Supercars, viral clout and the Sydney suburbs left sleepless

The clink of wine glasses, the chatter of diners and the wash of ferries across Sydney Harbour are sounds that define Barangaroo most evenings.

But, after dark, residents say that soundtrack is increasingly drowned out by something altogether different: modified exhausts, supercars accelerating between glass towers and motorcycles thundering through the waterfront precinct.

It is an issue spreading across some of Sydney’s most picturesque harbourside suburbs, where late-night gatherings of high-performance vehicles are leaving residents at their wits’ end and prompting councils to expand CCTV networks, share footage with police and, in one case, switch off a public artwork used as a backdrop for social media content.

In Barangaroo, more than 1850 people have signed a petition calling for tougher enforcement against hoon driving, saying the noise is affecting their sleep, mental health and quality of life.

“We hear it every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night,” said resident Cedric Lee.

“They start arriving around 9pm and continue until two in the morning and because of the tall buildings in Barangaroo, every noise reverberates through the precinct.

“You can’t watch television, you can’t open the windows. You lie in bed waiting to be jolted by the next car exhaust and after a while you just give up trying to sleep.

“This isn’t just traffic noise – it’s deliberate antisocial behaviour.”

Resident Melanie Tait believes Barangaroo’s luxury apartment buildings, waterfront promenade, Crown Sydney and harbour views had made it a magnet for motorists seeking status and striking backdrops for social media content.

She suspects the trend has also been fuelled by a popular video game that recreates Barangaroo’s streets as a racetrack, inspiring some drivers to imitate the route in real life.

“It’s become a lawless place and the fact that it happens in a precinct governed by the state government, and the government can’t even stamp it out, it’s wild,” she said.

The complaints persist despite a multi-agency operation in May that resulted in 23 defect notices and 23 penalties issued to drivers, and nine vehicles towed due to serious defects.

“The very next night they were back,” Tait said.

“It’s become normalised. People know they can come here, make as much noise as they want, and the consequences are minimal.”

As frustrations have grown, residents have begun gathering their own evidence, supplying footage to police and installing noise monitors inside apartments that have recorded peaks of 89 decibels, comparable to standing beside a busy motorway.

A survey of 311 residents conducted over summer found 91 per cent experienced excessive exhaust noise, 55 per cent feared for pedestrian safety and 90 per cent kept their windows closed due to noise. Some respondents reported sleeping with earplugs or fans running to mask noise, while others moved mattresses into rooms away from street-facing windows.

Justin Fowaz Al-Tawil, a Maserati driver and entrepreneur who has filmed social media videos in Barangaroo, said social media had accelerated the precinct’s popularity, with some hiring exotic cars purely to create online content.

“In Sydney, a lot of people love to fake it until they make it, so they’ll hire a car, do laps and take videos. Barangaroo is a one-stop shop for that: you’ve got Crown, you’ve got nightlife and you’ve got the harbour,” he said.

Al-Tawil said he understood residents’ frustration, recalling an incident in which a block of ice was thrown from an apartment onto a high-performance vehicle, shattering its windscreen.

“If I was a resident there and paying top dollar, I’d be pissed off too,” he said.

Crown Sydney said in a statement it was aware of community concerns and was working with authorities on public safety initiatives.

Similar complaints have emerged across other Sydney suburbs including Brighton-Le-Sands, Rhodes and McMahons Point.

Canada Bay Council in December took the drastic step of switching off a public artwork at The Connection in Rhodes after determining it had become a backdrop for gatherings of high-performance drivers. The council has since approved expanding its CCTV network with speed detection technology and automatic number plate recognition.

A McMahons Point community meeting last month meanwhile resulted in residents passing a resolution calling for Transport for NSW to reduce speed limits to 40kmh and alter the layout of key roads to deter late-night gatherings.

NSW Police in a statement said social media had made organising vehicle meet-ups easier, and officers continue to target illegal vehicle modifications including exhaust systems, suspension and tyres.

“Police monitor social media sites to identify such behaviour, and various strategies are used to curtail this behaviour,” a police spokeswoman said.

The NSW Government is assessing the results of the state’s first roadside noise-detection camera trial, conducted in the Bayside and Wollongong council areas, to determine whether the technology should be expanded. Current penalties for excessively noisy vehicles are capped at $600.

Barangaroo’s campaign has gathered enough support that Sydney MP Alex Greenwich is expected to convene a parliamentary forum later this year to examine vehicle noise pollution.

Trevor Rowe, chairman of the Crown Sydney strata committee, hopes the outcome results in meaningful action.

“Barangaroo is a wonderful place to live and we paid a premium to live here. All we’re asking for is a good night’s sleep – that shouldn’t be too much to ask.”

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