Still no PC's in South D

The South Dunedin community is tired of waiting for its community police station to reopen to the public after being closed for 11 months and is demanding answers. The Macandrew Rd building has been closed since floodwaters last June (look at my post dated 3 June 2015 for some photos I took of surface flooding further north) extensively damaged the ground floor. The road policing group relocated to the North Dunedin station but the neighbourhood policing team, Dunedin dog section, and the serious crash unit continued to work from the building. "It [the station] was already diminished as a service for the community ... [but] we could go in there and we could report crimes," Dunedin South MP Clare Curran said. "There's nowhere now. It's deeply concerning that one of our most densely populated communities ... is not getting that police support." In an email response, police said no timeframe had been set for the station to become fully functional again. This is not good enough. There are around 10,000 people living in the wider South Dunedin area - this is a sizeable area that needs an on-the-ground, functioning police station. Community policing is vital. Like the Work and Income building before it - its reopening was confirmed in December after months of uncertainty and campaigning by concerned residents - people need answers on the future of the police station. Even if the area can be policed from the central station on Great King Street for the time being, response times could be affected by the distance the unit has to travel, and residents would have to travel further to report crimes in person. But then again, they already have to go into town for several things anyway - for instance if you want to see a movie, there are only three places in Dunedin and they are for the most part on adjacent blocks near the Octagon. There are more choices in post-quake Christchurch (a grand total of eight within the city's bus network) and they are more spread out, with only one of them in the Four Avenues. Maybe that's something Dunedin could look into.