Auckland Council’s Regulatory and Safety Committee has endorsed a comprehensive safety plan for the city centre, enabled by $4 million in funding recently committed by the City Centre Targeted Rate over the next two financial years.
This comes as the most recently available public Police data (April - June 2024) shows that incidents of theft and burglary in the city centre have decreased by 34 per cent from the same period in 2023 and have nearly halved since peaking in January 2023.
Chair of the Regulatory and Safety Committee, Cr Josephine Bartley, says the City Centre Community Safety Action Plan has been a collaborative effort by many agencies working together to make the city a safe and welcoming place.
“Safety isn’t something that any one organisation can own alone, but the council has listened to feedback from the community and is taking it seriously,” she says.
“By working with partner agencies like Police, outreach providers, and resident and business groups on this plan and its initiatives, we’ve been able to focus our collective efforts on actions that are already making a real difference.”
Many activities within the plan are already funded and underway, including increased patrols by compliance wardens and officers, CCTV operations and investment in community outreach providers and programmes.
Mayor Brown says while crime is no longer on the increase in the city centre, the implementation of the safety plan is a must to see the trend continue.
"We are working on a solid common ground approach here because we have already built relationships with multiple agencies: Community Patrols NZ, Māori Wardens, and NGOs many of whom are volunteers, alongside Auckland Transport’s enforcement officers and council’s City Watch team and police. This plan adds to that and formalises a path forward."
He says as part of the plan, his office, police, and the Minister’s office have also pulled together to combat crime.
“This has been the main point of interest of late between Minister Mitchell and I. I don’t believe local government has ever worked this closely with businesses, police, and central government before."
Eke Panuku’s Priority Location Director - City Centre, Simon Oddie, says making people feel safe here is as important to the future of the city as development.
“We’ve thankfully turned a corner on safety in the city centre recently and that’s due to all the key players working together to maximise our efforts. The city centre has so much to offer, and I would encourage anyone who may be put off by concerns around safety to come and experience it for themselves,” he says.
Along with a focus on enhanced safety and security, the plan identifies improved social and wellbeing outcomes for rough sleepers and vulnerable communities as a key objective. This includes a focus on early intervention by compliance officers and wardens, who have helped to assist 36 rough sleepers from the city centre into accommodation this year through referrals to social housing agencies.
