The journey of transformation for the Waitaki District Council will take a step forward later this month.
The council said in a statement yesterday that from June 23, the Oamaru Public Library and Service Centre would become the place for in-person rates, registrations and application inquiries for the Waitaki district.
The council’s headquarters will be open for viewing property files, meetings with officers, and attending public meetings and workshops.
Council customer engagement and experience director Lisa Baillie said by relocating the customer liaison team to the public library and service centre, the community now
had an in-person service desk open six days a week, with longer opening times than those provided at council headquarters.
"We’re providing more time, on more days, for people to speak face-to-face with someone at council by using what we’ve already got sensibly."
The council was also working towards introducing similar access to services at the Waitaki Aquatic Centre, which was open seven days a week, to further extend its ability to serve the community.
The council also recently launched an entire one-stop shop of digital forms, meaning the community can apply for everything from alcohol licences to water connections online, without having to print off and bring or send in a paper copy. New online forms were being added every week.
Council chief executive Alex Parmley said the transformation programme was about making the organisation leaner and more cost-effective, while improving access and the level of customer service.
"Our digital upgrades mean people can apply for consents, rates rebates, and more from their couch — saving them time and money," he said.
The customer service desk at the library would offer "access six days a week to our services for residents, without increasing the cost to ratepayers".
There had been pushback from some to the transformation changes. The Otago Daily Times reported in March a group campaigning to keep libraries as they were said the changes were simply making libraries an "afterthought".
The council had replied that library services would continue to be offered by a skilled team and a new children’s librarian had been appointed. — APL
