The survey will help shape the future of services to the public.

ORC Chairperson Hilary Calvert says the survey will 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 says.

By switching from cold calling phone numbers to the hard-copy mail-out format ORC hope to prompt an increase in overall responses, and the survey will also be available to anyone interested via a Facebook link, as a cost-effective alternative.

ORC’s General Manager Strategy and Customer, Amanda Vercoe, says, “Public input is really 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,” she says.

“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.” — Amanda Vercoe, ORC General Manager Strategy and Customer

Householders receiving the survey have until 22 February to respond.

Mrs Vercoe says while people will be aware central Government is proposing a wide range of reforms affecting many aspects of regional council governance and work programmes, those reforms will 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.”

Mrs Vercoe says looking across the most recent community surveys some clear patterns and key issues have been highlighted.

• Most people know ORC manages Otago’s natural resources, but awareness is lower among younger people and non-ratepayers
• Water quality remains the biggest environmental concern across Otago
• Climate change is becoming a more important issue for more people
• Views of ORC improve most when work is visible, such as flood protection projects
• Many people still want clearer communication about what ORC does and why

“The survey results will help inform decision-making, improve services, and meet accountability and transparency expectations,” Mrs Vercoe says.

While councils are required under the Local Government Act 2002 to report on performance and outcomes, community surveys are one of the key tools ORC uses to support this reporting.

Link to survey