New Safety Committee Formed for Manukau

Manukau City Council has formed its new community safety committee with Clevedon Councillor Barry Keon as chairman.

Cr Keon says that the committee's objective is to provide high level oversight for crime prevention and community safety issues in Manukau. "We want Manukau's people feeling safe and being safe. We want Manukau to be the safe city."

The committee will take oversight of crime prevention, community safety, Police-related, justice and corrections issues, graffiti, road safety, emergency management, environmental safety (safety audits, CCTV, dog control etc), health safety (i.e. alcohol, prostitution, gambling, injury prevention etc), youth safety (i.e. child poverty action plan, truancy etc).

When the decision to establish the new committee was announced earlier this month, Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said that the committee was needed because crime and public safety is the number one concern of Manukau residents.

Cr Keon says that one of the first, and one of the most significant, items of business is the consideration and adoption of the Council's first community safety and crime prevention action plan.

"I am extremely pleased that this committee has come about," he says. "It will provide a focus for better co-ordinating the activities we already carry out, and highlight and prioritise any new issues or initiatives.

"The adoption and monitoring of the new community safety plan will be an important role for us in achieving better safety outcomes for our communities into the future. "I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues, council officers and representatives of key government and community agencies in making Manukau a safer place to live, work and play," says Cr Keon.

Members of the community safety committee represent all Manukau wards and are councillors Alan McIntyre (Howick), Arthur Solomon (Mangere), Colleen Brown (Manurewa), Neil Morrison (Pakuranga), Ian McGechie (Papatoetoe), and Sua William Sio (Otara). Cr Keon represents the Clevedon ward.

The committee's first meeting is at 9.30am on Wednesday 10 December and thereafter on the first Thursday of each month, 9.30am. (Note, there are no committee or council meetings in January 2004). Meetings are open to the public and agendas are available on council's website www.manukau.govt.nz

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