Community Services Committee
– 14 June 2017 –
Open Minutes
Apologies
Nil
CONFLICTS
OF INTEREST
Nil
Public
forum
Zoe
Barnes – Napier Business Inc.
Ms
Barnes spoke about concerns that have been raised regarding increased amounts
of begging and undesirable behaviours in the vicinity of Clive Square and down
Emerson Street into the CBD. Over the last year concerns have moved from retail
loss limitation to fears for personal and business safety. It is believed that
there is a small core group for whom begging is a primary focus and which may
move between Hastings and Napier.
Brendan
Hutchinson – St John Ambulance
Mr
Hutchinson spoke about the concerns of St John Ambulance at the increased
numbers of call outs to Clive Square over the last few months to attend to
people for whom synthetic drug use is a problem. The ambulance resources are
stretched and there will ultimately be an impact on their ability to respond to
the wider public. He also noted that responding to these call outs is now a
Health and Safety issue for his staff, as many of the drug users can be
volatile and aggressive. St John is working with the Police to try and identify
solutions to the problem.
Nigel
Hurley and Grant Holder – New Zealand Police
Sgt
Hurley spoke about a gap between the Police mandate of addressing criminal
behaviours and of removing people from the streets, which is currently
unfilled. Of particular concern is a core group of men who are synthetic drug
users. The Police are using social media channels to encourage the public to
provide funding to organisations working with rough sleepers and those on the
streets as there is a concern that providing money directly to drug users only
contributes to their habit. The Police believe that there needs to be a
cross-sector approach as most of the people in question need to get well, as
opposed to being taken to court. It was hoped that “capable
guardians” might be established to help address the issues – people
who are willing and able to safely look after the community as well as those in
need by working with them to address some fundamental needs.
Dallas
Knight – business owner, Civic Square West
A
number of businesses in the Civic Square West are concerned about their
personal and business safety, and have completed a survey outlining their
particular issues. The outreach centre is believed to be a magnet for those
exhibiting undesirable and unpredictable behaviours, fighting, and drug use.
Those in the vicinity feel very threatened. It was requested that the resource
consent for the outreach centre be revoked.
Caroline
Lampp – WIT (Whatever it takes) Services
The
What It Takes (‘WIT’) Trust provides community mental health
support services. In the last 18 months WIT has been part of a cross sector
group including Police, Council and other government and community agencies to
respond to growing homelessness in Napier. Supported by the cross sector
group, WIT has been running the Outreach Service based from Clive Square to
work with rough sleepers. Ms Lampp remarked that every community is judged and
may ultimately be defined by how it treats its most vulnerable – the
homeless, rough sleepers and drug users of Napier are arguably some of its most
vulnerable people. Napier has a serious shortage of housing with some of the
worst statistics in New Zealand, which will inevitable result in a decline in
standards of living for many people. WIT is already working with other agencies
and church groups to provide the best services they can but resourcing and
funding are an issue. They have staff that are already working directly with
those synthetic drug addicts and others, and who could step into the roles of
‘capable guardians’ looked for by the Police. However they are
already stretched. The Outreach Service has been operating over the last 9
months, but is only able to open for parts of the day on Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays due to a lack of funding. There is scope for a lot more to be done
and WIT actively link in with as many other groups as are able and interested
in addressing the issues.
In
response to questions from Councillors the speakers clarified that:
·
It is not
always clear whether mental health or drug and alcohol use are the key problem;
often they are interwoven.
·
The civic
services (Police, Ambulance, WIT etc) are all supportive of a cross-agency
approach, recognising that the issue has many contributing factors.
·
There may
be an opportunity for Council to contribute with some form of multi-function
role that is focused on community safety. However the existing Community Patrol
would not be appropriate as many are older themselves.
·
Behaviour
has been noticeably disintegrating over the past few weeks which may be due to
a particularly bad batch of synthetic drugs having been supplied to the users.
·
Offences
are treated seriously by the Police but there is much that cannot be addressed
as it is not specifically criminal in nature or there is not enough evidential
support to make an arrest.
·
Synthetic
drugs are a particular problem in Napier, as opposed to other drugs. They make
the users very, very sick.
·
The
existing Bylaw is legal but has ‘no real teeth’, and could benefit
from a review.
·
Not all
homeless are beggars and not all beggars are homeless
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ACTION
The
Regulatory team to advise:
·
How the
Public Places Bylaw 2014 may be made more robust
·
Whether
warranting is in place/ required to enforce the Bylaw
·
Whether
any Council staff are currently warranted
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ACTION
Council
to investigate the concept of ‘capable guardians’ and any funding
options to help contribute towards work underway with this vulnerable section
of Napier’s community.
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Announcements
by the Mayor
The
Mayor confirmed that he and the Chief Executive are cognisant of the challenges
raised by the speakers of the Public Forum, and there is no easy answer and no
single answer to the issue. The matter will need a whole of society approach to
best address it.
The
recent trip to meet with major aquaria in the US as part of the National
Aquarium of New Zealand expansion project was extremely successful. Invaluable
connections were made with four aquaria very interested in sharing information
and building relationship.
Announcements
by the Chairperson
Nil
Announcements
by the Management
Recognition
was made of the recent passing of Rod Jarvis due to complications from a long
standing illness. A number of staff will be attending the funeral to pay their
respects.
Confirmation
of Minutes
|
That
the Minutes of the meeting head on 3 May 2017 were taken as a true and
accurate record of the meeting.
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Notification
and Justification of Matters of Extraordinary Business
(Strictly for information and/or referral purposes only).
1. Taradale Community Rooms Refurbishment
Proposal
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Type of Report:
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Operational
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Legal Reference:
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N/A
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Document ID:
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341015
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit:
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Natasha Carswell, Manager Community Strategies
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1.1 Purpose
of Report
To
seek Council’s approval to continue to use the Taradale Community Rooms,
once refurbished, to accommodate community groups, with the building to be used
as transitionary or permanent accommodation for the Napier Community Hub and to
investigate the potential for the rooms becoming a multi-use community centre
in the future.
|
At the Meeting
A significant amount of discussion was had on this item.
It was clarified that the decision to refurbish the Taradale Community Rooms
has already been made by Council and this report is specifically related to
their usage.
In response to questions from Councillors it was
clarified that:
·
Although typically
a refurbishment would be targeted towards the needs of a primary tenant, the
Rooms are in need of work now and it is hoped that the renovation will foster
greater interest in the space. The proposal is to create a flexible internal
space, which will be reconfigurable as required.
·
There has been
confirmation from four community groups that they are happy to move to the
Taradale space and remain there on a longer term basis. These are
non-customer facing businesses so the move would not have any negative
impacts on their service provision.
·
The Citizens
Advice Bureau would prefer to remain in the CBD so options would need to be
negotiated for this.
·
A better fit for
the tea Museum had been found at the Plunket Rooms; the proprietor Mr Hadfield
was very excited about this space.
It was generally agreed that Napier Community Hub tenants
should not be given priority to the Taradale Rooms as there may be other
organisations interested in the Taradale space for longer term occupancies.
However it was confirmed that an amendment to this end would not negatively
impact on community hub tenants as where there was significant interest in
moving to Taradale this could be provided for.
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Officer’s
Recommendation
That
Council
a. Approve
that the Taradale Community Rooms continue to accommodate the community
groups, with Napier Community Hub tenants given priority, and
b. Note
that further investigation will be undertaken to determine how the rooms
could be run as a multi-use community centre in the future.
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Committee's
Recommendation
Councillors Taylor /
Jeffery
That
Council
a. Approve
that the Taradale Community Rooms continue to accommodate the community
groups, and
b. Note
that further investigation will be undertaken to determine how the rooms
could be run as a multi-use community centre in the future.
CARRIED
|
The meeting closed at 3.59pm.
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APPROVED AND ADOPTED AS A TRUE AND
ACCURATE RECORD OF THE
MEETING
CHAIRPERSON:_____________________________
DATE
OF APPROVAL:____________________
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NAPIER
CITY COUNCIL