Tēnā koutou katoa Greetings to you all
Until the recent spike of break-ins, crime in the Tararua District was tracking down 10 per cent to February this year.
Council facilities have suffered too, with vandalism in many of our toilet facilities. Crime costs us all, especially concerns about our safety. It is important all crime is reported to the Police who investigate and link any common factors. We are currently fully staffed in the Tararua District and our crime resolution rate is higher than many other areas.
We can all make our place safer by ensuring vehicles and buildings are locked deterring the opportunistic thieves. Our towns have a large number of CCTV cameras which are used and valued by the Police.
The Police also deal with accidents and enforcing the law on our roads. A quarter of our road accidents are alcohol related and an increase in the district booze bus presence in the Tararua District has been requested. Other high factors in our accident statistics are road factors, poor handling and speed. The Government’s Road to Zero campaign aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries.
Family harm remains our number one issue for the Police and our communities. Sadly, this consumes the majority of policing time in each of our five stations in Tararua.
During the White Ribbon Campaign, councillors, staff and myself took the pledge to never commit, excuse or stay silent about sexual harassment, sexual assault or domestic violence against others. We must work together to lower some of our statistics to really make a difference.
We do have many statistics and trends that are great. Our GDP remains stronger that the rest of NZ and our jobseeker numbers are continuing to fall. Our businesses are struggling to get staff. At Council we have been able to attract some highly skilled staff who have re-located here as people look to find some life/work balance.
Newcomers speak highly of everything we have to offer in our facilities and our friendly and welcoming communities. Proudly 85 per cent of our staff live in the Tararua District.
Our phone lines are open 24/7. The team are on hand when things go wrong and we appreciate residents letting us know of problems. We are happy to receive information in writing, by phone, email or through our website. Our team appreciate courteous callers, as it makes it so much easier to deal with complaints and queries effectively. On the occasions teams at council receive words of appreciation from the community, it makes a difference to everyone’s day. Our staff work hard to deliver the best outcomes for our community every day and we appreciate their passion and commitment to the well-being of the Tararua District.
We also would like to know when get things right, as your feedback and words of appreciation inspire our staff to deliver their best. Noho ora mai.
Tracey Collis - Mayor