Nightlife safety sees little change while Wellington student's fear town

A change of tact from Wellington Police, the City Council, or Massey University does not appear to be on the horizon despite students' increasing fear of the club scene.  

In an interview with Massive, senior sergeant Hamish Knight pointed to “side-loading” and "top-up" as an increasing concern. This being when people drink in their cars or carparks before going into a bar.  

Senior sergeant Hamish Knight in central Wellington. Photo / The Post

“It means people begin to congregate around the place, continue to become intoxicated, and we need to influence that," Knight said.  

Knight, however, noted that this is all business as usual, with no major recent incidents prompting any unique concerns. 

In July, Salient Magazine published survey results revealing that 75% of students in Wellington felt unsafe in at least one of Wellington’s established nightclubs.  

Within the survey, one in five female students reported frequent instances of harassment across popular venues, the most notorious being Mishmosh.  

Shortly after, Wellington Police published a study that linked the root causes of disorderly behaviour with the prevalence of pre-loading.  

According to the study, those most likely to pre-load were found to be students motivated by saving money. Those between 18 and 24 years old were also the most vulnerable. 

Knight said citygoers can expect a significant police presence in places like Courtenay Place, Cuba Street and Manners Street in the night hours.  

That police presence consists of a beat team of 18 officers cycling through 8-hour shifts day and night, with supporting officers on standby.  

“They’re looking for who’s vulnerable — so if we see somebody staggering around, maybe by themselves, police will engage with that person, not necessarily to arrest them, but because we’ve identified them as vulnerable.” 

Massey University said it had no immediate plans to alter current alcohol policies for those living in student halls.  

Associate director of student wellbeing, Leanne Radovanovich said, “Our alcohol policies are regularly reviewed, and any changes are made in response to emerging needs and circumstances.” 

Radovanovich said Massey is making an effort to increase their safety communications to students, via the student newsletter and information provided by Wellington City Council. 

In a December briefing, the Council had admitted that "Wellington’s central city is perceived as unsafe due to visible complex issues such as drug and alcohol-related harm, homelessness, anti-social behaviour, and urban design challenges”. 

Part of their solution has been to increase funding to Wellington’s Vulnerable Support Charitable Trust, who run Take 10 — a checkpoint service providing anything from a glass of water to a chill space on Friday and Saturday nights.  

The Take 10 truck on Courtney Place. Photo / Wellington City Council

Despite that, Take 10's operations manager Leigh Keown said that resourcing and funding constraints mean that they can only operate two nights out of the week. 

“We would like to operate other nights such as Wednesday and Thursday, but we have limited funding, and as most of our team are volunteers, it would be a big ask trying to source volunteers for other nights.” 

Nevertheless, Keown expressed confidence in the strength and skills of the volunteer team. 

“Some young people who visit Take 10 are away from home for the first time and can be overwhelmed by the changes. Our volunteers are skilled in this area and know what signs to look for. "