Community pride brings in the numbers

Local Papamoa residents and Western Bay of Plenty Police got involved in the Neighbours Day working bee at the Lynn Grove grass roundabout on March 28. Photo/Bent Jansen

A Papamoa police initiative to improve community pride in and around Hartford Ave has paid big dividends, with the area looking tidier and 119 residents wanting to become involved in Neighbourhood Support.

The sergeant in charge of the Papamoa station Phil Gillbanks today detailed how they had managed to turn around community perceptions in the suburb's lower socio-economic neighbourhoods.

It was one of several success stories outlined to a meeting of the Tauranga City Council's community development committee.

Another presentation was made by Tauranga Moana Nightshelter Trust secretary Mike Mills on the impact of the shelter since it opened seven months ago in the converted youth hostel.

Mr Gillbanks said he and Western Bay police commander Inspector Clifford Paxton decided to turn around perceptions in the area of Hartford Ave and try to take it out of its current way of thinking.

There had been issues with young people and patched gangs were starting to take a foothold.

After a letter box drop announcing police would be door knocking and doing a survey, it was found that the biggest issues for residents were how the area looked, roaming dogs and prevalence of patched gang members.

"The biggest issue was roaming dogs."

It led to a crackdown by council dog control officers, the installation of bollards to stop cars being parked on grassed road verges, and low-cost initiatives to tidy the place up and bring in the community as a major participant.

A second letter box drop announced a Neighbours Day on March 28 in which residents pitched in to paint the front fence of Hartford Ave Reserve, decorate the playground with murals and prepare the grass roundabout with Lynn Grove for new gardens.

Mr Gillbanks said it brought the community out to take a pride in their neighbourhood. "It looks a lot better and the general feeling is that people do care and they want to make a bit of an effort."

A closed-circuit TV camera will be installed on the Lynn Grove/Hartford Ave roundabout to monitor traffic, aimed particularly at the behaviour of drivers doing burnouts.

Councillors were also updated on the efforts of the nightshelter trust to provide a safe place to sleep for men without shelter, and to break the cycle of homelessness.

Mr Mills said 76 men had used the shelter up to the end of last month, since it opened on September 9, 2014.

Of these, 37 were "rough sleepers".

The average length of stay was 45 nights, with the longest stay a total of 204 nights.