Community Outcome - Porirua is A Safe City
This page describes the Community Outcome - Porirua is a Safe City.
Porirua is a safe city - "A safe place to live, work, shop, learn, play and visit."
We are working collaboratively to be safe and prepared for emergencies. We work together to reduce and prevent accidents and injuries. People feel safe living and working in Porirua, in the city, our neighbourhoods and on our roads. Crime is reduced and our Community Safety Strategy is fully implemented. Households are prepared for emergencies; communities are able to look after each other and civil defence plans are ready for activation.
Council works in many different ways to help keep Porirua safe. It provides support to the Porirua Healthy Safer City Trust to coordinate crime prevention and community safety activities in the city. The Safer Porirua Group (of which Council is a member) has oversight of the Porirua City Safety Strategy. There is also Police participation at the Porirua Strategic Coordination Group, a forum hosted and chaired by Council, where government departments provide updates on local activities. For example, in November 2011 the Police provided information on the establishment of a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) in Cannons Creek.
Other Examples of ways Council assists in keeping Porirua safe include: provision of sound infrastructure (waste management, roading etc), litter and graffiti removal (improving perceptions of safety), good urban design, regulatory services (building, liquor, parking etc), road safety education and emergency preparedness.
There are many projects and activities that contribute to making Porirua a safe city. Four examples are:
(1) Porirua: Safe As! Community Safety Strategy
"Porirua: Safe As!" is an interagency city safety strategy. It shows that we are working together effectively to make Porirua a safer place. The four priority areas are injury prevention, crime prevention, road safety and emergency management. The strategy aims to reduce the number of people who are victims of crime or injury by targeting interventions in those places where offending or accidents are likely to occur.
Partners include Housing NZ Corporation, NZ Police, Regional Public Health, Accident Compensation Corporation, Porirua City Council, Porirua Healthy Safer City Trust, Porirua Chamber of Commerce, Water Safety NZ and Capital and Coast District Health Board.
A comprehensive Porirua: Safe As! application was submitted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for safe city status. Our application was approved in 2008 and Porirua has achieved safe city accreditation. We will need to reapply for accreditation in 2013.
Porirua City Council has updated the Porirua: Safe As! Community Safety Strategy for 2010-2019.
(2) Porirua Healthy Safer City Trust
Porirua Healthy Safer City Trust works with others in the area of community safety and is one of the key partners in the "Porirua: Safer As!" strategy. Activities of the Trust range from research (e.g. local community safety surveys and street audits), community network meetings, support for violence prevention activities and activities to minimise alcohol and drug related harm.
The Trust provides an important role as umbrella group for a number of community organisations whose work contributes to making Porirua safer or healthier. Examples include the Porirua Community Guardians (volunteer street patrollers) and the Waitangirua Action Group (graffiti elimination).
(3) Resilient Communities (Emergency Preparedness)
Everyone needs to be prepared for an emergency and in Porirua City the Council's Porirua Emergency Management Office (PEMO) has taken an innovative approach to educating families on the importance of households being prepared should an emergency happen. PEMO, with Partners Porirua, has been working with local schools to engage students in the 'Are we ready at home?' project.
PEMO uses "What's the plan Stan?", a national Civil Defence (CD) initiative for students and schools. It is a teaching resource that is ready for teachers to deliver. PEMO staff work with the teachers and students to deliver the basic principles of emergency preparedness. This is done in the classroom with practical talks and demonstrations. The students prepare a Household Emergency Management Plan for their families. The enthusiasm of children acts as a catalyst for change and motivates the adults around them to get ready for an emergency.
In some cases, the class has lived outside for a day in a temporary shelter built by the students. Other activities have included water and sanitation awareness, first aid skills and using radios.
Additionally, Porirua City Council is working with some schools about their role as Civil Defence Centres. These centres provide a point of communication to and from the city's Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) radio operations and sites for the location of bulk self sustaining water supply. PEMO is also working with residents and other community groups to ensure that emerging CD volunteers are trained to operate the Civil Defence Centres.
Are we ready at home? is one of seven projects in the Families Commission and Local Government NZ Family-Centred Communities (FCC) Initiative. FCC is about putting families at the front of Council thinking and decision making.
(4) Porirua Courts and Community Project
In early 2009 Porirua District Court Judges Jan Kelly and John Walker initiated some changes to improve the way the court operates in the Porirua community. Through face to face visits with local community agencies, community meetings and an Open Day, they are building a local community justice network that can better respond to the social issues that cause people to offend. Inspired by community justice centres overseas the Porirua Court and Community Project uses a problem solving approach to dealing with offending.
Key principles include:
- Improving community understanding of the Court and court processes.
- Community participation.
- Co-location of services.
- Consistency of Judges.
- Making justice (sentencing) relevant to the community
For more information on community justice centres that have been successfully developed overseas:
Many organisations, sectors, groups and forums contribute to making Porirua a safe city. Some of the lead agencies are:
Many strategies, surveys, programmes, charters and agreements contribute to making Porirua a safe city. Examples of local, regional and national documents of relevance include:
Click to return to the Community Outcomes home page, or go forward to Community Outcome - Porirua is Sustainably Designed and Built.