Asenati Lole-Taylor
New Zealand First Spokesperson for:
Social Policy/Welfare
August 8, 2014

Streets No Longer Safe for Children to Travel

New Zealand First is concerned that more children in New Zealand are being dropped-off at school because parents believe children are no longer safe walking or cycling to school.

“Many parents believe their suburbs aren’t as safe as they used to be,” says Spokesperson for Social Policy/Welfare Asenati Lole-Taylor.

“The Ministry of Transport's latest household travel survey reveals children spend half as much time walking and cycling as they did 15 years ago, which has also contributed to New Zealand’s child obesity problem.

“Traffic and weather were factored into the survey, but the resounding message from members of the public is that the street simply is no longer a safe place to be.

“This is despite National’s ramblings about streets and communities being safer. Their artificial crime rates fail to accurately reflect the social problems facing our communities, and this data needs to be questioned.

“We must ensure the researchers and statisticians are asking the right questions. They need to be involved at a grassroots level if they want to know what is going on because there is already too much out-of-touch commentary coming from the National government.

“How can streets be safer when more than 1000 crimes are recorded every day in New Zealand? It just doesn’t make sense,” says Mrs Lole-Taylor.

ENDS

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