'A-towners' cop flak

Northcote state housing residents have been told to "beef up security' as problems continue to fester with youth gangs and other crime issues.

And the cause of many of the problems are being levelled at displaced earthquake families moving in from the eastern suburbs - or A-towners (Aranui) as they are called.

A neighbourhood support group member, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal said: "P-Labs, murderers, crims, taggers and burglars," are either living or have lived on the street recently."

He said that although Northcote was a lovely suburb, the part around Exbridge, Camden and Paddington streets were"bad".

He had dealt recently with youth shooting at buses, tagging and burglaries.

He had told residents to "beef up their security".

He said said residents felt neglected by the police and city council. They wanted community funding for events in the area to counter the crime and other issues.

Tensions between white power and ethnic gangs and associates living near each other appear to be fuelling problems.

But police northern area commander, Inspector Dave Lawry, disagreed with residents that crime was getting out of hand, and that police were not responding quickly enough.

He said police were taking a "firm action where necessary".

Neighbourhood Support Co-ordinator, Gary Watts, agreed some problems were racially motivated. He said that the area had always been a transient one due to state housing."There's a mix of ethnicities, socio-economic groups and a lot of solo mums in the area."

Shirley-Papanui Community Board deputy chairwoman, Kathy Condon, raised the issue recently.