Police closed part of Pages Road, Christchurch, as they responded to what they described as a serious incident. Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
A Linwood ward councillor says there has been a noticeable increase in safety concerns raised by residents living near where a dog-walker was attacked on Monday morning.
The man remains in a critical condition after he was stabbed repeatedly when out walking his dog in Bexley park.
Police were still trying to piece together what may have happened and the attack was currently unexplained.
Bexley park was a popular fixture with dog-walkers, including Linwood ward councillor Yani Johanson told Morning Report.
"What's happened is deeply disturbing and distressing, my thoughts are absolutely with the victim and the family and the friends."
Nestled between New Brighton and Linwood, the park was recently expanded and was a popular spot for dogwalkers as sunrise and sunset, Johanson said.
"It is adjacent to the redzone as well, so obviously there has been a bit of population lost there."
He has found people to be friendly when at the park.
"It's not a place during daylight hours that you'd feel scared or nervous, it's a beautiful green space that people are enjoying."
There had been a noticeable amount of concern raised from his constituents about the increase in anti-social behaviour, he said.
"It is important that as a community we try and work together across council and police to see what we can do to increase people's safety."
There was a range of factors leading to these concerns, he said, including rising inequity and inequality, and the pressure on mental health services
"They key thing is trying to look at the underlying causes of why we're going in this direction and how we can invest in communities to turn it around, it's really important."
"What's happened is deeply disturbing and distressing" - Linwood ward councillor Yani Johanson
Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves said the man who was stabbed left home just before 5am and about an hour later his family saw the dog return alone.
"They've obviously been a bit alarmed, they hoped in their car and went for a a drive. And then they have found him.
"He was conscious, he was obviously not in a very good way and unfortunately we've obviously not been in a position to speak with him."
Police want to hear from anyone in the area between 4.30am and 6.30am, or who has dashcam from the area, she said.
"We don't know what the motivation is, we don't know in terms of if he was targeted, why he was targeted and I guess this is where we are appealing to the public to work out what has happened."