Street fights back

MICHELLE ROBINSON

SEX, drugs and whatever else is going ...

It all seems to be fair game on the accessway to Winston Cove at Torbay during summer.

But elderly residents have had enough. They say unacceptable drug and alcohol fuelled behaviour is rife most weekend nights during school holidays and they're hoping things will be different this year.

Jim Allan from Gary Cres says up to 30 carloads of teens came down to the area on one occasion.

"There were two drug dealers working the bunch, we knew they were because you could see the kids going to the vehicle for a couple of minutes and then walking away."

One particularly bad night saw teens having sex on the road between cars.

Boys appeared to be taking turns to have sex with one girl inside a car on a separate occasion, Mr Allan says.

There was also evidence of discarded P or methamphetamine packets the next morning, he says.

The driver of an SUV spotted in the area over a few nights was approached by one brave neighbour who wanted to put an end to it.

"The driver was rolling a marijuana cigarette at the time. The neighbour said `we don't want any drug dealers in the street' and the guy said `you don't mind a bit of weed though do you'?"

Resident Ann Jones says it's hard to know whether to respond to girls' screams because they're so frequent.

Gray Cres is now covered by an overnight liquor ban that takes in the Torbay shops and neighbouring streets.

Residents hope this will lead to a quieter summer.

Mr Allan, his wife Jean, and Mrs Jones are among Neighbourhood Support members who have been instrumental in driving out offenders.

Their reporting of incidents to police led to the area being identified as a trouble spot and receiving the liquor ban.

"Communities that squeak get the oil. Otherwise we don't know there's a problem," Browns Bay community constable Paul Donaldson says.

Police have been good at responding to incidents but at times people have left before they have arrived, Mr Allan says.

Tired of "cowering in our houses" the residents organised a system where they would text each other when there was a problem.

Residents then put their house lights on to drive troublemakers away.

Each carload of teens that came down the street would see no one else around and leave, he says. He hopes the recently implemented liquor ban will help this summer.'

- © Fairfax NZ News