Raetihi PD centre proposal

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 2, 10 June 1986, Page 1

Raetihi PD centre proposal

A periodic detention and resource centre will be set up in Raetihi if suitable premises can be found. The aim will be to provide support and activities for offenders as alternatives to jail sentences and fines. The establishment of s.uch a centre received wholehearted support from Justice and Labour Department representatives at a meeting in the Waimarino County chambers last week. The district probation officer from Taihape, Mr Tony Ellis, said he was concerned about the lack of support services in the area for young offenders and the unemployed. "There are no local body groups and service clubs to call upon for support. Local people are disadvantaged by the lack of facilities in the area," he said. Under the new Criminal Justice Act there were provisions for retaining offenders in the community where they would be supported, instead of fining or jailing them. "The act makes provision for the release at mid-term of anybody serving a prison sentence, but this must be to an approved programme and it is virtually impossible around here to get anything in the way of a programme," said Mr Ellis. Bill Emerson, regional probation manager from Wellington, said that programmes can be set up for young offenders which give the courts alternatives to sending people to prison. "We can provide equipment, we can provide a supervisor and some funds," he said.

The establishment of the centre is being promoted by locally-based committee, Te Puawaitanga o te au Marama, chaired by Darcy Mills of Raetihi. The group is a subcommittee of Kotahitanga Church Building Society which is a non-political, non-racial, all-denomina-tional group. The society has subcommittees around the country helping people in difficulty and creating programmes to assist them. General secretary of the society, Paul Ropata from Bulls said the society had a hall in Raetihi which might be available as the periodic detention centre. The society ran a youth club in Raetihi about 10 years ago but it lost support. However, after consulting with members of the society after the meeting, he reported that the hall was to be sold because of the society's financial commitments in other areas. But the society is still willing to help the committee establish the centre. The society now needs to find a hall or building in Raetihi to rent for the centre. Labour department representatives from Wanganui, Mr Bob Kenworthy and Mr John Bennett, said finance would be available for trainees at the centre, providing they were all registered as unemployed. Funds and grants for numerous organisations may also be available. A local person would be needed to act as a trustee for the funds and it is hoped a local solicitor or accountant would provide this service. • To page 11.

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Raetihi PD Centre

Other members of the community would also be involved in the centre, teaching a wide range of skills. Mr Ellis said he hoped members of the community would come forward with particular skills to share with people at the centre. Mr Mills said one of the main objectives in setting up the centre was to get young people, both Maori and Pakeha, off the streets. Raethi Police Constable Trevor Pullen, who was unable to attend the meeting said that the centre would be good for the area. "There are unemployed people around here who don't have anything to do - they must be getting despondent." He said the centre would provide a place for local offenders who now have to go out of the area if sentenced to periodic detention.