The secret behind getting to know your neighbours

The Rock community garden Papamoa. L-R Dave Hursthouse, Mida Maria, Bill Purdie Sue Moran, Peter Harrison, Ngaire Pene, Lily Tworogal, Reggae Tessa, Lisa Anderson, Melissa Sobota.

New research shows the vast majority of us don't know the people around us. While the trend isn't new, community leaders and experts say we have good reasons to change how we interact. Bay of Plenty Times Weekend reporter Dawn Picken talks with locals aboutthe benefits of breaking from our phones,televisions and computer screens to tune into our neighbours.

Something happened on the way from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa - our family morphed from renters who knew neighbours in just two other homes, to homeowners who know people in at least half a dozen households on our street.

"Why do we want to live in a colour sack?" asked my 9-year-old son shortly before the april move. "It's a cul de sac," I told him. "We like it because there's not a lot of traffic, and you can play in the street."

Neighbours come round for gatherings and a steady stream of children - neighbour kids and our own - tromp in and out of the house many afternoons and weekends.

Our experience is typical, yet unusual, according to population researchers. A recent study called the Sovereign Wellbeing Index places New Zealand last in social connections and community compared with 29 European countries in the same survey.

The study found only 4 per cent of New Zealanders "strongly agree" they felt close to people in their local area.

Lead researcher Dr Grant Schofield, professor of public health at AUT University, tells 48 hours the proportion of respondents who said they feel close to people in their area ("agree" or "strongly agree") was greater among people in the Bay of Plenty compared with the rest of New Zealand - around 31 per cent for the Bay of Plenty, compared with 26 per cent nationally.

Dr Schofield says "in an absolute sense, it's still not that great, because two-thirds of people still don't feel close".

"We used the European social survey and the top country was Iceland. When you ask the same question, you get about 88 per cent of people agreeing with the local neighbourhood stuff. We can do better with our neighbours and local communities."

Dr Schofield says people in their 40s through 70s report stronger community ties, so an older population, such as the one found in the Bay of Plenty (according to Census figures), could explain some of the Bay's survey results.

How do we do better? Where can we connect? 48 Hours talked with people throughout the Bay to learn how time invested over the back fence, or across the street, can pay dividends in the form of social capital - the collective value of all the people we know and the things we're willing to do for each other because of these connections.

It's a chilly, sunny morning when we visit The Rock Papamoa Community Gardens off Hartford Avenue.

Several members greet us, including Ngaire Pene, who shares a heaped plate of chocolate cookie slices.

We're encouraging people to get to know one another, even if they only meet once a year to swap phone numbers and set up a phone tree.

Kathy Webb

Garden co-ordinators Lily Tworogal and Dave Hursthouse carry steaming glass mugs of coffee while explaining what's growing - broccoli, cabbage, kale, beans and silver beet, among other winter vegetables.

Plots on the nearly one-acre (0.4ha) site are free for anyone to plant. Excess food is shared with the nearby Papamoa Support Centre, where Dave and Lily also teach a beginners' food growing class.

In addition, members hold fortnightly gardening bees, open to green and brown thumbs. "It's amazing, really," Dave says.

"People come together over the shared goal of growing food and they end up meeting everybody living next to them and sharing food and socialising and suddenly it becomes more about the community side of it than the food growing side of it."

Ngaire, a garden committee member who's rented on Hartford Ave the past year and a half, says the project has brought her new connections.

"A lot come and go from this street because it's rentals. I wouldn't have met these people if it wasn't for the garden."

Down the street, the Papamoa Support Centre (soon to be renamed Papamoa Family Services), is another connector, providing services such as social work, budget advice, a foodbank, counselling and local events.

Papamoa Support centre manager Trish Ives. Photo/GEorge Novak

Manager Trish Ives says the centre is part of the "It's Not Okay" national campaign against family violence, which encourages neighbours and others to speak out against violence and help parents keep children safe.

But community activists and police say the key to taking action is knowing the people around us.

University of Waikato Professor of Population Economics Jacques Poot says the phenomenon of people not knowing their neighbours is a global trend in developed economies.

