Ian McLean Spokesperson for the Green Party

Community is about networks, security, local food, and knowing your neighbours. It is about people sharing resources and building resilience against external forces such as fuel prices.

The Welcome Bay Community Forum met recently to search for solutions to youth crime. It seems that every imaginable agency has some kind of programme underway to support young people.

Last Saturday, the Greerton community celebrated spring at the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Every Saturday, the Tauranga Farmers' Market at Tauranga Primary School delivers local produce to local people. This is value-adding at its best, and there will be a farmers' market near you.

TV shows like Coronation Street, Neighbours, and Shortland Street, remind us that people might come and go, but neighbourhoods and networks are organic creatures that live on.

This summer, knock on the door of a neighbour you never met. Have a Christmas block party. Share your silverbeet over the fence. Why not join your community?