Lawyer's Head: A little more action, a little less conversation, please!
by Cate Hennessy
“One hopes that ultimately the Dunedin City Council will find a solution that will maximise public enjoyment of this spectacular area while also enhancing public safety.” - Keren Skegg, Senior lecturer and researcher, University of Otago
A significant body of evidence exists to show that restricting access to certain means and methods of suicide will help to reduce suicides by that method. Jumping sites have been identified in the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Action Plan as a key area of action, including data surveillance on favoured jumping sites and scoping the need for guidance on managing these sites. One of these, a scenic headland in Otago is at the heart of one of the longest running debates in Dunedin City Council's history.
It's been five years since the road to the Lawyers Head lookout - John Wilson Ocean Drive - was temporarily closed in August 2006 to allow construction of the Tahuna Wastewater Treatment Plant outfall. Apart from a very brief period of time when access was restored in 2009 – it has remained closed to vehicles.
Community groups, individuals, health services and the Dunedin City Council continue to debate the pros and cons of restoring full access, partial access or limited access, while central to this issue lies one important question – of what value is a life?
Before the closure, Lawyers Head was the site of 13 suicides in 10 years. Local police inspector Dave Campbell is quoted as saying the headland “has the unenviable reputation of having the highest number of deaths by suicide in one location in New Zealand.”
After the closure, there were no further suicides until 2009. Three days after the headland was opened to traffic in 2009, there was a death, and John Wilson Ocean Drive was closed once again.
There are other headlands that have a similar outlook and views within city limits, but what makes Lawyers Head unique - and popular - is it's close proximity to the city centre.
Jodie Black, Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Southern District Health Board, says it's because of that popularity and proximity that “our priority is to limit access so that suicides are prevented.”
She says, “What has been interesting to see as the debate has unfolded is how different parts of the community have expressed other reasons for limiting access to this area.
“People have noticed how anti-social behaviour – such as vandalism and drug-taking – has dropped; there is not so much litter in the area; there has been an increase in locals using this green space for picnics, biking and walking; and conservation groups are keen on the possibility of establishing a bird colony.”
Looking at the number and variety of submissions, Jodie believes that it’s not about completely closing the road, it’s about restricting access so more members of the community can use it more productively.
“There are some perceptions that restricting access is just about suicide, but actually there are wider benefits. The current debate should be as much focussed on health and wellness as it should be about preventing deaths,” she says. “It's not beneficial or helpful to keep the knowledge alive that this is a spot associated with suicides.”
It is a point of view that of University of Otago Senior Lecturer and Researcher Keren Skegg concurs with. “There is the danger that acrimonious public debate may bring the 'hotspot' more into the public eye - and this in itself can increase suicide risk.”
Her 2009 paper, Effect of restricting access to a suicide jumping site, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry – specifically looked at the incidents of suicide at Lawyers Head before and after the road closure.
Her conclusion was that preventing vehicular access to a suicide jumping hotspot was an effective means of suicide prevention at the site. “There was no evidence of substitution to other jumping sites,” she says.
The findings support an extensive evidence base that clearly demonstrates that suicidal crises may be short-lived and often involve mixed feelings, so that anything that makes access to the favoured method difficult, can allow time for the crisis to pass or for the person to seek help.
For example, people who survived jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge died of natural causes - they didn't choose to use another method.
Keren believes one of the tasks of a community is to be able to balance individual rights against the need for protection of vulnerable members. “This can be very difficult, as so many interests have to be taken into account.
“On one hand, some restriction of access to the hotspot may reduce suicide risk among those who have fixed on that particular place as part of a suicide plan. On the other hand, other citizens may regret or resent having reduced access to the area,” she says.
Keren notes that during the prolonged community debate there have been key themes expressed in letters to the editor published in the Otago Daily Times.
“Writers were affronted that ratepayers were no longer able to drive the whole way along John Wilson Ocean Drive to the Head,” she says. “It was considered ludicrous that suicides could possibly be prevented in this way. Moreover, there was an undertone in some letters that the liberties of decent citizens were more important than any risk to those unfortunate souls with mental illness.
“Thankfully, as families and cyclists have enjoyed the car-free part of the road to Lawyers Head, the debate has now shifted to one about walkers versus drivers.”
Keren says the process has been a long and painful one, where the Council has repeatedly changed its mind about how it will deal with Lawyers Head.
“During the period of debate there have been two deaths at Lawyer's Head that might perhaps not have occurred were it not for the publicity surrounding the decision-making process.
Dunedin City Councillor, Bill Acklin, who has often been quoted about this issue, says that in his view Council do have a responsibility to do what they can to prevent [suicide], and “it will definitely be part of the discussions coming up”.
However, like Jodie and Keren, he says that there are wider community interests that also need to be addressed.
“We are aware of a big drive in the community for some vehicle access at a particular time of the day, and we need to consider that shared approach.”
He says that a public workshop has been held in mid-October and he expects that the feedback from that will inform the Council's Community Development meeting in November and hopefully lead to a final decision being made by the end of the year.
But don't expect John Wilson Ocean Drive to be open for the summer crowds. “At the end of the day nothing may change - it may stay closed,” he says. “Even if the outcome is for some vehicle access to Lawyers Head, we will need time to get the road ready for joint access.
“Although plantings and barriers at the headland have already been addressed [as per the recommendations of last year’s hearings panel] – we still need to assess road coverage as well as pedestrian safety.”
Jodie says the DHB is keen to work with the council and look at ways of maximising the community’s opportunity to enjoy Lawyers Head, while reducing the risk of suicide. “The two are not mutually exclusive. There are options that take on everyone’s point of view.”
Jodie says that the DHB is keen to move this forward to resolution. “While it is unresolved, it remains in people’s 'head space' and the reasons for restriction are front of mind. By resolving it, there is a chance for the memory [of suicide] to disappear.
“But we shouldn't overlook there needs to be some acknowledgment that as a society we need to protect the most vulnerable people in the community.”
