Vexed about vandalism

Posted on 8 February 2007

Article from The Wellingtonian,  Feb 7th 2007.

AN ESCALATION in the severity and frequency of vandalism at Aro Valley's community facilities is threatening the safety of people who use them.
On January 13, beer bottles were thrown through windows of the Aro Valley Community Centre, and the nearby pre-school. Five windows were broken, leaving shards of glass scattered throughout both facilities. Eight days later the valley's Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) had its paperwork set alight. Its computer was also set alight.

DAMAGE CONTROL - Lambton Ward councillor Ian McKinnon (right) and community coordinator Emma Chinnock want to see a stop to the vandalism at the centre.

Only two days passed before the community hall's windows were again bombarded with beer bottles. The school holiday programme based at the venue had to be relocated while the broken glass was removed and the windows repaired. The following day the community centre and the CAB building (which sit close together on land next to Aro Park) were plastered with crude, abusive graffiti. A woman at the nearby shopping area has also been threatened, while CAB staff have been subjected to threatening behaviour and gestures.

The CAB, which is used by more than 4000 people each year and is staffed by 20 volunteers under the direction of a coordinator, was also targeted last year. Two separate incidents saw computers and petty cash stolen, and filing cabinets and files damaged. The incidents have been reported to Wellington City Council and the police, and increased monitoring is now in place. Lambton Ward city councillor Ian McKinnon says those responsible are unwelcome in Aro Valley. "Possibly they are so self-indulgent they don't realise that their actions are not against organisations but against the people of the community that the organisations serve," he says. Apart from the cost of repairs, Mr McKinnon says the acts of vandalism and offensive behaviour are "unsettling" for staff.
"A bottle flying through the window at night, graffiti on the walls ... has staff wondering what else might happen and when? Understandably staff members, who include a number of volunteers, could well begin to wonder about their safety."

Aro Valley Community Council co-chairperson Roland Sapsford says security has been tightened at the community centre, which caters for several thousand people each year. "[We] need to keep the facilities open while making sure that everybody who is using them - users and staff - are safe.