Curbing Alcohol-Related Violence (Carv) officer Merv Aoake
submitted the results of a survey of 60 central Queenstown
business owners on perceptions of safety, staff parking and
vandalism to premises at the steering group meeting.
The snapshot was taken before the community guides trial
began.
Mr Aoake was preparing to send out a follow-up survey to the
same owners late this month or early next month so the
results could be compared and the effectiveness of the guides
judged in his report.
A total of 34 owners responded to the original survey - 76%
were retailers, 12% were in hospitality and the remainder in
other forms of business.
The majority worked between the hours of 7.30am and 10pm.
• 88% of respondents said they felt safe at night in their
local neighbourhoods.
• More than 50% of respondents said they suffered between one
and more than six instances of vandalism or damage in the two
weeks prior to the survey being taken.
• 80% of instances happened on Friday and Saturday nights.
• More than half of the respondents reported the most
frequent form of vandalism or damage to their premises was
when it was used as a toilet.
• 65% of respondents said staff cleaned up vandalism or
damage, "a very big influence on budgets and staff morale".
• Nearly 60% of respondents replied it took 15 to 30 minutes
to clean up, "a significant period for a business to
support."
• 24% of respondents' staff had suffered either verbal or
physical abuse by parties identified as having consumed
alcohol while they were in the CBD.
• 9% of respondents' staff had either witnessed, or witnessed
and not reported, a crime in the CBD to the police.
"Anyone who wants to take part in the survey, let me know,"
Mr Aoake said.
"There's no names recorded, just business types and it's
confidential. We'll see if the guides have made a difference
in these figures."
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