Safety promise revived but to little optimism
A Wellington City Council-led plan to address city safety is only now being reactivated but to a city with rising crime, a faltering economy, and many road cones.
Three years on from the the launch of the $7.7 million Pōneke Promise to address safety in the central city, police data shows yearon-year reported crime increases around the Golden Mile.
Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge said social issues were “not getting better”.
He confirmed the Pōneke Promise led by the Wellington City Council, police, and businesses to address safety in the central city, had been on a break for about a year while the council had “other priorities”. But now he said attention had turned back to it.
More people were now struggling amid a faltering economy with a homeless issue in the city driven by mental health challenges and addiction, Edridge said.
Now, a new government had come in with new ideas, such as tightening emergency housing requirements.
“I am anxious,” he said.
Many others representing those in the central city were downbeat.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said there was little current cause for optimism in the central city: “It is quite sad really.”
She said the “schmoozle“around Victoria and Wakefield streets as the council demolished one building and strengthened two others was also keeping people out of the central city. Then there were the road works around town and work on the remnants of the recently-ditched Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme.
“In terms of city centre issues, it’s certainly cyclical, but there does seem to be some specific challenges at the moment – particularly around certain areas.
“Mental health issues seem to be a common theme.”
Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul, who as a city councillor helped lead the charge for the Pōneke Promise to improve city safety, also worried about a “dead empty city” exacerbated by public service cuts: “The number one thing we can do to have a safe city is to have more people in the city.”
But she said the promise had always primarily been about sexual violence in the city, as well as general violence. Anecdotally, more people were concerned about sexual violence in the city, she said.
Paul said she feared the Pōneke Promise was being hijacked by “business concerns about homelessness”.
Last week a meeting was held to reactivate it, with police encouraging people to report crime more. New Green MP Geordie Rogers had already met groups about the Pōneke Promise, Paul said.
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson saw problems but also a silver lining to the dark cloud: “There's a sense that there are more people back.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said it was time to “reinvigorate” the promise, which was initiated before her time on council, because more was needed to make the city safer and friendlier and she was leading a “renewed focus” on the promise.
This included advocating for more central government support for social services such as mental health and addictions with the central government. To date, Pōneke Promise has put in place the Safer Venues Project, expanding Hāpai Ake street patrols and increased funding for Take 10, she said.