A $2.1 million light display welcoming motorists to the Gold Coast — and widely criticised for being unreadable — is also an attraction for hoons, police say.
Police say hundreds of hoons have gathered late at night to do burnouts near the light installation in the city's north on the motorway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
When police responded to the gatherings a few weeks ago, Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said there were roughly 300 cars on the highway and many hoons threw projectiles at officers.
"[Hoons] have been drawn like a moth to a flame to the lights on the Gold Coast sign on the M1," Superintendent Sheldon said.
Lights switched off
He said Queensland Police established a 33-officer taskforce in response to the meetings.
This weekend they asked council to turn the lights off.
Superintendent Sheldon said it helped deter the hoons.
"We just simply turned them off," he said.
"There's no ability to be able to video yourself, to show yourself off on social media and that confused them, and they lost a bit of focus and we were following them around all Saturday night."
He said the crackdown saw police chase drivers along the length of the Gold Coast, which led to the arrest of nine people who were charged with 23 offences.
"[Police followed] roughly 50, 55 cars everywhere from Currumbin all the way from Coomera. We managed to round up a fair few of them on this occasion," Superintendent Sheldon said.
He said one motorist was allegedly caught travelling well over the speed limit at the weekend.
"The biggest idiot of the night was the [driver travelling at] 180kph on the M1. He lost his car, immobilised. He's due to attend court," Superintendent Sheldon said.
"Two weeks ago they were taunting us, one week ago they were throwing bottles and things like that. We've come out in force this week and they were silly enough to come out and play and they met the full force of the law."
He said police gathered intelligence during the operation.
"It gives us a chance to build a profile and investigative strategies. It might be a month later that we roll up with a tow truck and take your car off you," he said.
"It worked out well this weekend, goodness knows if we'll do it further on."
Lights a costly commodity
The Queensland government and local council forked out $2.1 million for the array of lights which spell out "Gold Coast" in the middle of the busy M1 motorway ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
But motorists travelling past the site, roughly half way between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, quickly complained because the sign was impossible to be understood by passing cars.
It can only be read clearly from a neighbouring truck stop, acreage properties and an industrial area.
In 2019, the council's transport and infrastructure committee recommended the lights be removed and stored at a cost estimated to be $255,000.
Thanks in part to the price tag, the installation remains in place.
Mayor Tom Tate said at the time the decision was about "respecting value for money of ratepayers funds".
But keeping the lights on isn't cheap. A council spokesperson said the lights continue to cost the city roughly $35,000 annually.
A 2020 council report estimated the annual maintenance cost is $30,000, plus $5,000 for electricity.
The spokesperson said council would continue to work with police to address hooning in the area.
"The lights were switched off as a one-off request from the police and we will continue to work proactively with them on the issue of hooning," they said in a statement.
Lights a laughing stock
Coomera MP Michael Crandon, whose electorate takes in the sign, said the lights need to go. He said he doesn't care where they end up.
"Let's turn them off permanently," he said.
"They really are a bit of a laughing matter.
"They don't do what they were originally intended to do. They became a complete surprise to everybody when they went up. They were a joke then and they clearly are an issue for police."
He said the only people who benefited from the lights were those who do well-lit burnouts underneath them.
"The only thing that comes to my mind that benefits anyone with the Yatala lights is the hoons," Mr Crandon said.
"They seem to be the ones to get the advantage out of it because they use it to help them record their nefarious activities."
