Pakuranga / Bucklands Beach Neighbourhood Support
The Neighbourhood Support network has its roots way back in 1979 when Neighbourhood Watch was introduced by the New Zealand Police as a crime prevention initiative. Back then the focus was on the prevention of household burglary and motor vehicle theft. Over thirty years later Neighbourhood Watch has developed into the Neighbourhood Support network and includes three primary areas of focus: knowing and caring about your neighbours, crime prevention and assisting with managing civil defence disasters. In the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes, recent tsunami warnings, TORNADOS and winter floods, civil defence emergency preparations have becoming increasingly important. However, all three aspects of Neighbourhood Support are essential, intertwined and supportive of each other.
The Pakuranga/Bucklands Beach Neighbourhood Support Group is in the process of being revitalised. The group has three new committee members excited about inspiring others to know their neighbours and to build community networks so people feel a sense of belonging, caring and safety within their community. The new committee members are Ayleen de Vilder, President, who has a background in administration and teaching. Val Steven, Secretary, is a real estate salesperson and has a background in business administration. Rosemary Lyons, Treasurer, is also a real estate salesperson and has a background is clinical psychology.
The Committee recently spent a Saturday morning working on developing a strategic plan that would address issues of how to ensure the establishment of localised street groups, effective communication with support services, effective use of local resources, identifying the requirements of the community, empowering communities to respond effectively to their needs while building relationships between local communities and local authorities.
An important outcome of the strategic planning meeting was the need to revitalise local area groups and strengthen the relationships between local area groups and the Area Committee. Consequently, the committee has begun this revitalising and rebuilding process by having local area meetings with guest speakers relevant to the community’s needs.
