Free wi-fi turned off to deter ‘intimidating youths’ at library
The Gore District Council has turned off the free wi-fi at the Mataura Public Library in the hope it will deter youths from ‘’causing a ruckus’’ at the building, mayor Ben Bell says.
But at this stage there were no plans to blast the easy-listening hits of Barry Manilow to send the youths packing – a tactic that had been deployed in other areas where young people were causing problems.
The council had reduced the opening hours of the library after antisocial behaviour from a group of youths, believed to be aged between 12 and 19, intimidated the sole-charge librarian and some customers visiting the building.
Bell said the youths were going into the library in large groups and “causing trouble’’.
“I understand they’ve been pretty intimidating, especially if you’re there on your own,’’ he said.
“We’ve had emails from members of the public that say we need to go to the parents, or that they have solutions, but this is a social situation, it’s just not that simple.’’
An emergency meeting to address the issues was attended by the council, police and the Hokonui Rununga last week.
On Thursday, Bell said turning off the wi-fi, which the youths could use outside the building, and removing some seating was a ‘’band-aid solution’’ to the problem.
“Our primary concern is looking after the building and ensuring our staff and the public using the building are safe. There are social agencies involved who are working on the bigger picture.’’
Sergeant Eric Browne of Gore police said one outcome of the meeting was that there would be an increased police presence in the library area.
“Hopefully we can make staff and the public feel safer,’’ Browne said.
There had been ongoing problems with youth in Mataura but police had only received three reports of problems in the library area since 2002.
“It’s important that people report things when they happen so that we can address them and they don’t escalate into bigger issues like we have now,’’ Browne said.
Last month the council’s interim chief executive Stephen Parry said there had been issues with antisocial behaviour by young people for some months.
He said the antisocial behaviour happened when teenagers who were not in school arrived to wait for school buses to drop off their friends, and then everyone loitered around the area and in the building.
Gore District Council library manager Emma Sherie reduced opening hours on March 25.
“Obviously that is not ideal. We want libraries to be places where people can hang out and connect. But we also want those people to feel welcome and safe when they do,’’ she said.
“It was a really productive meeting with some really good outcomes. What quickly became clear is that there are many layers to this issue that can’t be solved with one single solution.
“It is a community issue, and one which I’m delighted to say an entire community has put its hands up to solve.”
Bell said there were no plans to follow the actions of Christchurch’s Central City Business Association, which investigated playing the music of Barry Manilow to control intimidating youths in central Christchurch in 2009.
“The library is used by a lot of people who are not youths and we do not want to detract from its use,’’ he said with a laugh.