ORC chairperson Hilary Calvert said the survey would start appearing in the mailboxes of more than 14,000 randomly selected ratepayers from this week.
“In these uncertain times, it is even more important to know as much as we can about what people in Otago feel about what the Otago Regional Council is doing well and what we can do better. This will help us be the very best council we can be in the time we have left,” Ms Calvert said.
By switching from cold calling phone numbers to the hard-copy mail-out format, ORC hoped to prompt an increase in overall responses, and the survey was also available to anyone interested via a Facebook link, as a cost-effective alternative.
ORC general manager strategy and customer Amanda Vercoe said public input was important to ORC ‘‘which is why we carry out regular community surveys to understand how people across Otago view the council, its role and work, their understanding of our services and their perceptions of environmental factors”.
“The surveys help track changes over time, highlight what matters most to communities throughout Otago, and shows us where projects, programmes or monitoring are working well or need improvement,” Mrs Vercoe said.
Householders receiving the survey have until February 22 to respond.
Mrs Vercoe said while people would be aware central government was proposing a wide range of reforms affecting many aspects of regional council governance and work programmes, those would take time to legislate and implement.
“In the meantime, ORC still has job to do on behalf of the public and environment with services to deliver. This includes existing protections around water, air and land monitoring, ongoing consenting responsibilities, engineering work over multiple flood schemes through to preparing for emergency management situations.
“The survey results will help inform decision-making, improve services, and meet accountability and transparency expectations.”
— Allied Media
