Wellington City - New Zealand’s 5th Safe Community

Wellington City will be accredited as New Zealand’s 5th, and the World’s 100th Safe Community at a ceremony on the 14th of June. A successful one day site-visit was conducted by the Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand on 21 April 2006.

Wellington City have a vision of “Creative Wellington - Innovation Capital”, and a goal to promote safety and prevent injuries to all people who live, visit, work and play in the city.

While crime prevention was a primary focus for Wellington City’s application as a Safe Community, the site visit also highlighted the collaborative partnerships that involved many other aspects of injury prevention and safety promotion.

Highlights of the site visit included: the profiling of initiatives to address alcohol misuse; the comprehensiveness of the Safer Roads programme of work; an innovative presentation of how Wellington City incorporates consideration of disability issues; a visit to Glover Park, an excellent example of how environmental design can provide a safe park-like setting in the inner city; a meeting with youth leaders at the Zeal Youth venue to view safe places in the city where young people can gather; and a walk through the Central Business District to demonstrate how Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design can improve footpaths and poorly lit areas.

For more information about Safe Communities or Wellington City’s accreditation please see the Safe Communities Foundation website.