National MP Nicky Wagner is very pleased to see the Christchurch City Council is proposing anti-cruising" by-laws in the city. "It is encouraging that our city is the first to take action to implement this new anti-street racing legislation," she says.

The by-law is clearly designed to deal with situations like the Four Avenues which have become habitual places for boy racers to congregate, dominate and disrupt traffic and disturb residences and businesses in the area late at night and in the weekends.

In some areas of the city there are boy racer late night "no-go" streets but we can't and don't want to stop access to main city streets just because a few people make life difficult for the vast majority of law abiding drivers and residents. This by-law will allow reasonable access but prohibit excessive, mind-less, noisy driving around in the middle of the night.

Nicky Wagner says over the past few years, the boy racer culture has developed in our city and without sufficient legislative tools for the police, dangerous, illegal and noisy behaviour had escalated and become a very negative characteristic of our city.

However, since the new Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Act and the Sentencing (Vehicle Confiscation) Amendment Act introduced by Transport Minister Steven Joyce and Police Minister Judith Collins on Dec 1st 2009, it has been a lot safer and quieter in the central city and we want to see that continue, she says.

The "cruising" by-law is another tool to support the police who are expected by the public to control dangerous, noisy, anti-social road users. "I join thousands of inner city residents and business people in thanking the council for being proactive and welcome its introduction."