Big response on consultation

The Dunedin City Council has been inundated with more than 2500 responses to three separate calls for public input on thorny issues.

Now council staff just need to figure out exactly what the message from ratepayers is.

Council policy adviser Brendon Harper told the Otago Daily Times the council had received ''around 700'' responses to its Big Decisions, Big Conversations consultation drive.

The exercise, designed to help shape the council's draft ''significance and engagement policy'', amounted to consulting the community on how best to consult the community.

The responses showed there was a strong demand for public engagement in the council's decision-making process, Mr Harper said.

However, the public's views diverged on how best to do that, with strong demand for greater use of new technology but also continued interest in traditional, face-to-face consultation, he said.

''There's a lot of people leaning towards the online consultation, a lot of people keen on apps and video and even texting, and right at the other end of the spectrum we've got people who prefer face-to-face.

''It's a bit of a challenge and it will be up to us to target the engagement on future consultations to what's going to be appropriate for the audience.

''We definitely won't be ditching those more traditional methods.''

Council city development manager Dr Anna Johnson said 1258 people had also completed online surveys discussing the future of inner-city parking.

Another 652 people had expressed their views on proposed changes to medium-density housing rules outlined as part of work on the city's second generation district plan (2GP), she said.

However, with posted surveys still coming in - even after last Friday's deadline - it was too soon to say what the results indicated, she said.

Mr Harper said the council was ''really pleased'' with the public response to the Big Decisions, Big Conversations consultation exercise.

''We think it's pretty successful for what could have been a pretty dry topic.''

A staff report outlining results of the public feedback, and recommending changes to the draft significance and engagement policy, would be presented to the next full council meeting on November 24.

The council was legally required to adopt the new policy by December 1, he said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement