Anti-social behaviour forces library to close early

The Gore District Council has decided to close the Mataura Library/Service Centre at 2.30pm daily until further notice after several incidents over the past few days of threatening and intimidating behaviour directed at staff and the public using the facility.

The safety of our staff and customers is a priority for the Council. The decision to close early was not made lightly.

There have been issues with anti-social behaviour by young people for some months. However, it has escalated in the last few days to the point that our librarian, who works alone most of the time, and our customers don’t feel safe.

Anti-social behaviour happens when teenagers who are not in school arrive to wait for the school buses to drop off their friends, and then they all loiter around the area and in the building.

Closing early means the Librarian can avoid this situation. The Council has notified the police, and we are working on putting a health and safety plan in place.

We believe the young people are between 12 and 19 years old.