Teenagers cause bus lounge turmoil

Large groups of teenagers are intimidating people, causing fights and hurting businesses near Christchurch’s new Riccarton Rd bus lounge.

The city council has beefed up security at the depot, but shop owners say this has only moved the problem into the street.

One Division St business owner fears getting his sign from the street. Another says he has ‘‘zero revenue’’ after 3pm, when the teens – gathering in groups of 30 to 60 – arrive.

Police and a city councillor acknowledge the problem has arisen since the bus lounge opened on December 14.

Copy Print owner Selwyn Bradley said up to 60 teenagers could loiter in Division St during the afternoon.

The new bus lounge facilities attracted them to the area, he said. Since the council employed security guards for the building, they had spilled on to the street.

He and other business owners said they had warned the council of such problems at various meetings, but their pleas were ignored.

‘‘It’s a major detraction for customers now to come into the street in the afternoon.

‘‘Everyone’s talking about intimidation, even I’m intimidated to walk down the street to get my sign. As I walk past the shop, the smell of dope [marijuana] would almost knock you over.’’

Another business owner, who did not want to be named because of fear of retribution, said the teenagers had urinated in his car park, blocked cars from entering and ripped out trees.

‘‘We’ve looked at our revenue . . . and literally every afternoon we are dead now.’’

Police arrested three teenagers for fighting on January 13 and a young woman allegedly assaulted another girl on Wednesday.

Senior Constable Ken Carter said many of the teens were on school holidays.

‘‘The way [the youths] are interacting between themselves and their behaviour can be intimidating,’’ he said.

‘‘Some of them are picked up by their parents and dumped in that area at 8.30am in the morning and are told to find [their] way home at night. Where’s the parental responsibility?’’

A council spokeswoman said the council has increased its security at the lounge.

As of Friday, there was one security guard on duty from noon to 9pm (closing time) and a second guard from 4pm to 9pm. There were eight internal and external video security cameras, she said.

Riccarton-Wigram ward Christchurch city councillor Vicki Buck said it was important the issue was dealt with quickly.

‘‘It’s really important that we take these measures so the place does not get a reputation for being unsafe, because it’s really attractive in there and a lot of people are using it.’’