Residents feel city safe place to live - survey

FILE

Most Rotorua residents believe the city is a safe place to live, a recent survey has found.

The Rotorua District Council commissioned a perceptions-of-safety survey, which found 82 per cent of people thought Rotorua was "definitely" or "mostly" safe, while 16 per cent disagreed.

The survey also found 84 per cent of respondents felt safe or very safe in the central city during the day but at night time the figure dropped to 26 per cent.

The presence of other people and police officers made many feel safe during the day, but at night people were concerned about "people hanging around", "bar areas" and "young kids".

Inner City Revitalisation Strategy portfolio leader, Councillor Karen Hunt, said while the daytime safety levels were pleasingly high they were 3.8 per cent down on last year.

"It's likely that this is at least in part a reaction to people hanging around shops that were selling legal-high substances, a problem we were experiencing at the time the survey was undertaken. That issue is firmly behind us now," she said.

Mayor Steve Chadwick said the survey provided a valuable tool for monitoring how well Rotorua was doing in keeping residents safe.

"Public safety is a shared objective of the council and community and its importance is reflected in our Rotorua 2030 vision and goals," she said. "Our council remains committed to working in partnership with other organisations and agencies to help build a safe community."

Council initiatives in support of crime prevention and community safety included its Crime Prevention Plan, City Safe Guardians, a protocol with Rotorua police and collaborative partnerships with organisations such as the Inner City Focus Group, Treasure Rotorua and Safe Communities Group.

The 2014 Rotorua District Perceptions of Safety Survey involved 499 residents surveyed by telephone and online. The survey results will appear on the council website, www.rdc.govt.nz.