Honeycomb Hair and Beauty owner Sarah Pearson was shocked to learn security has been scaled back in the central city. Photo / Andrew Warner
Honeycomb Hair and Beauty owner Sarah Pearson was shocked to learn security has been scaled back in the central city. Photo / Andrew Warner
Some retailers say they no longer feel safe after security patrols in Rotorua's central city were axed.
Security patrols were cut from October 13 as a result of a big drop in central city crime and the three City Safe Guardians now work as city "ambassadors" instead of solely focusedon security.
The patrols were costing ratepayers thousands of dollars: the security officers alone cost $28,000 a month during the peak summer period.
However, their absence is unnerving for some retailers who say they were their first port of call when they didn't feel comfortable calling 111.
In response, the council says the guardians will still provide information to the police to help with safety.
Honeycomb Hair and Beauty on Tutanekai St owner Sarah Pearson said she would get daily help from the council-employed security officers.
"I just can't believe it's been removed. No one can believe it and we can't understand why we weren't consulted.
Honeycomb Hair and Beauty owner Sarah Pearson was shocked to learn security has been scaled back in the central city. Photo / Andrew Warner
"I'm not on edge as such but I'm just aware that if anything kicks off, I will need to go put on my yellow jacket and sort it out myself. The police are too busy."
She said the sorts of issues she would get help for included people drinking alcohol on the streets and acting drugged out. More recently they helped move on a woman lying on the footpath shouting at people.
She said such behaviour was not a good look but not necessarily something to dial 111 for.
"It was just peace of mind knowing they were there. I'm concerned with summer coming and half the bl***y businesses are closed down, we want to encourage people into town. I think the council spend too much money on tulips, I'd rather have security."
Long-term central Rotorua retail worker Wendy Oliver said she had stopped using the Pukuatua St carpark building since security patrols stopped because of the people who hung around it.
"They were the only ones who made us feel safe, particularly in the winter before and after work when we walk to our cars."
Oliver said the City Safe Guardians and security workers knew the common perpetrators.
"If we had a shoplifter you could show them a photo and they knew who they were straight away, they were helpful and knew everything and were always the first port of call. If you're on your own in retail, you can't stand there on the phone for 20 minutes talking to police. With the City Guardians you got action straight away."
Oliver said they had their mobile phone numbers handy and if they couldn't come straight away, the patrollers would ring the staff monitoring the city's security cameras who would keep an eye on where offenders were.
"We have quite intimidating people out here all the time, they go from the court to the Credit Union to Winz, that's their route. They are spitting, drinking, swearing, on synthetics, you name it. It's building up again and they know they're not being watched."
Christina Ranga from Backdoor. Photo / File
Backdoor manager Christina Ranga said she found the security patrols very helpful.
"We don't have time to call police to be honest. Whenever they came in the store for a chat, you'd find those who were being shady would leave."
Linda Bell from Bossy B Clothing on Eruera St wasn't aware the patrols had stopped but described it as "dumb". She had called on their help about three times in the past.
"That is just crazy. It's the worst thing they can do. Look at all the homeless people we get. We had one sleeping in our doorway a couple of days ago. How are we supposed to move them on in the right way?"
The Salon on Hinemoa St owner Beverley Wheeler said it was "absolutely terrible".
"Rotorua has become a dumping ground for the waifs and strays. We all know what's happening on Fenton St now."
Wheeler said two days ago a young woman outside their front window appeared to be on drugs. She wasn't making a nuisance of herself but Wheeler said it wasn't a good look.
"I'm just so frustrated with Rotorua. We should be the Queenstown of the North Island."
But not all retailers are unhappy. Pollards Mens Apparel on Tutanekai St owner Ryan Pollard said before lockdown people loitered around the outside of store and made a "nuisance" of themselves.
He said there had been a noticeable drop-off of that behaviour since the Night Shelter on Pukuatua St closed and the homeless were moved into emergency housing motels.
Simply Different owner Alan Sampson said things in the central city had definitely got better, but it was early days.
"You'd think they would have waited [to stop security patrols] until after the Christmas holidays."
The council announced at the start of this month the security contracts would wind down and the three Safety City Guardians would be repurposed to be a "one-stop-shop ambassadorial role" as a result of a 49 per cent drop in CBD incidents compared with the three months prior.
The council said in November last year security patrols in the central city cost ratepayers $28,000 a month.
It told the Rotorua Daily Post this month contracted security patrols with VR Security and Watchdog Security cost $409,000 to the financial year ending March 2020.
The cost of the guardians' contribution to the patrols was approximately $50,500 for the same period, based on an estimate of what percentage of their time was allocated to the patrols.
Council operations general manager Jocelyn Mikaere said the guardians would now work as a roving link between the council, central city businesses and visitors to help understand community needs and interact with the council.
She said they would be a presence in the central city to help collect and distribute information, safety, parking, inner-city news, city maintenance needs and surveys.
Mikaere said although the primary focus had shifted, the guardians would still provide information to the police to help with safety.
"As always, we retain the flexibility to further review and adapt the role of the guardians to meet community needs," she said.
She said guardians and staff monitoring the inner city CCTV network would keep feeding information to the police.
Mikaere said guardians had recently visited businesses in the CBD to discuss the change and conduct a survey, which would help them better understand how they could support the business community. She said the visits were ongoing, and they aimed to have contacted everyone over the next few weeks.
Inspector Phil Taikato. Photo / File
Rotorua police acting area commander Inspector Phil Taikato said the council had to optimise its resources and since the security patrols had stopped, the police had increased their patrols.
