Nor'West News: May 26, 2022

Thursday May 26 2022 5
Returning stolen bikes to owners
THREE WEEKS after a bike
registration service aimed at
retrieving stolen bikes launched,
a bike flagged as stolen has been
reunited with its owner.
Police and the city council
teamed up with 529 Garage, a
free bike registration service
aimed at discouraging bike thefts
last month.
Soon after, a bike owner who
thought they would never see
their bike again has got his
wheels back.
Mark Anderson’s bike was
stolen from the bike shed at his
apartment building in the central
city in February.
To his surprise, he spotted it
in a nearby property soon after
it was stolen. Anderson called
police who visited the address,
but the bike had been moved.
He’d seen something about
529 Garage in the media, so he
registered his bike and flagged it
as stolen.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have
the serial number, but he did
have clear photos of his bike.
Constable Olivia Bensley, one
of the police administrators for
529 Garage, was executing a warrant
in relation to other stolen
items when she saw Anderson’s
bike.
“Without the serial number it
would have been almost impossible
to identify. Coincidentally, I’d
seen his bike on 529 Garage when
I was trying to identify a different
bike,” Bensley said. “It was pure
NUMBER ONE SUPPLIER
TO THE NZ JET BOATING
COMMUNITY FOR OVER
50 YEARS
• Part Boats & Hulls
• Turn Key Packages
• New Jet Units
• Custom Fabrication
• Expert Advice
SERVICING
03 962 0505
Lunns Road, Middleton
• Spare Parts Retailer
• Jet Unit Refurbishment
• Engine Tune-Ups
• Insurance Repairs
• Impellor Reconditioning
chance that I recognised it when I
saw it at the address.”
Although a few parts had been
switched out, there was a recognisable
scratch on the frame that
Anderson said happened when
he crashed while mountain biking
in the Port Hills.
A police spokesperson said
although the bike was located at
a nearby address, theft charges
are yet to be laid in relation to
Anderson’s stolen bike.
Bensley asked Dave Johnson
from RAD Bikes, a community
bike workshop, to give the bike a
spruce up, then arranged for Anderson
to visit the police station
to collect it.
“Registering my bike on 529
Garage was easy but I didn’t
really expect to see it again,”
Anderson said. “I prefer biking to
driving a car, unless it’s raining,
so I’m thrilled to have it back.”
Since its launch on April 12,
over 1500 bikes have been registered
on 529 Garage.
A police spokesperson said
while Anderson was lucky that
his bike was identified and recovered
without the serial number,
it’s important to register your
bike before it’s stolen.
That way the serial number can
be recorded in the 529 database,
to greatly increase the likelihood
a bike being identified and returned
to its owner.
• To find out more and to
register your bike, go to
www.529garage.co.nz/chch
Simply great kiwi cuisine
100% owner operated
Products made by our own
team of qualified bakers
Classic kiwi
cuisine at an
affordable
price is our
formula for
success
135 Farrington Ave, Bishopdale
P 03 359 1020 E mabaker@mabaker.nz
Also at 1066 Colombo St, Edgeware
REGISTRATION: Constable Oliva Bensley (left) and Anne
Heins from the city council are the team behind the
launch of 529 Garage in Christchurch.
SPRUCE
UP: Dave
Johnson,
from RAD
Bikes with
a cheese
scone he
received for
payment
after
repairing
the stolen
bike.
Dentistry Payment
Plans Available
ACC, WINZ quotes, Southern Cross Easy-claim
Speed
reductions
for 28 streets
• By Emily Moorhouse
TWENTY-EIGHT streets
in Shirley will drop from
50km/h to 40km/h as part of
the city council’s Slow Speed
Neighbourhood project.
But of the 53 submitters that
gave their feedback, more than a
third were against the changes.
THe Waipapa Papanui-Innes
Community Board approved the
proposal to reduce the speed limit
on all roads bound by Shirley Rd,
Marshland Rd, Briggs Rd, Akaroa
St and Hills Rd.
A city council report on traffic
speed data indicated that most
road users in this area already
recognise that the currently posted
speed limit is not safe, and are
travelling below this limit.
However, after putting the
proposed changes out for
community consultation, a
minority shared their concerns
that a reduction in speed would
not be effective due to some
drivers already exceeding the
speed limit.
Figures show that while 41 per
cent of submitters support the
changes, 38 per cent opposed
them and 21 per cent had no clear
support or opposition.
City council staff will monitor
the roads once the slow speed
Zone is implemented over the
next few months and “address as
needed.”
Outstanding dental care
Late Nights & Sunday
appointments available
www.loxodental.co.nz
that you can trust
The experienced team at Loxo Dental can assist with a wide range
of dental procedures, and pride themselves on being one of the
few dental clinics in Christchurch open on Sundays.
• Restorative Dentistry
• Dental Hygienist
• Surgical Extractions
• Implant Restorations
• Root Canal Treatments
• Oral Medicine
• Cosmetic Dentistry
• Emergency treatment
• Intravenous Sedation
• Wisdom Teeth Removal
• Invisalign
• Dentures
17 Northcote Rd, Papanui, Christchurch. Phone us today 03 354 9549.
HAPE
HANGE
BISHOPDALE LAW AND SAUNDERS & CO HAVE MERGED. FOR DOUBLY-GOOD LEGAL SERVICES, LET’S TALK.
03 379 7690 | LAWYER@SAUNDERS.CO.NZ | WIGRAM, CITY, FERRYMEAD, BISHOPDALE | SAUNDERS.CO.NZ