Council updates  |  22 Oct 2021

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Christchurch City Council is implementing a five point action plan in response to the findings of its annual Residents’ Survey.

“Like a number of other local government and public sector organisations, we have experienced a decline in satisfaction ratings over the past few years,’’ says Council Assistant Chief Executive Lynn McClelland.

New survey being carried out

The 2021-2022 Residents Survey of Council is now underway through to March 2022.

It covers services such as parks, libraries and service centres and is distributed to a wide range of people via email, letter and feedback at Council facilities.

If you are approached or contacted either in person at locations around the city or online, we encourage you to participate. This is a great way of ensuring your voice is heard and we welcome your feedback. 

“We are determined to turn that situation around and improve our performance so that we can instil confidence and trust in our residents. We want people to feel they can depend on us to do what we say we will do.

“We also want to help residents understand the realities of the financial, legislative and other trade-offs and challenges that form the context of the Council’s decision-making,’’ Ms McClelland says.

“Next week I will be bringing a report to the Finance and Performance Committee which details a five point action plan that has been developed in response to the issues raised in the 2021 Residents’ Survey.’’

That plan involves both enhancing existing work programmes and adding some new initiatives to help lift the organisation’s performance.

“As part of the plan, there will be a stronger focus across the Council teams on ensuring that Level of Service targets are met. We will also be improving our processes for dealing with customer service requests,’’ Ms McClelland says.

“We are also going to take a new approach to communicating our performance to our communities. We will be providing people with regular updates on how we are performing in the areas that they have identified as being of particular interest to them, such as roading infrastructure, water, safety and sustainability,’’ Ms McClelland says.

The Council is also exploring how it can improve its engagement processes and residents’ understanding of decision-making.

“Options we are exploring include making greater use of local Community Board forums and working more closely with community groups and institutions, such as schools and universities. We are also considering giving people more options on how they can provide feedback and at potentially changing the way we operate hearings so they are less judicial in style,’’ Ms McCLelland says.

“As an Executive Leadership Team we are committed to working with Councillors to improve our communities’ understanding and engagement with Council decision-making.’’

Read more about the action plan.