Crime prevention, drug rehabilitation, and community spirit were on the agenda at a community planning meeting for Armidale's Neighbourhood Watch.
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Thirty-five people attended the meeting at the Armidale City Bowling Club on Tuesday evening, including policemen Senior Constable Chris Jordan and Inspector Roger Best, and Crs Dorothy Robinson, Debra O'Brien, and Bradley Widders.
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While the group had received 70 expressions of interest on social media, fewer people came than expected.
“Even though the numbers were small,” organiser Kathy Clare said, "the input from those community members who attended, and the information from council and police were really valuable.”
Setting up the new Neighbourhood Watch
Armidale has lacked a Neighbourhood Watch group for some years. The old Neighbourhood Watch group set up on the Girraween side of town in the 1980s and early 1990s died away.
Ms Clare expects the new Neighbourhood Watch to be active in September.
“We have the numbers to go ahead,” she said. “We’re just working out the logistics.”
Generally, the Neighbourhood Watch will meet once or twice a month. It will post preventative measures for crime on its Facebook page, and help the PCYC with its programs..
A follow-up meeting will be held at the PCYC at 10.30am on Tuesday, August 7. A representative from Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall's office will attend. Mr Marshall himself will be in state parliament that week.
“After that meeting,” Ms Clare said, “we should have a roundabout idea of where the Neighbourhood Group will be focused. Hopefully not long after, we plan to have it up and running!”
A Cuppa with the Coppers morning tea will be held in mid-September for the whole community.
Until then, Ms Clare encouraged people to report crimes to the police.
“If you see anything suspicious, talk to the police,” she said. “If the phone rings out, keep ringing back.
“Get to know your neighbours, your street, and your neighbourhood. Armidale is a regional city, so it's important we maintain some of those good old country values.”
Drug rehabilitation service
The meeting also discussed setting up a drug rehabilitation service in the area. At the moment, police have to refer repeat offenders to Coffs Harbour (190 km away), Newcastle (335 km), or Gosford (405 km) – which are already at full capacity, and have a waiting list.
It is unclear whether the Armidale region has enough people to warrant setting one up.
One solution may be to build a bigger facility, and extend it to outlying areas like Gunnedah, Narrabri, and Tamworth.
Parks and community spirit
The Neighbourhood Watch will also work with Council to get a playground and equipment for the Girraween area.
At present, kids have no park on that side of town to play in.
The Neighbourhood Watch is also looking at getting a Community Cottage running again.
There used to be one on the west side of town, near Girraween, but it closed down 15 years ago, and the cottage was sold.
The West-side committee group would meet there to discuss issues in the area, and put on barbeques for children every couple of months.
“Somewhere the community can come, meet up, and have little debrief sessions, engages the community, even if they don’t want to engage with the wider Armidale community,” Ms Clare said.
“If we can get them to feel they belong to a community, it engages with that Neighbourhood Watch feel.’