"Gone by Christmas."
That's the commitment Metlink has made to remove a bus shelter in Lower Hutt following a number of "cowardly and heartless" assaults in and around it.
The bus shelter, near Queensgate mall, has made headlines in recent months as people sitting inside have been ambushed and assaulted.
On Saturday evening at around 6:30pm, a 14-year-old girl who Newshub has agreed not to name was sitting inside the bus shelter on her way to a friend's place for a sleepover.
The girl's mother said a group of girls came from a nearby alleyway and initially began beating a different girl, but within moments the 14-year-old found herself being beaten up too.
Multiple videos of the attack have been circulating on social media and while Newshub was speaking with the mother and daughter, a new video of the attack had just been sent to them.
"Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. They are animals, they're savages," the mother said while watching the video for the first time.
The distressing video shared with Newshub shows one girl approaching a teenager who's being punched in the head several times, her hair pulled and her back and head stomped on.
Meanwhile, the 14-year-old is seen being beaten to the ground by another girl with her hair being pulled and her head punched multiple times.
The mother said her daughter is now too anxious to leave the house.
"She shouldn't have to feel like that. That anxiety."
The mother said the anxiety is so bad "we're even talking about moving schools. She just wants to get away."
And now the mother wants serious change, telling Newshub "is it going to take someone to be killed before this problem is taken seriously?".
"I've been born and bred in the Hutt Valley and I've never felt unsafe."
So what are community leaders doing about the issue?
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry said the recent attack is "appalling" and was saddened "that these incidents continue in that location".
He said following a "robust" conversation with Metlink and the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) on Tuesday, he made it clear that the removal of the bus shelter was urgent.
Barry said while the removal of the bus shelter won't guarantee an end to assaults, he knows the shelter is "a real hotspot".
"There are a range of reasons as to why this happens and we need to be upfront that this won't be a silver bullet to solving this issue."
Following the conversation with Metlink and GWRC, Metlink has committed to having the shelters removed by Christmas. Barry is confident that will happen.
"That's why we will be holding Metlink's feet to the fire to have the bus shelters gone before Christmas."
General manager of Metlink Samantha Gain said they are doing all they can "to help reduce the anti-social behaviour that occurs near those bus stops".
"It will be done before Christmas."
Gain said once the bus stops are removed, stage two will begin next year where a new and improved bus shelter will be installed.
"The issue with the existing structures at that stop is that they only have one way in and out. They can get stuck in there."
Gain told Newshub the removed shelter will be replaced with an open awning-type shelter with sufficient lighting and CCTV.
She added the current layout causes congestion, but a proposal to have an additional stop on Queens Dr is being made that will solve congestion and also provide casual surveillance because it is busier.
Local MP Ginny Andersen told Newshub the shelters are "crime traps" and would have liked to see them removed sooner.
"Once you get in those spaces they are a great space for opportunistic crime."
She too was shocked by the recent attack calling it a "cowardly and heartless assault that no one should have to endure".
A police spokesperson said two young people were arrested and have since been referred to Youth Aid.
Newshub requested the amount of assaults that have occurred so far in the area, but police said "we do not have data recorded/collated down to specific locations like that".
