At last week’s council meeting, councillor’s agreed a separate crime prevention committee to that existing in Forster Tuncurry should be established for Tea Gardens Hawks Nest.

Council is expected to advertise positions for community members who would like to be apart of the committee, joining representatives from Port Stephens local area command and council.

Councillor Len Roberts said he would also like to see members from the chamber of commerce and the school getting involved.

“This is a major benefit to the community as it will have a role in promoting awareness on crime prevention as well as having the opportunity to discuss any issues for example vandalism.”

Tea Gardens resident, Warwick Nichols who started a push for more police in the area this year said he was pleased to see action starting to take shape.

He sees it as an opportunity to increase police presence.

“The main advantage of the committee will be the weight of having council’s support in wanting to improve our services,” Mr Nichols said.

On the committee’s agenda, Mr Nichols said he would like to see strong emphasis placed on the need for residents to report every offence.

“If it’s not reported, it can’t be used for police intelligence, that’s the first step.”

Mr Nichols would also like to see a campaign in place to let the State Minister for Policing know that the community is not happy with the minimum level of policing allocated to the area.