TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
Fishing and Hunting Specialists HAMILLS TE AWAMUTU
121 Sloane Street Te Awamutu (Beside Countdown Supermarket)
P: 07 871 5857 E: shop@hamillsta.co.nz Hours 8.30am – 5pm Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 1pm Saturday.
FREE
It’s a real newspaper
SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
We can’t get no …satisfaction
performance indicators and that resulted in chief executive Garry Dyet Waipā District Council’s reputation having another performance measure has taken a big hit in the latest annual added to his job description. residents’ survey. He will meet soon with the Satisfaction with the council’s council’s communications’ team performance plummeted from 40 to develop a strategy on how to per cent in 2020 to 27 per cent in the communicate better with residents. financial year ended 30 June 2021. Business Improvement and Risk Males are less satisfied than Management manager Georgina females as are those people aged Knapp identified three priorities 30-64. Satisfaction levels are lowest for the council to work on to shift among Māori and in Pirongia (19 per residents’ overall perception of the cent vs 47 per cent the previous year) council. and Te Awamutu (21 per cent vs 39 They were image and reputation, per cent). roading and value for money. There Cambridge remains the ward with needed to be more communication the highest satisfaction. around council’s brand and Disagreement over how rates reputation, she said. were spent and about insufficient A total of 432 randomly selected consultation with the public over people responded to the survey, key projects like Streets for People which was conducted by Taurangain Cambridge, Te Awamutu based Key Research. The results Memorial Park development and were benchmarked against 11 other the introduction of a Māori ward councils with Waipā sitting in the have been cited by council staff middle of the pack. as the major reasons for the dip in Councillors discussed the survey in satisfaction. a workshop on Tuesday Two in five residents have no idea Cambridge councillor Roger what the two community boards do Gordon wondered if the Covid while nearly half say their role is to environment had contributed to the act as an advocate for the community. satisfaction decrease. Four in five are either dissatisfied “Possibly we’ve been a bit more or neutral about whether the council closed in our discussions,” he said. offers value for money. Pirongia councillor Clare St Pierre The highest area of performance said the council put itself out to the was residents’ perception of public community with some controversial facilities and services at 53 per cent. things. Waipā, at 91 per cent, ranked “People look at that as a failure in highly as an accepting and leadership,” she said. welcoming district. “It looks like we’ve copped it, The council recorded a significant but I would be really disappointed decrease across several key if council wasn’t working in By Mary Anne Gill
those spaces and we need to be challenged.” Te Awamutu councillor Hazel Barnes questioned whether the community knew who their councillors were. “Perhaps we don’t spend enough time out in our community.” She also queried the amount of time it took for staff to answer phone calls. “I hear so many stories from people when they don’t get a response back.” Cambridge councillor Mike Pettit said one of the drivers for reputational damage in his ward was the third bridge debate and the lack of progress. He asked what communication measures were being used. Fellow ward councillor Philip Coles said if the community did not know who its representatives were, it came down to the individual councillor. “It is our responsibility to be out there working for the community.” Kakepuku councillor Susan O’Regan said the report was generally positive while mayor Jim Mylchreest said it was important to look at the results and learn from them. One important issue was to communicate Waipā’s financial management which was very good, but the perception suggested otherwise. Deputy chief executive Ken Morris said council would put some communications out into the community and be more proactive in the media.
For Queen and Te Awamutu Te Awamutu news reporter Luke East has been working to erect a plaque commemorating a royal visit to Te Awamutu – with Queen Elizabeth’s approval. This week the Te Awamutu Community Board agreed to pay a third of the cost – leaving the rest to crowd funding. Luke shares the story so far - and how you can help - on Page 3
Luke East with the plaque which will adorn the old Post Office building.
first nationalp first choicep first timep we put you first Vayle Hammond 027 226 9532
Residential • Rural Commercial 469 Bond Road Te Awamutu 07 870 6328
Tania Cortesi-Western 07 280 7536
first national R E A L
E S T A T E
07 280 7536
Te Awamutu
waiparealestate.nz
Waipa Real Estate Ltd, MREINZ Licensed REAA 2008