Street unites against crimewave
Brazen thieves who were seen "walking down the road with my TV" was the last straw for Flaxmere woman Lou Hutchinson who is leading a campaign for her street to start a neighbourhood watch group.
The burglary also netted clothing Mrs Hutchinson had bought for her young daughter for the coming winter as well as a laptop that contained cherished photos of her late father.
Her Plymouth Rd house had been hit by thieves in mid-April one evening when the family was out. Bikes had also been taken from the property on a different occasion.
A nearby alley way leading on to Flaxmere Park had been a favoured gathering place for people "hanging around" and twice Mrs Hutchinson contacted police to complain.
"Then on the third day we were coming home and saw a police car parked up by the neighbour," Mrs Hutchinson said.
"I knew something was going down but didn't realise until I got inside that we had been burgled."
Three people may have been involved in the burglary at Mrs Hutchinson's home on Plymouth Rd, which looks on to Flaxmere Park.
"My neighbour's light went on and when she looked over she saw two people walking down the road with my TV, and there was another person across the road at the park, like a look out," she said.
"They took the kids' playstation, their games ... the photos of my father on the laptop I was really upset about, I don't have anything backed up, but I still hope to get the photos back."
Mrs Hutchinson asked the Hastings District Council to help set up a neighbourhood support group and on May 2 the tunutunu community barbecue was dispatched to Plymouth Rd for an informal street meeting.
"We didn't really know our community as neighbours until then. But for me these are the people I want to speak to straight away if we get burgled to see if they've seen or heard anything," she said.
"We are trying to encourage people to call the police if they see anything suspicious. But we also realise we've got to stand up and be strong as a street, make ourselves known and visible."
The street barbecue revealed similar stories from neighbours who had also been hit by thieves. One family was thinking of moving out of the suburb because of the number of times they'd been burgled while another had moved into Hastings but was hit by thieves there as well.
Mrs Hutchinson said the meeting had brought the street closer together and she was happy to see everyone had signed up to be part of the support group.
"And now it's just a matter of formalising the paperwork with the council," she said.
