Community Rocked by Events on our Roads and Streets

While Waitaki has experienced three tragic deaths over the past three weeks, Waitaki District Councils Community Safety Officer Alison Banks has said that “the sadness felt, the support and tributes given to the families who have lost loved ones is the difference between an unsafe community and a community that cares. “

The tragic events that have happened recently on our roads and in our streets would often go unnoticed in other localities but when it happens in Waitaki, it affects us all one way or another. “That’s what makes Waitaki stand out from the rest”.

Road crashes are a common occurrence on Waitaki roads and the Waitaki District Council and Police work together to educate people about risk taking, driving to the conditions and driving safely. Unfortunately we cannot control all of the variables, and accidents do happen.

The stabbing of a person is not a common occurrence; this is because Waitaki is a safe community, a caring community who looks out for each other, a community with a crime rate markedly lower than the national average. Recent events whilst unfortunate are not a signal that our young people are out of control or our streets unsafe. Like any community, we have in the past, and will continue in the future to be rocked by tragedy no matter what we do. What makes us different is that we work hard to minimise the risk of these events occurring and when tragedy does strike we support each other as a community.

Rather than searching for the reasons why this has happened, we continue to focus on supporting those affected and supporting the Police in their work. The majority of Waitaki residents are very supportive of our local Police and forthcoming with information when needed, this has been the case and we are thankful for that.