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Muntz mission grows community supportManawatu Standard
Three years later, the district has an impressive 2595 households and 318 groups serving the community – a testament to the semi-retired man's hard work. Mr Muntz, who works 25 hours a week from the Feilding police station, manages all groups in the Manawatu District, which includes Feilding, Tangimoana and Rongotea. His initial success was bolstered by holding regular public meetings and obtaining people's email addresses. The meetings gave Neighbourhood Support and police an opportunity to get their messages across to a large group of people, who were then able to ask questions. There had been fewer meetings this year, but Mr Muntz said the numbers were still on the rise. "It's mainly from word of mouth." Mr Muntz got information into his members' homes by sending email bulletins about crime trends, including copper thefts, rural burglaries, boy racers, stranger danger and spam emails. "Keeping people informed is the main thing. The emails are getting the message out faster." Bringing neighbours together in times of hardship was another driving factor for Mr Muntz. "It's about communities looking after communities. If you look at Christchurch, when that [the quake] hit Neighbourhood Support was there and in action straight away. "The first group I set up was on Sherwill St West where there was a fire and a child died. "When that happened it was the first time a lot of the people there had seen each other. "In an emergency, do you really want to be meeting your neighbour for the first time?" Neighbourhood Support national manager Roger Eynon said consistency and practicality were qualities possessed by Mr Muntz, who is also the Central District region delegate. "Where there's consistency, you end up getting a good result," Mr Eynon said. "There's no doubt that having Alan, being the person that he is, in place helps nurture and bring like-minded people together. "He's got a very strong finger on the pulse of things, not just in the Central District but in Manawatu." Neighbourhood Support's funding difficulties meant co-ordinators often had to stretch their resources a long way, Mr Eynon said. "He's shown what can be done with a little. He's the kind of person who drives communities to serve their own principles.
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