Safer community on the cards for Whanganui
Drink driving offences for under 24s in Whanganui have dropped by a quarter in the four years to 2009, while the number of serious and fatal car accidents have fallen by nearly a third, according to Result Cards produced by the Safer Whanganui Project.
The Project has identified seven social issues and relevant action plans to help make the community a safer place to live in and is compiling Result Cards for each.
The cards, which can be viewed at the Family and Community Services website, detail desired results, performance indicators, proposed collaborative actions and will, in time, measure successes for the seven social issues targeted by Safer Whanganui.
The seven focus areas are: Education, Family Violence, Safety and Wellbeing, Road Safety, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Justice, and Emergency Planning.
This is part of the overall Whanganui Safety Plan, a collaborative programme formed by a wide range of government and non-government agencies launched last December by local MP Chester Burrows.
The Results Cards are part of a Results Based Accountability (RBA) community planning tool, and Whanganui is the first district in New Zealand to make this part of its safety plan.
A key attraction of the RBA is that it's easy to use. It provides a clear, common language for assessing outcomes, indicators and performance measures, and encourages people to think about who they can work with and how. RBA also gets participants from discussions to action quickly.
Safer Whanganui Project member Ellen Mildon from the Accident Compensation Corporation says the RBA approach has helped keep the group focused: “The use of everyday language in RBA is a huge advantage. The vision for ‘A Safe Whanganui’ is a statement that we can all relate to – it’s positive and hard to argue against.”
Lauren Tamehana, project partner from the Whanganui District Health Board, says using the RBA approach helps partners understand why they’re doing what they’re doing and to identify specific things they can do to achieve their goals. “We wouldn’t have got to where we are without the RBA approach,” she says.
For the Road Safety group, this means tracking the number of reported crashes resulting in death or serious injury in Whanganui district to measure how they are achieving their goal of encouraging locals to be ‘responsible road users’.
Sally Patrick, Community and Cultural Manager at the Whanganui District Council said the Safety Plan was the culmination of months of hard work by members of the Project. “Representatives from the Whanganui District Council, Ministry of Social Development, education and health agencies, ACC, community social services, Sports Whanganui, business and Iwi/Mäori groups all came together to tackle the major social issues facing Whanganui.
“The plan is based on the Local Services Mapping process, which is facilitated by the Ministry of Social Development. It brings the wider community together, using their combined knowledge and expertise, to tackle issues relating to education, family violence, road safety, alcohol and other drugs, emergency planning and justice,” says Sally.
Inspector Duncan Macleod, Area Commander (Whanganui Police), a member of the Safer Whanganui Steering Group said the plan is proof as to how the Whanganui community can come together, collaborate and move forward.
“This Safety Plan will make Whanganui a safer place for us all because it tackles the issues behind the problems. The plan also recognises that safety is a universal concern and a community responsibility,” he said.
Another goal of the Wanganui Safety Plan is to gain accreditation as one of the World Health Organisation’s Safe Communities. This worldwide programme recognises safety as a universal concern and a responsibility shared by all.
Safe Communities work to protect and improve safety through a co-ordinated and inter-sectoral approach.
There are currently nine safe communities in New Zealand with a further five (including Whanganui) aiming for designation in 2010.
