ADDICTS CENTRE MOVING NEXT TO 'DRUG PARK'

Napier's Springhill Addiction Treatment Centre is closing and a new centre
is planned for Hastings, however residents say it will be next to a city
park that is "a known drug-dealing area".

Hawke's Bay District Health Board plans to move its residential addiction
treatment services to a former rest home in Tomoana Rd, beside Cornwall
Park.

The Springhill Addiction Treatment Centre has been home to the services
since 1980 but is being closed as the health board feels it is no longer
fit for the purpose.

The move comes despite the centre being granted $434,000 for redevelopment
in the government's 2004 Budget.

Thousands of people from around New Zealand were treated at the 18-bed
Morris St site in the former Bethany maternity home.

The health board believes the former rest home, which closed last year,
will need very little work to become a treatment centre.

However, some residents question the placement of a rehabilitation
facility next to the park.

"We just wonder why anyone would put the centre near Cornwall Park when
everyone knows it's a place drugs are bought and sold," one woman said.

Neil Kirton, chairman of the trust that owns Springhill, said the
proximity of the park would not be a problem.

"These people know how to get drugs if they want them. They are there for
treatment. Having the park nearby won't make any difference," Mr Kirton
said.

The centre will provide treatment for up to 20 people aged over 17 who
want to stop using alcohol or drugs. Attendance will be voluntary, with
courses funded by the Health Ministry through the Hawke's Bay and Midland
DHBs.

A draft resource consent application obtained by The Dominion Post states
that a new site for the treatment is needed "with some urgency". Another
Napier site the board had considered may no longer be available due to a
Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement.

The application includes testimonials from seven Springhill neighbours who
said they had never had trouble with the centre.

Residents living near the Tomoana Rd site were contacted this month by
consultants employed by the board. One said most residents had opposed the
plan but changed their minds after a visit to the Springhill site.

Mr Kirton said the Springhill building was in bad shape. "It's falling
over. It's rotting."