Invercargill, Southland District to be designated International Safe Communities

Invercargill City and the Southland District will be designated as International Safe Communities at a ceremony to be held at the Bill Richardson Transport World next Thursday.
 
Council’s Community Development Manager Mary Napper said a panel of experts from Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand would present the award to members of the Safe in the South Governance Group. The Group includes the Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council, New Zealand Police, New Zealand Fire Service and ACC.
 
“This will make us the 29^th Safe Community in New Zealand. As an International Safe Community, it means that our local community services work together and take a collaborative approach to make the community safe.
 
“An example of this collaborative approach in action will be at the upcoming Southern Field Days. Previously many community groups such as Road Safety Southland, Plunket, or the New Zealand Police, would have been in different sites across the venue. They will now be combined in one area, which means people can learn all aspects of building a safer community on the one site,” Ms Napper said.
 
Chair of the Safe in the South Governance Group and Southland District Council Mayor, Gary Tong, said gaining the accreditation was a project that had been on the go for a number of years. “The Safe in the South project will bring many networks together and create safe and informed communities,” he said.
 
ICC Council representative and Deputy Mayor, Darren Ludlow, said a safe community was at the heart of what everybody wanted in the places where they lived and worked. “The number of organisations that have stepped forward is tremendously encouraging,” he said.
 
The ceremony will be held on Thursday, February 11 at 7pm.