​DOMINIKA WHITE

NEIGHBOURS FIGHT BACK

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Part-owner of Vege Oasis Manish Pradhan has had the Three Kings business for six months but is already aware of the need for security, after nearby shops were set on fire and their windows were smashed.

 

Graffiti and vandalism are major concerns for the Three Kings community. Mr Pradhan's window was smashed within months of settling into the business.

 

“In the neighbourhood, we had the shop next door, the $2 Shop, that was set on fire just a couple of months ago,” he says.

 

The Three Kings community is setting up Neighbourhood Support groups to reduce crime in the area.

 

Neighbourhood Support Auckland chairman Kevin Hicks says establishing a support group in other areas has had an almost “life changing” effect on crime levels.

 

“Members speak of a very large reduction in crime and police say that word gets round quite fast that it is difficult to get away with crimes in those areas.”

 

At least six Neighbourhood Support groups are being set up to watch out for suspicious activity on properties around the area bounded by Mt Eden, Landscape, Parau and Mt Albert roads. A Neighbourhood Watch patrol could also be an option, says Mr Hicks.

 

The group could potentially patrol the Three Kings township.

 

This would include the nearby Pickling Community Centre, which has been hit by a series of attacks, the latest estimated to cost the council $9000.

 

Mr Pradhan hopes establishing these groups will reduce shoplifting as well.

 

“Businesses, especially businesses like ours, small businesses, need it. There have been times where people come and pick up stuff and they just run away. Being a small business, if we lose a couple of dollars a day, that’s our profit gone for the whole day.

 

“It was just yesterday there a was a lady whose purse was picked just outside the shop. That kind of stuff is happening pretty often nowadays.”

 

Mr Hicks says the community turn-out for the initial Neighbourhood Support meeting was “staggering”. More than 80 people filled the Pickling Community Centre to talk about Three Kings crime.

 

“There were people of all ages and ethnicities. It shows that we all share the same concerns for our neighbourhood and all want to co-operate to make it better.”

 

Relieving Balmoral community constable Phillip Crowley says the Three Kings incidents are being investigated. "We’re certainly happy that the community has taken things up themselves and we’re happy to support them.”