Deputy Mayor: Resident survey results 'awful'

The Invercargill City Council conducts resident surveys and for the past three years, just 17% to 20% of respondents have been satisfied with the council’s democratic process.

Invercargill Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell.

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Invercargill’s Deputy Mayor says the public’s view of the council is “awful” and they shouldn’t continue to accept that.

The Invercargill City Council conducts resident surveys and for the past three years, just 17% to 20% of respondents have been satisfied with the council’s democratic process.

Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell - who this week confirmed he would stand for mayor at the next election - said the council shouldn’t keep skipping over those numbers each time the survey results are in.

“In this triennium, we’ve seen these [survey results] two or three times and they are awful,” Campbell said at a finance and projects meeting on Tuesday.

The common theme amongst those dissatisfied was that the council didn’t listen to the public during public consultation, Campbell said.

“I just wonder whether than just passing over it every time we come to this [survey result], as we’ve just done, whether we do need to have a really good hard look as a council how we do that [consultation work] and whether there is a better way.”

Projects and finance committee chairperson Grant Dermody said it was always “underwhelming” when the council gets that feedback.

“You look at what we are doing around the long-term-plan and the way we are trying to engage the community for feedback,” Dermody said.

Campbell said the biggest comment was that people believed the council had already made up its mind before it went to consultation and that the consultation was “tokenism”.

“We know that isn’t actually true, but I can see how the public think that. Maybe it means we have to do some more real-time consultation, consult as we go,” Campbell said.

Invercargill City Council strategy and policy manager Rhiannon Suter agreed with Cr Campbell that the public’s view of its consultation was not great, and it was something they were always looking at.

“I think we are seeing a few different things going on, which you can kind of see in some of the comments in this quarter of the residents’ survey.

“There is a significant group amongst the community who feel that council doesn’t listen, so what is the point in taking part in consultation. It may be that previously they have submitted on an issue and council has chosen to go in a different direction.”

Public consultation was a tool to help inform the council but ultimately it wasn’t a referendum, it was an engagement, Sutter said.

She added satisfaction levels around the democratic process element of councils was declining across other areas as well.

Another problem around public consultation was the “media landscape” was fragmented and there was not one source to reach all parties.

“That is a challenging everybody is dealing with. No matter what effort we are making with promotion… there will be people who have no idea we are engaging on the long-term plan despite all the work of the comms team on social media and traditional media, despite all of the events being out and about, there will be a large chunk of the community that simply won’t know that it’s going on.”

Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said there was a “small squeaky door that says we don’t listen”.

“What I say to that is we do listen, but sometimes we don’t agree. Sometimes we get very small numbers [of submissions],” Clark said.

He used the example during the last term when they consulted the public on what to do with the museum.

Clark said 90% submitted to strengthen the pyrimad building and get it open. The council opted to go down the path of building a new museum, “and with hindsight that was by far the best decision”.

“Sometimes it’s very, very difficult to balance out what we hear formally through consultation and what we hear through other mechanisms, which can be quite extensive at times.”

To learn more about the long-term plan consultation visit letstalk.icc.govt.nz, or pick up a copy of the Consultation Document from Te Hīnaki Civic Building at 101 Esk St, the Invercargill Public Library, Bluff Service Centre, Splash Palace or Murihiku Marae.

You can also have a chat with councillors and council staff at an in-person engagement session, which will feature at various locations and public events throughout the consultation period.

For times and location information on in-person sessions, visit letstalk.icc.govt.nz.

You can also send in a video submission via letstalk.icc.govt.nz, or set up a ‘cuppa and

chat’ with the team by emailing policy@icc.govt.nz or calling 03 211 1777.

To give your feedback, submit online at letstalk.icc.govt.nz, post it or drop it off at Te Hīnaki Civic Building at 101 Esk St, the Invercargill Public Library, Bluff Service Centre, Splash Palace or Murihiku Marae.

Submissions are due by 5pm, Tuesday April 2.