining their quality of life
David Alexander, Pine Rivers Press
March 14, 2019 9:56am
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A KURWONGBAH resident says the unrelenting noise coming from the operation of Lakeside Raceway has ruined the quality of life he and many others in the area once enjoyed.
Tony Nutley said many residents in the area were afraid to speak out publicly against the track, but he felt the time had come to tell his side of the story.
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The track, which is owned by Moreton Bay Regional Council, was leased by Queensland Raceways (QRO) in 2008 and its operation is overseen by QRO owner John Tetley.
Mr Tetley has stopped holding race events at the track after getting multiple fines from the council for breaching noise restrictions.
A noise monitor set up on Mr Nutley’s property. (AAP/Renae Droop)However, there are still regular non-race events held at Lakeside on most weekends.
Mr Nutley’s family has lived near the track for about 40 years.
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He said he doesn’t mind the occasional race event at the track, but says since QRO took over, there had been events at the track almost every weekend.
He said on one occasion last year, before QRO started getting fined, there was racing continuously over a 10-day period from 7am to about 5pm.
“Our family has a quality of life that has really spiralled since 2008,” Mr Nutley said.
“We’re not the only ones. I’d say there are hundreds of people who take issue with the noise from the track.”
One of those is a man who is near death from illness and whose wish was to die peacefully in his own home.
There was another resident who Mr Nutley said they had to stop from jumping in a tractor and parking it on the track, the noise had got to him so much.
Tony Nutley is unhappy about noise coming from Lakeside racetrack at his Kurwongbah home. (AAP/Renae Droop)“Every weekend, the noise is that bad,” Mr Nutley said. “You’re sitting here having breakfast and you can’t talk to one another.”
He said another issue was hooning on the local roads during and after track events because there was no traffic control in place.
“You get the ones who have been to Lakeside and then think they can drive like professional drivers,” he said.
“Look at the rubber on the roads, our safe streets are turned into war zones, you’ve got missiles coming at you from everywhere.
Mr Tetley told
Pine Rivers Press hooning happened at all hours of the night and that tyre marks could be found in almost every industrial estate on the north side.
Mr Tetley said apart from the years between 2002 and 2009 when the track was not used, there had always been racing at the track.