26 August 2008

Neighborhood Watch - where are they?

| Peter Holland
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Does anyone know where I can find info re the neighborhood watch contacts in certain areas? I have never seen a newsletter from them in my mailbox, and i have been living in my house for over 6 years now…

Or doesn’t Kambah have anyone?

[ED – I know of at least one Neighbourhood Watch group which tired of being treated with contempt by ACT Policing and wound up in the least couple of years]

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peterh, I’m not being critical at all, as I’m sure you have little spare time. The reality is that everyone is busy, and we can all think of good reasons not to contribute to any particular community group.

When virtually everyone does that, then organisations like NW simply cease to exist (or if they do, it is at such a low level that it becomes invisible).

I spent about 12 years in our group, but those involved have jsut about run out of energy and I can’t see it lasting much longer without an injection of more youthful enthusiasm.

The point made by ED (JB?) is a valid one. When there is lip-service support only from the authorities, then people can become very disillusioned, and it can become a significant factor in whether volunteers see it as a good use of their valuable time.

sepi said :

peter you might have to volunteer to deliver the newsletter to your street if you start making enquiries.

nah, i will have to decline that honour – far too busy with CARMBA (my wife is an area rep) so i have to assist in BBQ’s, public awareness, advertising etc, etc.

peter you might have to volunteer to deliver the newsletter to your street if you start making enquiries.

omqvc said :

my mum is a neighbourhood watch rep in kambah.. i guess not the same area as you though, she’s always pestering me to help her hand out those newsletters.

can you let her know that the streets off boddington are missing out? there are a couple of neighbors I have been speaking to – we all have little kids, who would like to know what the go is with neighborhood watch these days.

my mum is a neighbourhood watch rep in kambah.. i guess not the same area as you though, she’s always pestering me to help her hand out those newsletters.

Hackett one is good too. It has info about the local school and loads of stuff about nature and landcare. They seem to be on an energy saving trip at the moment too.

They still run the little graph of last month’s crime stats too.

The Aranda/Cook NHW seems to be going ok, been a regular newsletter for the years i’ve lived in the area. They put out some good info e.g rainfall (with historical graphs!), up and coming local events etc. Not just the monthly crime stats. I hope it continues.

Granny said :

As long as busybodies are going to be nosey they may as well make themselves useful, I say.

Too true….

As long as busybodies are going to be nosey they may as well make themselves useful, I say.

TAD said :

I believe its more of a case that the population has better things to do with their time than hanging out with busybodies.

I think NHW has to shake off this perception if it wants to survive. My fiancee lives in Garran and she likes NHW but gets the feeling that the Garran people are a bit keen.

NHW is a valuable service, but it can’t be the conduit for busybodies and nosey parkers.

This is the story of the Dickson closure http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129277.htm

No, after a couple of reads I still can’t see where it was closed because of contempt by the police. I believe its more of a case that the population has better things to do with their time than hanging out with busybodies.

http://www.nhwact.com.au/

It’s quite possible that Kambah doesn’t have one. Or possibly that they have one but don’t have the resources/manpower to distribute newsletters.

I just sent in a membership application the other week so I don’t know too many details however the Secretary of NHWACT is very quick to respond by email so I’m sure if get in contact, they will be able to help you out with some information.

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