It’s been said that crime can’t flourish in a close-knit community. The stronger the community, the less chance there is of crime talking hold.

I agree.

This week I was privileged to speak to many of the country’s top mayors about how we can prevent crime by making communities stronger.

The event was the Local Government Conference in Christchurch. It was great to see Mayor Len Brown of Manukau City Council, Mayor Mark Ball of Franklin District Council and Papakura District Council was represented by Councillor Brent Catchpole.

The police work hard to fight crime. Their first priority will always be to respond to crime, to help people in need and to catch criminals.

I think that we must also look at how we stop crime from occurring in the first place. To do this, I believe we must create an environment within our communities where crime not accepted as a fact of life.

That will mean police working even more closely with local authorities and community groups. We need to start thinking of our communities as large neighbourhoods where everybody knows and supports each other.

For an example of what that means, we only have to look to a fantastic initiative by Marlborough District Council. Supported by police and social services, they helped make one of Blenheim’s poorest areas safer by helping residents tidy up the neighbourhood.

The result was a significant drop in crime last year, with reported offending 41% lower than the previous three-year average. Why? Because when people are proud of where they live they are more likely to call police when someone is damaging it.

There has been similar success in Porirua.

In 2005 the city had an image problem. It was seen as an unsafe place to visit and live – a perception that was impacting on the city socially and economically. A coalition of agencies joined forces to improve community safety, focusing on crime prevention, road safety and injury prevention.

Safer Porirua's goal was achieved on 1 September 2008 when Porirua City became the eighth community in New Zealand - and the 143rd internationally - to achieve designation under the World Health Organisation’s Safe Community framework.

I congratulated the Mayors for their energy and commitment which had made such a big difference in neighbourhoods through the country.

Back in the electorate, I was fortunate to recently attend the Randwick Park Residents meeting with Hon Phil Heatley, Minister for Housing. This is a group that is doing great work to improve community safety. They were exploring ways to work closer with Housing New Zealand Corporation in the future. It was a very positive meeting.

Recently, I attended the opening night of the latest production by the Papakura Theatre Company, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I had a wonderful time, and send my congratulations to cast and crew for a putting together such a polished and enjoyable production.

On Saturday I met with the Wattle Downs Residents and Ratepayers’ Association. I really enjoy attending such meetings, where people in a community come together with positive ideas for their community.

I am extremely pleased that the Government has announced three new early childhood education centres are to be built in the Manukau area, with one centre to be at Mansell Senior School in Papakura. One of the Government’s top education priorities is to ensure that every child can take part in high-quality early childhood education. These new centres are all being established at schools that have offered to host them. Work is expected to start within the next three months.