The way Corrections talks to the community before placing high-risk offenders will be reviewed following a public outcry about a paedophile in the Lower Hutt community.
Hundreds of Maungaraki residents have signed a petition to get the convicted child sex offender moved out of their neighbourhood - a plea backed by Mayor Ray Wallace.
The 61-year-old is a recidivist offender has to wear an electronic bracelet and is under 24-hour intensive monitoring meaning someone is with him at all time. The house he's living in is close to a school and early childhood centres.
A meeting was held on Thursday with Corrections, community leaders, MPs and local residents.
Lower north regional commissioner Paul Tomlinson says the department will again meet with concerned residents next week and will respond to the problems they raised.
"Corrections has also agreed to look at our processes around engaging with the community around the placement of high-risk offenders.
"Public safety is Corrections' primary priority. No address would be approved if we considered that it presented an unmanageable risk to the safety of the community," Mr Tomlinson says.
The petition is calling for the man to be moved onto prison grounds. The Sensible Sentencing Trust says this would be cheaper for the taxpayer.
Founder Garth McVicar says their figures show it is "considerably cheaper" to develop a housing precinct on prison grounds than monitor someone 24/7.
"An existing house could be relocated on to Corrections-owned land and renovated and hooked to services for approximately $100,000," he says.
While a new three-bedroom kitset home would cost around $200,000.
"At present it costs in excess of $300,000 per year to monitor these high-risk offenders 24/7. The Government could save money and keep the community a lot safer by adopting such a policy," he says.
The man's case also made it to Parliament, with Labour Hutt South MP Trevor Mallard grilling Corrections Minister Judith Collins in the House on Thursday.
He claimed Corrections told a young family to put their paddling pool out of sight of the man.
"Does the minister agree with advice given by Corrections to the neighbouring parents of five and six-year old girls, who for years have had a paddling pool on their deck, now overlooked by this paedophile, that they should modify their parenting and have their girls play on the other side of the house?" he asked.
"If that report is accurate, then that would seem to be an inappropriate comment," Ms Collins replied.
Local business owner Melissa Morris says they want him moved to prison grounds because otherwise he'd just end up in another neighbourhood.
"Nobody wants this guy near them."
Ms Morris says he's too close to the local school.
"The community of children that are around where our ones are particularly living - there's just too many children there," she said.
"Corrections have got no regard for those children at all, and it's just wrong that they've placed him up there in our neighbourhood."
Mr Wallace said where the man was living was "unsuitable" for a number of reasons, adding that there was "a lot of disbelief and shock" he had been placed there.
"One, it overlooks a neighbour's; two, its proximity to neighbours with young children and proximity to schools."
The offender's residence is within a kilometre of a school, but Corrections says it's fine because it's more than a kilometre by road.
He isn't allowed to leave his property without being accompanied by another person.
Mr Wallace acknowledged the need for the man to live somewhere and to receive support to rehabilitate - just not where he's been placed.
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