Staff at Tauranga’s main community facilities are facing an increase in antisocial behaviour. Photo / Getty Images
Staff at Tauranga’s main community facilities are facing an increase in antisocial behaviour. Photo / Getty Images
Staff at Tauranga’s main community facilities are facing an increase in antisocial behaviour ranging from swearing and intimidation to violent threats.
At a Tauranga City Council meeting on Monday, Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker told commissioners during an update that aggressive and antisocial behaviour was an emerging issue at local venues affecting staff and users.
“Obviously, it’s a small percentage of people, but there is some significant risk that comes with that to our staff, customers and facilities. We are working hard to try to mitigate that as best we can.”
After the meeting, Hooker told the Bay of Plenty Times the incidents of antisocial behaviour and security concerns had increased over the past year.
Hooker said he believed the situation was an “unfortunate trend” also affecting other public-facing organisations and businesses in New Zealand because times were “more challenging at the moment”.
The incidents involved a range of antisocial behaviour “from swearing and intimidation, through to more-serious aggression, violent threats and theft”, he said.
“Thankfully, no serious physical-harm incidents have taken place and we want to ensure it remains that way.”
Bay Venues is a council-controlled organisation that runs 24 community facilities including Baywave, the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, Greerton Hall, and Mercury Arena and stadium. Collectively, the venues host more than 2 million visits a year.
Hooker said the matter involved “a range of isolated issues at different venues”.
However, there was no specific location, individual or group of people involved.
“There are members of our community here in Tauranga who are struggling; some of them are homeless and/or sleeping rough, others face mental health challenges. There are also some individuals who express their frustrations in inappropriate and, from time to time, aggressive ways.
Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker.
“While these are unrelated, isolated incidents across our network of facilities and only involve a tiny percentage of our total visitors, we are concerned that there has been a recent upward trend and there is a risk that a one-off situation could escalate quickly.”
In some cases, staff and customers “have been faced with difficult situations and have had to take action to ensure their safety”.
Hooker said Bay Venues had established an “escalation path” for staff when police might be needed to help respond to and resolve an issue.
“The safety of our staff and venue users is paramount, so we are as proactive as we can be in giving our staff the tools and training they need to navigate any situation that comes their way,” Hooker said.
Bay Venues had also put in place, and was actively monitoring and updating, a range of training, initiatives and procedures “to support our staff and keep them safe”.
“We also have constructive relationships with Tauranga City Council, neighbourhood constables, social agencies and community groups with the intention that the whole community and city can wrap around this issue,” Hooker said.
Hooker said Bay Venues staff were passionate about the communities they work in and the people they interacted with, some of whom visited facilities daily.
“The same goes for our venue users. Our facilities are important community hubs that mean a lot to our staff and the people who frequent them,” he said.
“As a result, both staff and users are naturally concerned when they witness or experience people struggling and/or behaving in an inappropriate way.”
Bay Venues employs more than 350 staff who are led by a board of directors, a management team, and business unit managers.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
