Friday 16 December 2016
Waurn Ponds:
Crimes rise as station closed By Luke Voogt Waurn Ponds crime has surged by 26 per cent in 12 months, according to data released by the state opposition yesterday (Thursday). Three months of reduced counter hours at Waurn Ponds Police Station had contributed to the rise, said South Barwon MP Andrew Katos. A resourcing shortfall was forcing the station to choose between counter services or conducting controls, he said. “It backs up what I’ve been saying about police numbers. Crime has risen because they haven’t got the adequate manpower to man this station.” Offences in the 3216 postcode rose to 3639 between October 2015 and September 2016, up from 2882 during the same time the previous year.
Convincing kids to eat healthy food is more than just lessons in nutrition for Ocean Grove mum Lana Purcell. Now a food coach with a growing business, Lana learnt the secrets of her craft when she took over a closed canteen at her children’s school. “We had to be clever and sneaky about it,” she tells Angie Hilton in Geelong Coast Kids magazine. “We knew we couldn’t go all out with green smoothies and chia pudding. “We had to make versions of what they were familiar with, using more-natural ingredients.” Read all about Lana’s family and coaching business in the latest edition of Geelong Coast Kids, available now to pick up free at hundreds of family and children’s venues around the region.
The station has trialled reducing counter hours in favour of more patrols. Police told the Indy last week that divisional command would decide in coming weeks whether to keep the arrangement indefinitely. But Waurn Ponds Senior Sergeant Angelo Ferrara said the latest crime rise was unrelated to the reduced hours. “The police station has always been and will remain a 24-hour police station,” he said. “We’re only talking about a reduction in hours for customer inquiries. By-in-large those inquiries are not urgent.” Sen Sgt Ferrara said the reduced counter times allowed 200 hours of two-person patrols during the three-month trial. Continued page 13
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