John Bailey – Community Development Advisor.
  
John Bailey has been involved in neighbourhood support in the Hastings district for almost 20 years, now in the position of Community Development Advisor at the Hastings District Council.
 
John’s involvement with neighbourhood support began in 1984 when he was introduced to the concept by a local beat constable while he and a few neighbours were, as a group, investigating ways to deal with a wave of burglaries and car thefts in their neighbourhood.
 
John became the spokesperson for the group and soon found himself working voluntarily throughout the suburb setting up neighbourhood support groups.
 
Progress in establishing and maintaining neighbourhood support groups in the suburb went on for almost three years and was increasingly successful.
 
The Hastings City Council and Havelock North Borough Council saw the benefits of the neighbourhood support concept through the work that John was doing – so both Councils moved jointly to provide funding to employ someone on a part-time bases to implement neighbourhood support groups in the district.
 
John was the successful applicant for the position and began “officially” working in the field of neighbourhood support in October 1987.
 
It was originally intended that the joint Councils would fund the position for six months with external funding being sought during that time. However, funding was not forthcoming and so the position was extended for a further six months and then became contractual and renewable every twelve months.
 
Working from home, John worked long, hard hours during those early days of implementing neighbourhood support. Every month John was to provide the Council’s with reports including the number of locations of meetings, the number of new groups formed and promotional activities to name a few.
 
During those early years John was always looking for ways to improve methods of promoting N S and maintaining groups until he had a successful system in place.
 
While a few Councils around the country now provide some form of support to neighbourhood support activities, the Hastings District Council, in 1987, was the first Council in the country to employ a person to work with neighbourhood support and to create a full-time position for the employment of a Neighbourhood Support Officer.
 
 
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Experience and Training
 
Experience includes: 
  • Voluntary work since 1984 with Police and neighbourhoods
  • Working as Neighbourhood Support Officer at the Hastings District Council since 1987. This position has now evolved to become Community Development Advisor.
  • Attended over 3000 neighbourhood support group meetings

 John’s training in the field of neighbourhood support includes: 

  • Hastings Crime Prevention Office upon the commencement of his employment – instruction in the delivery of home and personal security advice
  • Crime Prevention and Community Development training through the University of the West of England
  • In-house training in subjects relevant to community development
  • Several University papers in social psychology, group dynamics, conflict resolution, etc
  • Burglary prevention seminars
 
 
3 March 2003
 
Written by Eloise Angus, Journalist, and John Bailey, Community Development Advisor.