Car seat scheme cut back

by Kelly Makiha and Alison Brown news@dailypost.co.nz
Plunket's car seat rental scheme - a community service critical to Rotorua parents - has been cut back due to a staffing crisis.

News of the reduced car seat scheme follows revelations in The Daily Post of shocking child restraint statistics in Rotorua. A blitz last month by police and other agencies uncovered that one in three local children are either unrestrained or not properly restrained in cars.

At least three children, aged about 5 months, were found sitting on their parents' knees during the blitz. Other newborn babies were in toddler booster seats instead of infant car seats.

The Daily Post is involved in community efforts to raise carseat use and educate parents, and is this week publishing a series of articles on road safety, called Making Our Roads Safer.

For several years, the Plunket car seat rental scheme has operated out of Plunket's Pukuatua St office for three hours, three days a week. But its part-time co-ordinator has left, limiting operating hours to just three hours on Wednesdays while a replacement is sought.

Plunket had no response to initial advertising for the vacancy and is in the process of re-advertising the position, insisting the closure on Monday and Thursday is only temporary.

However Plunket admits it's difficult to recruit and retain staff for the car seat scheme with only enough funding for 15 hours' work a week.

Rotorua district councillor Dave Donaldson, who is involved in the Kidz 'n' Carz campaign that conducted the recent car seat blitz, says Plunket needs to make the appointment a priority, for the benefit of families struggling to access car seats for their children.



Mr Donaldson said Plunket needed to sort out its internal problems urgently for the sake of children's lives. A retired police officer, he said he had seen some of the shocking attitudes of some parents in Rotorua.

Parents needed more than just three hours a week to go and get car seats from Plunket, he said. If the service wasn't accessible, parents wouldn't bother.

Mr Donaldson said Plunket was "critical" in helping to turn around poor attitudes in Rotorua.



"A solution to our problem locally is to get more funding but we have heard of others being turned down by potential funders because they point to the fact that Plunket is funded to meet community needs - yet it is not. So therefore it's critical problems are resolved as soon as possible ... because clearly Rotorua has a major problem in this area."

Plunket's Lakes and Bay of Plenty area manager Pam Wards said limited funds meant the Rotorua office could only afford to pay a co-ordinator trained to fit car seats for 15 hours a week. The limited hours meant the role wasn't financially rewarding enough for some people.

CARSEAT RENTAL SCHEMES * Rotorua Plunket

$40 to $45 to hire plus $40 bond

(07) 349 2608

* Baby on the Move

$60 to hire capsule with base and $30 bond

(07) 345 3733

* Baby Factory

$85 to hire capsule with base and $55 bond

(07) 348 0402