Feeling safe in the city

by Rosemary Roberts | Wednesday, December 2, 2009 18:00

REVITALISED: David Moss, chair of a committee which has come up with a new co-operative surveillance strategy for the CBD, wants everyone to feel safe in the city.

A new co-operative 24-hour call centre aims to reinforce business and shopper confidence in the Whangarei CBD.

The call centre is the first part of six-pronged plan City Safe - bringing businesspeople together to work on creating a lively, safe inner city environment. The strategy includes revitalising the CBD by co-ordinating shopping hours, lobbying for more parking and and combining promotions and events.

Northland Chamber of Commerce board member David Moss, who led the organising group, says the call centre means inner city retailers can be "the eyes and ears of the CBD".

He said City Safe was not a reaction to crime, but a vehicle enabling inner city retailers to take an active role in curbing unsociable or unruly behaviour.

Businesspeople could dial 0800 258 258 at any hour to report anything worrying. The calls would be prioritised at the centre into one of four categories - crime in progress, potential crime, an event requiring remedial or by-law action, and information only.

The service is the brainchild of the Whangarei District Council, the Northland Chamber of Commerce and the Whangarei police, and is an add-on to an existing 24-hour noise control service provided by WDC contractor Environmental Northland. The company has donated its time and resources to assist with this part of the project.

The NCC was the catalyst for action, feeling it needed to focus more strongly on the needs and potential of the Whangarei CBD. The call centre initiative was announced at a meeting earlier this week.

David Moss said: "Stagnation is probably too harsh a word but we could all see the CBD wasn't moving forward.".

A sample survey had also shown that retailers were concerned about a range of issues, from minor to occasionally more serious.

"It isn't the big stuff, it's the little stuff but it's the sort of thing which can intimidate people and put them off doing what we all want them to do, having a good time in the CBD," he said.

"We want to make the city centre a more inviting and vibrant place ... a really nice functional place for people to be in."