Police say the Mid-South Canterbury district, which includes Waimate and Twizel, will be largely unaffected by a restructuring of police operations.
It was confirmed last Friday that the structure in Canterbury would be reduced from four policing areas to two. Canterbury district communications manager Stephen Hill said although the Mid-South Canterbury area would be renamed Canterbury Rural, the public would notice little change.
"Overall staff numbers do not change, there are no station closures and, by and large, the Mid-South Canterbury area remains pretty much as it is at the moment.
"Further down the track, we will be looking at the allocation of staff across different stations and there may be some movements between stations, but we don't know what they will be at this stage. The community shouldn't notice any difference at all at this stage."
The move to a two-area structure followed the release of a draft proposal in May, prompted by a district review.
The new structure creates two areas: Christchurch Metro and Canterbury Rural. Christchurch Metro will encompass Christchurch, which at present is split across three policing areas, and the North Canterbury and Selwyn sub-areas. Canterbury Rural will largely encompass the existing Mid-South Canterbury area and functions.
District commander Superintendent Gary Knowles said the new structure should be operational by December.
"This change will ensure we have the management systems in place to focus on frontline policing and on prevention activities."
