The Neighbourhood Support volunteer fighting to clean up one of NZ's toughest streets
A Cannons Creek resident is at her wit's end saying authorities have repeatedly failed to act after Mongrel Mob affiliates moved in to her street and began intimidating neighbours and dealing drugs in the Porirua suburb.
It's known as one of the toughest streets in the country, but the presence of drugs and gang thugs isn't enough to put one woman off fighting to protect her neighbours.
Sala Nimarota says her street in the Porirua suburb of Cannons Creek is like a mix of three movies – Once Were Warriors, The Fast and the Furious and Broken. But she's not scared, she's just sick of it.
For the past three years Nimarota has lived next to a Housing New Zealand (HNZ) house she says is a magnet for Mongrel Mob affiliates "from Hastings to Porirua" who plague the neighbourhood with suspicious activity, dangerous dogs, thundering cars, drug dealing, threats and intimidation.
Sala Nimarota is sick of gang activity in her Cannons Creek neighbourhood.
But the 42-year-old isn't sitting by passively and letting it just happen. Since 2004 she has been out raising a fuss as a Neighbourhood Support street contact for a stretch of Warspite Avenue and Miranda St, near a primary school, in a corner of what is rightly or wrongly considered one of the country's toughest suburbs.
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Nimarota is trying to make her street a better place, but she is at her wit's end. She says police are scared and authorities have repeatedly failed to act on problems in the suburban Porirua state housing block.
This Cannons Creek house is allegedly a magnet for patched gang members, according to Nimarota.
"The entire neighbourhood is up against one neighbour. We're not getting the help from the authorities, Housing New Zealand and the police," she said.
"Housing New Zealand said it's going to take a while, the police said it's going to take a while. How long do we need to wait until someone gets killed?"
Nimarota, who grew up in Cannons Creek and lives in her privately-owned family home, said she was not scared to take on the troublemakers.
Nimarota is trying to make her street a better place, but she is at her wit's end.
But she wondered if the current crop of rookie cops were up to the task after recent criticism that new millennial recruits being trained were too soft.
Her faith was undermined in police, who were often too scared to get out of their patrol cars and confront troublemakers, she said.
"I feel like I'm wasting my time. I'm getting nowhere, nowhere, nowhere."
Nimarota says a Housing New Zealand house on her street is a magnet for Mongrel Mob affiliates "from Hastings to Porirua". (File photo)
Porirua Mayor Mike Tana knows Nimarota is upset – and has sympathy for her – but said the Cannons Creek he knows is one with a changing demographic, with a heart underpinned by Pasifika churchgoers and their families.
"I came from West Auckland and have been around South Auckland, and I can't see Cannons Creek being any worse than any other place where neighbours are living close to each other," he said.
"The gang presence is no longer substantial and you don't see it dictating anything. I'm sure they're there, but they're not representative of Cannons Creek."
Nimarota says her Porirua neighbourhood sometimes resembles a scene from the film Once Were Warriors.
Kāpiti Mana area commander Inspector Tracey Thompson did not answer questions about the scale of gang activity in the area but said police were aware of Nimarota's concerns.
They had been working closely with her, with members of the neighbourhood policing team meeting her on a number of occasions, he said.
"We want everyone in our communities to be safe and feel safe. Police will continue to visit all neighbourhoods in Porirua, including Miranda Avenue, carrying out crime prevention work, road policing patrols and responding to calls for service on a range of issues."
Porirua Mayor Mike Tana says Cannons Creek's community is underpinned by Pasifika churchgoers, not gang members. (File photo)
HNZ area manager Kathy Furfie said the agency had been contacted a number of times by Nimarota over the past few months.
"We empathise with her situation. We expect our tenants to be good neighbours and to be considerate of the comfort and privacy of those who live around them," Furfie said.
Furfie said the the tenant in question had been contacted to try and resolve some of the issues raised by Nimarota.
Kāpiti Mana area commander Inspector Tracey Thompson said police would continue to visit all neighbourhoods in Porirua - including Miranda Avenue - carrying out crime prevention work. (File photo)
"With regards to Sala's most recent complaint, we have tried to contact the tenant, but have not had any success so far," Furfie said.
Earlier this week National's Judith Collins attacked Housing Minister Phil Twyford and HNZ repeatedly over "anti-social" tenants scaring off "nice neighbours".
During a select committee hearing, HNZ chief executive Andrew McKenzie said the objective was to keep tenants in their homes if at all possible, and not to simply transfer the problem.
Collins asked if HNZ sometimes moved "nice neighbours" on instead of the anti-social tenants. McKenzie said this sometimes was the best option.
- Stuff
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