Bethlehem residents will not have to go so far to find a Justice of the Peace from now on, with a new JP clinic opening on Friday.
Previously residents have had to travel to Tauranga to get their photographs signed for their passports and the countless other tasks JPs undertake, butthe new clinic on Moffat Rd will bridge the gap.
It will be one of the now 13 different clinics around the Bay of Plenty stretching from Te Puke to Katikati which offer a volunteer service for witnessing signatures, certifying documents and taking declarations, affidavits or affirmations.
JP Raewyn McAlonan says there was a need in Bethlehem for a clinic.
"We have clinics throughout Tauranga but there was a gap in Bethlehem. We want to be able to take our services out to the people. It is a place where they can come and there will be someone here to help them.
Raewyn has been JP for 27 years and loves helping out in the community.
"I enjoy working with people, helping them, being there for them and giving them a good environment to come into."
There are nearly 300 JPs in the Bay of Plenty area who in days gone by used to have their phone number in the yellow pages and people would either ring them up and turn up at their front door.
But Bay of Plenty Justices of the Peace registrar Dick Williams says times have dramatically changed and now there are JP clinics open throughout Tauranga offering these services on certain days at specific times. He runs the Wednesday morning clinic at Citizens Advice Bureau from 9am to 11.30am.
The other clinics are at Papamoa Library, Te Puna School, Te Puke Anglican Church, Bayfair Shopping center, Katikati Resource Centre, Greerton Village mainstreet office, Welcome Bay Community Centre, Tauranga Ethnic Council, Mount Mainstreet Centre, Tauranga RSA and Omokoroa Library. For more information about Justices of the Peace and clinic times visit www.jpbop.org.nz.
