Rotorua retailers, police and MPs to discuss 'action plan' against ram raiders

Police have been invited to the meeting. Photo / NZME

Rotorua's frustrated small-store community is meeting today in a bid to receive answers on how ram raids are being addressed locally.

Retailers throughout the country have experienced an increase in ram raids, with a recent police report showing the Bay of Plenty had the second-highest number in the year to October.

The perpetrators, often youths, use a vehicle to break into a store, leaving behind an expensive mess and items missing from shelves.

The meeting will be chaired by Springfield Superette owner and Rotorua Lakes councillor Raj Kumar, who said police had also been invited.

While his own store had not been targeted, he said that for those who had, it was a frustrating experience.

Springfield Superette owner and Rotorua district councillor Raj Kumar. Photo / Andrew Warner

"It's just a severe fear ... Mental well-being is being challenged."

Kumar said store owners were left with boarded-up windows and doors while they waited for replacement glass, which made it look like they were not open for business.

"It's a feeling of helplessness."

Joining them and other local dairy and wholesale owners at the meeting will be Rotorua Lakes Council representatives and local Labour list MP Tāmati Coffey.

The meeting aimed to provide advice and guidance to store owners on who they can contact for help if their store had been targeted, as well as ask Coffey what the Government was doing to address the matter.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously said the crimes were becoming "atrocious" and "totally brazen".

Kumar said part of the struggle was that insurance premiums were going up and preventive measures store-owners and their landlords tried, such as placing plant boxes and bollards, needed to pass council rules.

"There are a lot of things we want to ask."