Nelson’s neighbourhood support coordinator has a bold goal for 2013 – and she’s not averse to bribery to help her get there.
Kim MacDonald says she wants to see every street in Nelson have a neighbourhood support group and she will be replicating her successful bribe for local community constables by giving away a cake to those who help her sign up new groups.
She says if she is successful it will be the first city in New Zealand to have a group on every street and will solidify Nelson’s reputation as a safe and friendly city.
She is calling the promotion “race for the cake” and everyone that helps Kim set up a new group will get an entry in the quarterly draw for a cake, donated by Chocolate Velvet.
If a new group is set up on a street that didn’t have a neighbourhood support group people will earn a double entry and to help a street set up a group from Kim’s monthly “top ten list” you will earn triple entries.
Last year 31 new groups were set up, bringing another 727 households into the support network, which aims to get neighbours keeping an eye on each other and the street.
Currently there are more than 300 streets in Nelson that do not have a Neighbourhood Support group.
January’s top ten list includes streets in The Glen, Nelson city, The Brook, Victory, Stoke and Tahuna.
Kim says she has run the “race for the cake” competition amongst the community constables as a bit of fun for the past three years.
Last year the cake was won by Nelson constable Peter Crins after two years of Keith Jordon of Stoke taking home the cake.
To sign up for neighbourhood support, email Kim on nsupport@xtra.co.nz or call her on 546 4902. A group is very easy to set up and you don’t need to commit to running it once it’s set up.
