Southern View: June 27, 2017

SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Tuesday June 27 2017 5
Riccarton bus lounge
bylaw plan hits snag
• By Bridget Rutherford
A BYLAW to curb anti-social
behaviour at the Riccarton bus
lounge would provide little
benefit, and could be in breach
of the Bill of Rights, a city
council report says.
The report on whether the
anti-loitering bylaw idea had
merit has been prepared for the
Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
Community Board to consider
at its meeting this afternoon.
It said a bylaw would not be
appropriate to address the issues,
wouldn’t offer any advantages
over existing enforcement
tools, and would likely be costly.
It also said a bylaw could be in
breach of the Bill of Rights Act,
because it would regulate the
movement of people, or their
access to public places.
“Case law suggests the council
could potentially be exposed to
a legal challenge as a result,” it
said.
Local police and the board
asked staff to investigate
introducing the bylaw to try and
prevent youths from loitering
near the bus lounge and Division
St.
Since opening in 2015, the
lounge had been a hot-spot for
trouble-causing youths.
Nearby businesses have had
enough of them loitering and
intimidating their customers.
The report said a bylaw would
not enable police to issue instant
fines, so it provided little advantage
to the tools they already
had.
City council staff were also
looking at whether the Trespass
Act could be used to address the
issue.
But the report said it should
only be used in “sufficiently
serious circumstances” and
could just push the problem
elsewhere.
Then, any breach of a
trespass notice would result in
a prosecution in the district or
youth courts.
The board will consider the
report, and what to do with the
ISSUES: An antiloitering
bylaw
would be difficult
and costly to
implement, city
council staff say.
PHOTO:
GEOFF SLOAN
information at today’s meeting.
A working group, made up
of city council staff, Halswell-
Hornby-Riccarton Community
Board members, and representatives
from nearby businesses
and Westfield Riccarton, has
been formed to come up with
ways to deal with the loitering
issue.
It was looking into other options,
including turning off the
free Wi-Fi at the bus lounge,
and installing security cameras.
In Brief
NEW PLAY EQUIPMENT
A new swing and slide will be
installed at Picton Reserve in
Riccarton. In December last year,
the Central Riccarton Residents’
Association presented a deputation
to the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
Community Board requesting a
swing and slide at Picton Reserve
suitable for children under 10.
The board allocated $11,600 to the
purchase of the new equipment.
CYCLEWAY UPDATE
City council staff are currently
working on the scheme design
for the South Express cycleway’s
Gilberthorpe to Templeton section
of the route. This work follows on
from the previous scheme option
for that section of the route from
Hagley Park to Gilberthorpe.
Staff will then brief the Halswell-
Hornby-Riccarton Community
Board on the designs prior to
public consultation.
YOUTH REPORT
Tomorrow the annual Youth
Custody Index report will
be released by students from
Christ’s College and St Thomas
of Canterbury. Christ’s College
student Nuku Tau was involved
in the project last year. He said
the project is run by a group of
senior students and is a collation of
information regarding the state of
youth in custody in New Zealand –
both good and bad.
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