Christchurch streets plagued by social ills
Awide spectrum of social ills playing out on Christchurch’s streets have converged in the past week’s news.
Street prostitution, street beggars and the ‘‘crews’’ of trouble-making youths bedevilling Riccarton’s Division St have all been grabbing headlines.
Today the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board will consider the recommendation of a targeted anti-loitering bylaw to cover the Riccarton shopping area.
Ever since the establishment of the Riccarton Metro bus lounge, the Division St area has been plagued by anti-social activity, an upswing in violence, begging and drug-dealing.
Despite police upping their patrols, shoppers and retailers understandably feel menaced by the constant assembly of wannabe-gangster yobs, with their silly colours and bandanas.
Interestingly, it is the police that touted an anti-loitering bylaw as a useful legal remedy, giving authorities greater legal powers to confront the miscreants and move them on.
Such a ban would fall under the purview of the city council’s Public Places Bylaw provisions, which aren’t scheduled to go out to public consultation until next year.
As a point of comparison, many councils have adopted anti-loitering measures in their respective Public Places Bylaws. As an example, the Auckland Council’s Public Safety; Nuisance Bylaw, which came into force three years ago, was designed to tackle a variety of public nuisances, including car-window washers, begging and the use of mind-altering substances in public places.
Auckland Council says its bylaw is like an early-intervention tool, which now enables compliance officers and the police to deal with a range of antisocial or nuisance behaviour at a level that is below the need to involve arrest, prosecution – let alone a criminal conviction.
Dovetailing with the Riccarton shemozzles is the continual saga of street prostitution that continues to plague, pollute and terrorise the residents of Manchester St north.
In a classic case of ‘‘good for the goose, good for the gander’’, many people are wondering why an anti-loitering bylaw isn’t being sized up for this beleaguered neighbourhood.
Over the years, the city council has repeatedly claimed it is powerless to prohibit street hookers from plying their wares in residential neighbourhoods.
Thirteen years ago, New Zealand’s world-leading Prostitution Reform Act pledged to ‘‘clean up the industry and make it safe’’.
Former Christchurch Central MP Tim Barnett was the architect of the law reform.
But how can street sex ever really be clean or safe, given its inherent dangers?
Unlike the licensed brothels and owner-operated suburban businesses, the street trade represents the seediest, drugriddled and deadliest arm of the industry – as Christchurch knows only too well.
Two years ago, Parliament considered a legislative amendment that would have formally empowered councils to regulate the street trade.
National voted against the amendment arguing that local councils already had that regulatory power.
So why has the Christchurch City Council never put it to the test?
Why won’t the council fully enforce its commercial trading bylaws that regulate, restrict and prohibit commercial activity in public places and residential neighbourhoods?
The council continues to claim that it’s just too difficult to prove that commercial activity is actually taking place in Manchester St.
I’m sorry, but no one can seriously swallow that. Test it in court.
Ironically, it’s the man aspiring to be Labour’s next Christchurch Central MP, Duncan Webb, who is taking the council to task over its hopelessly hands-off stance.
Frankly, the besieged residents should shovel up all of the used condoms, needles and other unmentionables from their gardens and dump them inside the city council’s main entrance, every week, until they take action.
While an anti-loitering bylaw should arguably be applied to the opportunist street beggars in the central city as well, Collective for the Homeless coordinator Brenda Lowe-Johnson’s bid to secure $75,000 to develop a day centre for homeless men deserves support.
I’ve studied her proposal and I back it. The funding would cover two years’ rent and the day centre would be alcohol and drug-free.
If we’re serious about helping people who genuinely want to confront their demons and transform their lives, the Government needs to come to the party in this month’s Budget with substantial increases in funding for specialist mental-health services and for addiction treatment providers with a proven track record in delivering lifechanging success.
Ironically, it's the man aspiring to be Labour's next Christchurch Central MP, Duncan Webb, who is taking the council to task over its hopelessly hands-off stance. Mike Yardley