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Celebrating New Zealand connections
A group of Gurkha soldiers celebrated Kiwi connections in Ashburton yesterday.
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Focus on transport options BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Upping the transport options for late night bar patrons could have a big impact on reducing street violence, says Ashburton Mayor Angus McKay. He’s a member of a community group formed to find solutions to late night, inner town violence and while there will be no one answer, shifting people off the street as quickly as possible could go a long way to reducing the problem, he said. “We’re going to have further
discussions with transport providers at that hour of the night to see if a satisfactory solution can be arrived at so people don’t have to wait around for too long.” While there would always be people who wanted to stay on the street after the bars closed, by moving some, the potential for volatile situations was likely to be reduced, along with that the potential for law abiding patrons to become victims of violence, Mr McKay said. “There are other things we
will look at but we see this as key, it will assist to a greater degree.” A close circuit television expert had been asked to take a look at the network of cameras in the inner town to see how this could be improved. He will also talk with police, security firms and the council about what they see is needed in terms of surveillance. The community’s local alcohol plan (LAP) is still not operative and with appeals unlikely to be heard until later this year, Mr McKay said the chang-
es to trading hours for bars that are intended to reduce late night problems, would still be some way off. An earlier closing time and a one-way door policy from 1am are seen as key components in ensuring large numbers of patrons are not spilling onto the street at the same time. The community group meets monthly, but there has been plenty of discussion in the community around issues and options, he said. “Talking about the problems with the many people involved
has assisted greatly in our understanding of what each party is doing. It’s still not having the effect we want but it is moving in the right direction. I’m feeling confident with the progress we’re making.” The strong focus that was now on inner town violence was sending a clear message to people looking to create trouble, Mr McKay said. “People are starting to realise they are being watched and looked at and that people are working together on this.” Ph 03 307 7900 to subscribe!
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