Tauranga's a new Neighbourhood Support Area Coordinator is expected to bring a wealth of experience in working with communities.

Nga Utanga is the new Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support Area Coordinator for Tauranga South, and aims to strengthen communities in this part of the city.

Neighbourhood Support works to make homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer, more resilient and more caring places.

Nga has had 35 years with the police, much of it in South Auckland and then in Tauranga from 1996, in charge of Youth Services.

“I’ve always worked in communities and we had our own community patrols and Neighbourhood Support groups,” he said.

He retired from the police in 2017, and then went overseas to work in Asia, and in Papua New Guinea building restorative justice programmes.

Covid brought him home and he’s decided to stay home now.

“Communities and people are at the centre of everything I’ve done. Power is in communities and people, not in courts, police or justice,” said Utanga.

He has three children and four grandchildren now, and lives in Matua. For his first year in the new job he intends to concentrate on Tauranga South - Gate Pā, Merrivale, Welcome Bay, Greerton - before engaging with communities in places like Bethlehem, Minden and Te Puna.

“I want to know what people think Neighbourhood Support is about first.”

He said there are challenges out there - one being language barriers for some communities.

“At the end of the day it’s about strengthening communities, and I want to know what that looks like for the people who live in them.”