The street with a dark history in a community determined to change its future

Friday, 12 January 2024

On the night Meesha and TeRangi Kiri returned home weeks after an armed intruder threatened them and shot their dog, a father would die on their street.

Carisbrooke St in Aranui, one of Christchurch’s poorest suburbs, is no stranger to police call-outs, according to the people who live there.

In the space of a month, it’s been the scene of two major incidents - the latter leading to the alleged homicide of father, David Bridgwater, 38, who was found lying dead, near his car at 2.30am on January 4.

Terrified by the armed intruder, the Kiris moved to a friend’s house for four weeks before moving back on the same day Bridgwater died. But they say before the incident that claimed their “baby”, the family dog Irie, life was good on the street.

Their house was always unlocked and windows were left wide open on the street hip-hop artist Scribe grew up in.

For the locals, it was again another instance of their suburb being tarnished by the actions of a few, and one lady who didn’t want to be named, said it made Carisbrooke St and its residents look “f…ing shit”.

The reality

However, those that work, live and play in the street and its surrounding suburb say the reality is different, including newly elected Christchurch East MP Reuben Davidson.

He knows people sometimes have what he terms an “unrealistic “ view of Aranui.

“It’s easy to only read the bad news, and only see the negative stories. Those can happen in any suburb”.

Since taking over from Poto Williams, who quit politics at the last election, Davidson has fallen in love with the “straight up” suburb, especially its strong community.

“People love this place and are proud to call it home,” he tells Stuff. “Some days it feels like a small town with a cast of familiar locals”.

Davidson has particular praise for Hampshire St at the heart of Aranui, where people gravitate for kai and whanaungatanga. The street, which is just three blocks from Carisbrooke, once used to be called Christchurch’s meanest.

In the 1990s police nicknamed it The Reservation after gang warfare and street shootings made it the city’s badlands.

But through community efforts, and proactive policing, Hampshire has become a different world, much like the suburb itself.

Home to 4000 people, Aranui remains one of the city’s poorest suburbs according to a 2021 Christchurch City Council report which said anti-social behaviour and gang activity was harming community wellbeing. Twenty-seven percent of its residents live in the highest level of deprivation, which is represented by the large numbers of Kāinga Ora homes.

By the end of 2020, the agency owned 469 homes in the suburb - 184 more than the next highest suburb.

Davidson said the 2010-11 earthquakes had a huge impact on the area with subsequent school closures like Central New Brighton school which closed a year later, proving disruptive to the entire community.

“We’re still seeing the impacts today. Schools are a big part of the community and provide lots of interaction and engagement. When they’re closed, all that can be lost”.

Then the housing rebuild took too long, Davidson says, especially social housing. Although it’s picked up pace, it can’t lose momentum, he warns.

Intervention for prevention

Aranui’s issues are personal to Sergeant Melissa Shaw.

Shaw grew up in the suburb, and knows its needs. That’s why she loves leading the Aranui Neighbourhood Policing Team (ANPT).

For almost five years, Shaw has been giving back to the community in a role she finds hugely rewarding.

The team have proven highly effective in preventing crime, by building vital relationships with tamariki, agencies and groups in the community.

Based on similar successful ANPT projects in Phillipstown and Upper Riccarton the team was introduced in Aranui in 2016. By 2020, police data showed crime in the area had fallen by 15%.

Shaw and her team of five are focused on prevention and helping people with the underlying issues that can lead to crime.

It’s a long-term project, but it’s already bearing fruit, and children that would once avoid or abuse the team, will now run up and hug them.

All about building trust, Shaw works closely with schools. Her team will read to tamariki in the playground. They’ll also get involved hands on in the local boxing club. Being a constant in children’s lives builds trust, she believes, especially in a community with a history of being wary around police.

They want people to call them, they want to go into people’s homes to help them deal with problems before they become a crime, she outlines, and they want people to know their names.

On a typical day, the ANPT may help provide and serve breakfast for tamariki alongside the Aranui Community Trust, visit local school Haeata Community Campus, and hold the pads at the Boxing Club where kids are taught respect and dedication.

The team will also organise and deliver food parcels because they know hungry families could be tempted to commit crime to put food on the table.

Whatever a family requires to fix a situation, the ANPT do their best to help.

Shaw uses the example of a family harm incident the police were called to which turned out to be a simple argument over the couple not being able to afford to replace a battery in a car.

So she went to a local wrecker who gave her a battery for free and secured them a food parcel.

She agrees Aranui has a strong community with many supportive agencies and says the people are “very humble”.

“There are so many good things going on. They unite. They support. They guide one another”.

Looking after their own

Davidson says Aranui is a community that is “upfront” about addressing its issues.

“There are a lot of groups working with the local community, and they do great work”.

The Aranui Community Trust Incorporated Society has played a major role in providing services to the suburb’s vulnerable since 2001 and is a focal point for community projects.

Others, like the Aranui Wainoni Community Centre, run after-school programmes and community events, while Māori wardens also play a significant role.

But Davidson worries suburbs like Aranui will be hardest hit by government spending cuts.

“There’s already anxiety about the proposed ‘backroom savings’ that will directly affect frontline support in suburbs like Aranui”.

The Government needs to partner with Aranui’s people, local groups and agencies, he says.

“When these are well-supported, people thrive. Communities and the groups within them have the answers and solutions to local issues. The Government needs to back them to succeed and grow stronger”.