Mayor has ‘constructive talks’ with gang members

Gore district mayor Tracy Hicks has met with gang members and had ‘‘good constructive conversations with them’’.

Hicks met with gang members after the Gore District Council decided to try address the issue of methamphetamine in the community.

At a council meeting last night, Hicks told councillors the drug was quite prevalent in the community and there was a ‘‘real will’’ across agencies in the community to put their heads together.

‘‘There is the potential for us to do something quite special here, something a bit different to what other communities are doing.’’

Councillors were discussing a report from the council’s social capacity and health co-ordinator Bernadette Hunt, which says the increase in gang members at Mataura is a ‘‘co-ordinated, planned effort by the Mongrel Mob to grow its presence in the south’’.

The report suggests forming a community working group to implement initiatives to tackle the gang and drug problem.

But Hicks told the council the problem is not just a gang issue.

‘‘Certainly gangs will be part of any discussion.

‘‘The issue to focus on is what is the problem. All councillors will be aware of the consequences in the community now.’’

Senior sergeant Cynthia Fairley, of Gore police, said Mataura, where the Mongrel Mob was based, was no different to any other community in New Zealand that desires a safe community.

Drug use was across all demographics, she said.

‘‘We’ve got parents using it, solo mums dealing it because it’s profitable and they are vulnerable members of the community, and workers using it to keep on their high.

‘‘Organised crime is where drugs kick in. They’re highly profitable, highly addictive, people get hooked in to them real quick and they owe a lot of money real quick.’’

The report suggested forming a community working group to implement initiatives to tackle the drug and gang problem.

Fairley said a multi-agency collaboration was the only way to make headway against the problem.

‘‘It’s about early intervention. ‘‘We need to do more work around prevention rather than being reactive. We need to be at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance at the bottom of it.’’

She said neighbourhood support groups in the district needed a ‘‘refresher’’.

‘‘We need those eyes and ears. ‘‘There are definitely hot locations where we would benefit from having that.’’

Mataura Community Board chairman Allan Taylor said establishing a working group was about building a safer community right across the board.

‘‘I guess I’m a believer that it can’t just be left to the police force. As an elected member of our community, it’s our role to help.

‘‘If we sit on our hands we’re going to continue to have what we’ve already got.’’

Board member Greg Chaffey issued a caution, telling councillors that changing a behaviour or a culture takes 20 years.

Hunt told the meeting that some of the initiatives suggested in the report may not work in a small community and it would be up to the working party to decide what course of action to take.

‘‘I’d like to highlight that the report is called Community Resilience.

‘‘It’s not about targeting gangs. We’re not out to target or drive them out of town, we want to make this community a great place to live.’’

Councillors voted to establish the working group, and to spend $9200 to join ‘Safe in the South’, Southland’s Safe Communities programme, which encompasses Invercargill city and Southland district.

‘‘There is the potential for us to do something quite special here’’ Gore district mayor Tracy Hicks, pictured.