Some Hornby residents are “annoyed” an alternative route through the St Columba’s Anglican Church in Hornby has been blocked off.
On the recommendation of police, the church has sealed up a hole in its fence which allowed walkers to cut through Denton Park through to Kathleen Cres.
The church was visited by police as part of Operation Whakahaumanu, which was rolled out across the country following the March 15 events.
Police visited each school and about 80-90 per cent of religious centres city-wide for about 15 weeks.
The idea of the operation was for officers to give advice on safety and check over lock down procedures.
Senior sergeant Toni Carroll said she suspected the hole in the fence had been an issue for quite some time and it was suggested by police it was mended.
She said the operation was about providing reassurance and getting churches to turn their minds to security as opposed to telling them about what security they should have.
“It was just being mindful about someone coming into the church who is not friendly and what that might look like because that is essentially what happened to the mosque,” she said.
The blocked off route was raised at the Greater Hornby Residents’ Association meeting recently.
Association chairman Marc Duff said some residents at the meeting were upset it was shut but at the end of the day the church can decide what to do because it is their property.
“It is good to have people walking through your property for security to keep an eye on it but what they choose to do on it is their call”.
But Vicar Les Memory said instead of residents walking across the park, they can still use the church’s private driveway and walk through the churches’ grounds onto Main South Rd.
He said the church did not mind if people walked across its property.
But he did say: “In terms of the people raising the issue my question would be if this was your private property would you have a hole in the back of your fence so people can tramp through your property? I suspect the answer would be no,” he said.
Vicar Memory said it was about being wise and was grateful for the police’s recommendation.
He said it would be naive to say there wouldn’t be other people around who wouldn’t do something similar to the March 15 attacks.
“We don’t have fears of an attack, but did anybody have a fear of an attack before the mosque attack? I don’t think they did,” Vicar Memory said.
