Two weeks on the road talking with the people of the Western Bay has been a great experience learning about what the council could do to make the district an even better place, says Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council councillors and staff took a brightly painted 1960s Bedford school bus around 17 destinations in the District during the last two weeks of July.
Twenty-three staff, 12 councillors and 10 community board members hit the road - travelling nearly 1000 kilometres and chatting with more than 1500 people.
Mr Paterson said it was a new venture and had been successful in reaching out to people who normally would not encounter the council.
"The overwhelming response from people was positive and 533 people filled out our questionnaires," said Ross.