He highlights the 2000 book, Bowling Alone by United States sociologist Robert Putnam, which draws on evidence, including 500,000 interviews over a quarter century, to show Americans belong to fewer organisations that meet, know their neighbours less and even socialise with their families less often.

Dr Poot says: "I come from Europe and the same trends are applying there, as well, in the Netherlands. New Zealand is no different in that respect."

Dr Poot says community disconnection is a long-term trend, with contributing factors including an increase in the female labour force (which means suburbs sit mostly empty during the day) and growth in rental accommodation (the 2013 NZ Census shows almost 65 per cent of households owned their home, down from nearly 67 per cent in 2006).

"People in rental accommodation don't feel as attached to their street and neighbourhood as people who own. When you own, you have more of a vested interest ... renters tend to be more mobile."

Dr Poot points to growth of virtual networks, such as social media, and a change in leisure activities, where more people engage in individual, rather than team, sports. In addition, he says we're becoming more mobile: ". . . so people see their current location as a temporary location on a sojourn that may take them many different places. Internal migration means neighbourhoods have a different role to play than in the past."

Benefits of knowing your neighbours stretch beyond the ability to borrow a cup of sugar, power tools and ski gloves.

The Wellbeing Index shows respondents who feel people in their local area help one another a great deal were three times more likely to report high levels of wellbeing.

We see people living next door to each other, but they've never actually met and they've lived there for years.

Sergeant Gillbanks

Organisers of Neighbourhood Support, which includes up to 9000 households in the Tauranga area and another 9000 households in Rotorua, are looking to boost involvement.

Tauranga co-ordinator Kathy Webb says while social networks such as Facebook and Neighbourly provide a point of connection, they're no replacement for meeting face-to- face.

"We're encouraging people to get to know one another, even if they only meet once a year to swap phone numbers and set up a phone tree.

We're building resilience in the community when things go wrong. When you know your neighbours, you can be a more cohesive community."

Neighbourhood Support works with local police, who issue regular emails to members.

Messages signal recent criminal activity and provide crime prevention tips. Kathy says the idea is to be proactive about safety.

"You do have to make an investment in time, but if one person in the street is prepared to put their hand up, you just need one person who'll pull it all together."

Papamoa Police Sergeant Phil Gillbanks liaises with Neighbourhood Support and says it's more than a crime prevention group.

"It's about knowing your neighbours and having someone to call on in time of need. They might not have been a victim of crime; it could be an accident at home, could be an older person who needs to fix something, or a natural disaster.

"People can band together and, instead of trying to survive as one household, try to survive as a street or community and together we're always stronger."

Sergeant Gillbanks says lifestyle and environment promote isolation. "The more we have six-foot fences around our homes and internal access garaging, it breaks down connectivity with your neighbours. Most people go into the house and socialise out back.

"We see people living next door to each other, but they've never actually met and they've lived there for years. Neighbourhood Support makes them meet each other and have a phone number to contact those people."

A lot come and go from this street because it's rentals. I wouldn't have met these people if it wasn't for the garden

Ngaire Pene

Sergeant Gillbanks describes one instance where a neighbour reported a vehicle that didn't belong at an address. He says the neighbour rang the homeowner at work, who said they weren't expecting anyone.

"Someone had attempted to burgle the house. If it weren't for the neighbours, they probably would've gotten away with it. We don't want them to be nosy, we just want them to do something when they see something suspicious, instead of wondering, 'do I, or don't I?'"

Sergeant Gillbanks says he has nine staff members at the Papamoa station and more than 4500 Neighbourhood Support households he can email for help.

Tauranga South Neighbourhood Support coordinator Meri Low says the people who join the group are grateful for the alerts - about stolen cars, burglaries, car break-ins and crime trends.

"They send an instant email to that particular street giving them a heads-up. It's a lot of community advice, too. People love it, they absolutely love it. We get massive feedback about how it's appreciated."

Maybe it's time for me to find out if neighbours in my own "colour sack" are involved in Neighbourhood Support.

Papamoa Community Garden on Hartford Ave. L-R front Ngaire Pene, Dave Hursthouse, L-R back, Bill Purdie, left, Lily Tworogal. Photo/George Novak