21 October 2013

Offenders Help Out With Whanganui Flood Clean Up

Community Probation in Whanganui has assisted the District Council in cleaning up the city following last week’s flood. Community work parties have been cleaning the city’s riverside boardwalk and surrounding areas so the city can return to normal as soon as possible.

David Francis, Whanganui Service Centre Manager, said involving community work parties in the clean up operation was a good example of Corrections working in partnership with the local community.

“We offered the assistance of two work parties every day to the District Council for as long as it took to help get our beautiful city back on its feet, and they gratefully accepted. We know how important the boardwalk is for visitors, as well as for traders and people who come to the riverside market every Saturday,” he said.

The boardwalk and surrounding area was covered in up to 30 centimetres of silt and debris in places which could only be removed by hand as machinery would only further damage the area.

“Given the damage caused by the floodwaters, the District Council did not think the area would be cleared in time for Saturday’s market. We surprised them by having more than 80 per cent of the clean up done on Thursday with the remaining done on Friday, allowing the market to go ahead as planned on Saturday.

“The offenders in the work parties saw the clean up as an opportunity to give something back to people of Whanganui.”

The community work parties have also been assisting local businesses with their clean up. Other projects the work parties are involved in locally include maintenance of Titoki Reserve and Castlecliff Beach, as well as lawn mowing and general maintenance of local parks at the request of the Council.

District Council Parks Officer Dave Kerwin was thankful of the assistance provided by Corrections.

“We really appreciate the help Community Probation provided in the clean up efforts. The community work parties did an excellent job. Without their help, we may not have had our regular market on Saturday.”

Community Probation manages offenders to hold them to account to comply with their sentences and orders, reduce their likelihood of re-offending and minimise their risk to others.

Corrections is committed to reducing re-offending by 25 per cent by 2017. The sentence of Community Work requires offenders to do unpaid work in the community for non-profit organisations as a way of making up for their offending.

ENDS

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