Police at the scene of an 'unexplained' death in central Whangārei. Photo: RNZ/Susan Edmunds
A Whangārei shop owner says there's sorrow in the city over a death early this morning, but no sense of unease or panic.
Police were called at 5.42am on Wednesday after a body was found on Bank Street, near the intersection with Vine and Water Streets.
Bank Street remains cordoned off between Vine and Walton streets, and the nearby Rose Street bus terminal is also closed with buses re-routed via Vine Street.
Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Pilmer said police were working to establish exactly what had happened, but at this stage were treating the death as unexplained.
Police cordon at the scene of an 'unexplained' death on Bank Street in central Whangārei. Photo: RNZ/Susan Edmunds
Bernina Northland Sewing Centre owner Tim Robinson, whose shop is just 30 metres from the cordon, said central city retailers were hoping the woman's death turned out to be medical rather than something more sinister.
"When we arrived here about just after 7.30 the police cordons were already up and they were in control of the of the situation. They've got a big tarpaulin up to provide privacy for the deceased and the team," he said.
"They've set up one of their tents and there's a team of forensic staff there now with their white gowns who are doing an extensive search of the scene, I guess to figure out what's happened."
Robinson said the death had brought sadness but not, as far as he could tell, a sense of fear.
"Obviously it's a tragic event, but I don't think there's any sense of unease or people are panicked or anything like that. It's more a sense of sorrow for someone who's lost their life," he said.
"We're just hoping that, in fact, it was a medical event, not something nefarious and that there's been a crime committed. At the moment, the police are just being very cool, calm and collected. They're doing a great job and not being intrusive."
Members of the public are advised by police to avoid the area at this time.
Police tarpaulin at the scene of an 'unexplained' death on Bank Street in central Whangārei. Photo: RNZ/Susan Edmunds
Robinson said the cordon had been set up so most businesses, his included, were able to operate as normal.
The main exception was Taimahi, a food and produce retailer that provided training and employment for the disabled.
"Unfortunately, they've been fully cordoned off so they're closed, which is a great inconvenience to them, but the rest of us are open, and customers are coming in our shop, no problem. Again that's a credit to the police."
Robinson said people had been feeling safer in the central city in recent months.
"It actually felt like the temperature had dropped quite a bit here. Yes, we still seem to have issues with the mental health challenges we see all across the country, but in terms of people feeling unsafe and worried about what's going on, it does feel like there has been a decline in that."
Business owners and central city residents were also looking forward to the six beat police promised for central Whangārei.
"There's still no date for when they're supposed to hit the streets but that will increase people's sense of security," he said.
Early this year, Northland was rocked by an unprecedented spate of nine homicides over a five-month period, leaving local police so stretched reinforcements had to be sent from all over the country.
However, that spate came to an abrupt end in May, with no more suspicious deaths reported since then.
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