A two week road show put on by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council to reach out to people in the community wrapped up in July and is now being shared.
The 'Portraits of Our Place' road show was a new venture and it had been successful in reaching out to people who normally would not encounter the council, Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson said.
Councillors and staff from the council 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 1,000kms and chatting with more than 1500 people.
The aim of the 'Portraits of Our Place' road show was to get grassroots feedback from residents of their communities and where they feel the council fits in with their day-to-day lives.
"The overwhelming response from people was positive and 533 people filled out our questionnaires," Mr Paterson said.
"I was thrilled to get out and have face-to-face conversations with people. It was a good way to get people to sit down and talk to us in a relaxed environment - personally it was a learning experience for me about what issues are really important to people.
"What we have learned will feed into what the council will do for the district over the coming years. We also found out that people would like to be more involved in the decisions that the council makes."
Six themes underpinned the road trip - community heart, land lovers, just coasting, nature nurture, kia kaha and bountiful bay.
"While Western Bay residents are a forward-looking bunch and keen to embrace economic opportunities, our rural way of life and traditions remain dear to our hearts - and those sentiments certainly came out in conversations on the road trip," Mr Paterson said.