Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

'Mozart Effect' is music to city retailers' ears (+poll)

By Jenee Tibshraeny
Bay of Plenty Times·
4 Mar, 2013 10:13 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Retailers want classical music such as Mozart played at the city's main bus stop to deter violent criminals.

The quirky idea of having the sounds of classical tunes coming from speakers at the Willow St bus centre has been tabled in an effort to discourage antisocial people who will think the music uncool and move on.

Youth brawls and intimidating behaviour are driving people away from the Willow St bus stop despite police having stepped up patrols in the area since last October.

Troublemakers include people aged under 30, people drinking, the homeless, and gang members.

City councillors are to discuss the issue on March 18.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Bay of Plenty Times reader Stephen Irving contacted the paper suggesting the Mozart idea, saying he had seen it used successfully in England - and local business owners support it.

Cartridge World owner Peter East said it was a novel idea and worth trying.

Tauranga Art Gallery director Penelope Jackson agreed, saying it was the same groups of people congregating by the bus stops at certain times.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The gallery should not have a bus stop near it, she said. Her only reservation was classical music was traditionally used to attract people, not drive them away.

Both she and Mr East expected the council to cover the costs of installing speakers if the idea went ahead.

Mr East said the "council created the problem" by putting the bus stop in Willow St.

One retailer, who asked not to be named, was horrified to see members from three gangs bash a tourist in the street about three weeks ago.

The retailer also saw a man assault his pregnant girlfriend. The man then took a crack at police who arrived with a Taser.

Regular bus user Moana Hadfield, 22, supported the classical music idea.

Christchurch city uses classical music to deter troublemakers in public and Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale said property owners paid for three sets of speakers to be installed. Problems dropped from 300 to 20 in just one week, largely due to the "Mozart Effect".

Tauranga City Council customer and environmental services manager Peter Frawley discussed the issue with police on Tuesday.

He said he was happy to pass the idea on.

Have your say

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.


Should ratepayers pay for classical music at the bus stop? Or is there another solution? Have your say by emailing editor@bayofplentytimes.co.nz. Please include your name in the email. You can also leave a comment below, and vote in the poll. Responses may be published.


Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Covid-19 and flu infections rise in Western BOP

01 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

01 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

01 Jul 05:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Covid-19 and flu infections rise in Western BOP

Covid-19 and flu infections rise in Western BOP

01 Jul 06:00 PM

Patients asked to wait in their cars as medical centres deal with winter illness spike.

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

01 Jul 07:00 AM
Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

01 Jul 05:00 AM
Zespri teams up with Dame Lisa Carrington

Zespri teams up with Dame Lisa Carrington

01 Jul 03:30 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP