Christchurch bylaw aimed at youths may breach Bill of Rights

A bylaw could be in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Photo / 123rf

By Bridget Rutherford

A bylaw to curb anti-social behaviour at a Christchurch bus lounge would provide little benefit, and could be in breach of the Bill of Rights, a city council report says.

Local police and the board asked staff to investigate introducing the bylaw to try and prevent youths from loitering near the bus lounge and Division St in Riccarton.

The report on whether the anti-loitering bylaw idea had merit has been prepared for the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board to consider at its meeting on Tuesday.

It said a bylaw would not be appropriate to address the issues, wouldn't offer any advantages over existing enforcement tools, and would likely be costly.

It also said a bylaw could be in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, because it would regulate the movement of people, or their access to public places.

"Case law suggests the council could potentially be exposed to a legal challenge as a result," it said.

Since opening in 2015, the lounge had been a hot-spot for trouble-causing youths.

Nearby businesses have had enough of them loitering and intimidating their customers.

The report said a bylaw would not enable police to issue instant fines, so it provided little advantage over the tools they already had.

City council staff were also looking at whether the Trespass Act could be used to address the issue.

But the report said it should only be used in "sufficiently serious circumstances" and could just push the problem elsewhere.

Then, any breach of a trespass notice would result in a prosecution in the district or youth courts.

The board will consider the report, and what to do with the information at next week's meeting.

A working group, made up of city council staff, Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board members, and representatives from nearby businesses and Westfield Riccarton, has been formed to come up with ways to deal with the loitering issue.

It was looking into other options, including turning off the free Wi-Fi at the bus lounge, and installing security cameras.