Cover Story: Look what they?ve done to our town

Fifteen years ago Manurewa was a vibrant community with lively shops, locals employed in big factories. Now residents say they're scared to go into town. Pokies. Prostitutes. Sharu Delilkan asks: what happened?
Wednesday. A woman in her late 20s parks her car at Southmall. Her two children race inside. She does the weekly grocery stockup, finds a slinky outfit at a boutique, meets friends for coffee at the corner cafe and has a haircut while her children have a play date at the centre-court playground. She rounds them up and goes back to the car. The thought that it might be gone when she gets back to the carpark never enters her mind. Fast-forward 15 years. A woman in her late 20s leaves her Manurewa home to shop. The idea of stopping at Southmall or the town centre doesn't enter her mind. She's terrified to park at or go into the mall. She fears the gangs' penetrating gaze and the constant chant of "Do you have $2 to spare" on the street. Near Northcrest, pavements are lined with scantily dressed 13- or 14-yearold prostitutes. Parents are spilling out of pokie bars and vaguely remembering kids locked in the car. She heads for the Westfield mall at Manukau City. Until the 90s Manurewa was a bustling blue-collar town. The only cloud was the closure of Westfield meatworks a couple of years earlier. Within months all changed: Ruth Richardson's 'Mother of All Budgets', the Employment Contracts Act, Jenny Shipley's benefit cuts and National's superannuation reforms devastated the heavily union, working class suburb. Big employers shut their doors: Ford, Nissan, Bluebird Foods, and Yazaki automotive electricians, formerly a Fisher & Paykel plant. The tills stopped ringing. Southmall was auctioned. Farmers, Hannah's shoes, Stirling Sports, Whitcoulls moved into flasher premises in Manukau City or, later, Botany Town Centre. Leaving behind, residents say, a council that at best didn't notice what was happening. At worst, didn't seem to care.
THE RESIDENTS
All agreed to comments being published if we did not identify them, fearing retribution from what they call 'the criminal element'
Woman, 50 years in Manurewa "Southmall used to be the meeting place for most locals, especially on the weekends. We have to go all over the place to do our shopping now. Being almost 80 I wait for my friend from Kawakawa Bay to take me shopping in Manukau once a week. "Besides Woolworths and New World, the Manurewa shops are either $2 junk shops, bottle shops or gambling dens. "I miss our lovely local shops and boutiques on Station Rd that seem to have closed down over the years." Man, 79 "Walking to the letterbox at night is not an option these days. I speak to anyone who comes to my door through my security gate. Gone are the days when a major crime in the area was news." Frances, 55 "I was raised in Manurewa and my parents have lived there since 1960. I visit them each week, and every time I come over Manurewa looks worse. Too many bars and gambling dens. My mum is absolutely terrified. I don't even get out of my car in the town anymore."
THE COMMUNITY
Daniel Newman, Manurewa Community Board The rot set in when major retailers quit Southmall and the town centre was filled with bars, closely followed by pokies. "I feel the council sat on its hands and let this happen to the detriment of the town centre, existing businesses and loyal residents. "As a local resident I want the council to display some backbone and amend the District Plan that has allowed booze and gambling outlets to dominate commercial activity in our town centre."
Pesio Siitia,Problem Gambling Association "Manurewa has definitely been neglected since the likes of Farmers and other big commercial outlets left. People shopping in centres like Manukau City have turned Manurewa almost into a ghost town." Manurewa has the highest number of liquor outlets in Counties Manukau ? 114 premises servicing 78,000 residents, or one outlet for every 684 people. Otara ward has 21 premises for 35,300 residents, or one outlet for every 1680 people. "When people spend their money on things like alcohol, drugs like P, and the pokies, none of the money goes back into the local economy. No wonder suburbs like Manurewa, with the highest number of pokies in the area,are going to the dogs."
Rangi McLean, Manurewa Marae board of trustees, former Community Board member Manurewa accounts for 26.7 per cent of the country's Maori population, stemming from the days when Westfield meat workers lived close to the job. When Westfield closed in 1989 between 600 (winter) and 1600 (summer) employees lost their jobs. About 20 per cent were Manurewa residents. Rangi McLean previously managed Manurewa People's Centre, which provides free healthcare and low-cost dental care. In 10 years from 1993 membership rose from 500 to 10,000. He believes Manurewa "didn't stand a chance" when the Manukau City and Botany Town Centres were set up. He hopes Manukau City Council will pump money in to enable families to raise their standard of living. The council needs to make it easier to set up businesses by reducing the rates for resource consents. "My ultimate hope is that Manurewa gets on a similar footing to suburbs like Remuera."
THE BUSINESS PEOPLE
Doug Scott, former Southmall manager Residents were loyal to their local shopping hub yet had no choice but to patronise Manukau and Botany when the big retailers went there. Southmall employees dwindled from 500 to 100 as shops vacated the mall within a year of its auction in 1994. "I was bitterly disappointed to see the way the mall went downhill, particularly because there were a lot of nice people and customers that came through. "Manurewa's downfall was its own doing, for the most part." The safe-to-shop feeling deteriorated because no one wanted to take responsibility. "I think Manukau City Council was deliberately enhancing the viability of the Manukau City Centre, which is fine. But you don't have to strengthen one by weakening the other. Not allowing us to have similar rights was a form of weakening. "Competing with Westfield was impossible, particularly since we had only $100,000 in promotional funds compared to Manukau's $1 million budget ... "Through their development plans for Manukau City, the council was trying to draw custom to the shopping centre. We felt Manukau City was deliberately fighting us and we were gutted. "All we were asking for was a fair shake."
Paul Zwart, former co-owner of Stirling Sports in Southmall "We left Southmall in 1996 when the lease expired because it wasn't quite working for us. "The customer demographics changed because the bigger tenants had left. The shopping centre was not going forward and Manukau as a shopping precinct was getting stronger." They were sad to leave because business thrived when they moved in in the 1980s and they had a number of loyal local customers. "Unfortunately, the lack of security and number of thefts left us no choice."
THE TOWN PLANNER
Alan Johnson, Manurewa Community Board member and city councillor, regional council policy analyst, town planner, resident "I feel Manukau City Council largely turned its back on Manurewa by putting the emphasis on building Manukau City Centre with no regard to its impact on surrounding areas like Manurewa, Papatoetoe and Otara. "The effort that the council has put into building Manukau City's open spaces versus how much they've put into Manurewa town center is glaring. They've refurbished the city centre's outdoor area twice, spending about $3 million each time. "Redoing the footpaths in Manurewa town centre is not sufficient to bring the shoppers back. "It's ironic that TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre falls under Manurewa's boundary. Frankly, I feel it was built at the expense of the Manurewa community, not as a local facility but as a city facility for the sole purpose of enhancing Manukau City, not Manurewa." The council's 30- to 40-year redevelopment plan is great but it's "short-term, achievable action that's needed". "An immediate investment of $25,000 as seeding capital is chickenfeed in the scheme of things." Recent initiatives in Manurewa, such as the rail hub, are based on requirements identified by the community at least 10 years ago. Taking almost six months to fix the old clock on the corner of Great South Rd and Station Rd is an example. "Claiming to have insufficient funds to fix the clock while spending money on developing Flat Bush is not acceptable. "Money is being harvested in the area and being used to build new places and new roads to serve the community in the East. The reality is old town centres like Manurewa are suffering while the council is pouring money into the likes of Flat Bush."