Christchurch residents still have prostitutes working outside their St Albans homes, five months after the city council decided against introducing a bylaw to curb the activity. The number of sex workers on the corner of Manchester and Purchas streets, a block north of Bealey Ave, has reduced, but residents are still being woken by cars tooting and loud disputes over payment in the early hours of the morning.
The Christchurch City Council decided in November last year to form a collaborative community working group to support the relocation of street-based sex workers away from homes north of Bealey Ave. Matt Bonis, a spokesman for residents living near the corner of Manchester and Purchas streets, said it was incorrect to state the number of sex workers had decreased to one recidivist because there were three or four that regularly turned up, including one in the past three weeks who was there at 3.
He said the number of sex workers had decreased, as had the nights they were present, but residents in the area were still waking to noise associated with the workers. However, there tended to be only one sex worker on the corner at a time, so the yelling across the street had reduced, he said. Bonis recently installed double glazing on his children's windows to reduce the impact of the noise. Residents were still finding discarded coffee cups and takeaway wrappers on their properties, he said.
She said the group needed to consider ways to stop clients from picking prostitutes up from there. One way could be to change the road layout to stop the flow of traffic on Manchester St. Council staff were investigating traffic engineering options and were expected to report back in mid Bonis said he believed changing the road layout would work because when road works cut the traffic flow on Manchester St in there were no sex workers in the area for six weeks.
Residents have pleaded with the council numerous times to put a bylaw in place to regulate against prostitutes working outside their homes, but the council said a bylaw would be unenforceable and unworkable. The council has held two drop-in sessions for residents south and north of Bealey Ave to air their concerns. Bonis said the council had been extremely visible and present in the community and had provided residents with a safe forum where they could voice their ongoing concerns.
