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Rotorua Safety Team Expands Patrols With E-Bikes
Rotorua’s Safe City Guardians are extending their reach with e-bike patrols.
The guardians work from the Rotorua Lakes Council Inner City Community Safety Hub in the CBD and for the last few weeks have added in e-bike patrols.
Safe City Guardians team leader Robert Severne said the bikes offered another tool for the team.
“Gives us more scope to go further out into extended areas.”
He said the team was trained to use them, went in pairs and were kitted with first aid packs.
Whether there was a bike patrol depended on staff numbers on a given day.
Severne said it helped staff log more issues, assisting the public with advice and observing damage, graffiti and discarded shopping trolleys.
“Making our area and extended area safer.”
The bikes had about a four-hour charge.
Council destination development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the council bought four e-bikes in 2018 for about $8700 (GST exclusive), which replaced a fleet car. This was part of its climate action initiatives.
The bikes were used regularly but it was determined two could go to the guardians.
Guardian patrols covered the CBD, Fenton Park, Glenholme, Victoria, Ōhinemutu and Sanitorium Reserve.
In general, the focus of the community safety plan remained on “collaborating with our partners, the police and Māori Wardens through the Inner City Community Safety Hub”, he said.
Patrols had recently been extended to include Ngongotahā and eastern hubs.
Gaston said work to expand its CCTV network was progressing and it was continuing to review policies and bylaws that “contribute to community safety and reduce harm”, such as its Local Alcohol Policy.
“Rotorua Police Area Commander Inspector Herby Ngawhika told the [council’s Community and District Development] Committee additional police anticipated locally in future would enable increased focus on community policing work.”
Police last year appointed a second CBD-based community constable.
Local Democracy Reporting
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
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