Fenton Wilson
There is an item on today's Hawke's Bay Regional Council meeting agenda highlighting a report on the recent Residents' Survey.
This biannual survey gives a snapshot of what ratepayers think of us and the work we do and, I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the result. Overall it shows Hawke's Bay Regional Council is valued for the quality of its work.
What I find really heartening is how highly the residents of Hawke's Bay rated the importance of HBRC's work.
For every service we provide, the 2015 response level was higher than in 2013 (by between 4 per cent for providing public transport to Hastings and Napier, to 15 per cent for controlling smells and odours).
The most named main role of HBRC was water management, followed by environmental management.
The survey shows our work developing and maintaining regional parks and wetlands is highly valued by ratepayers, along with the flood protection and drainage work we do. It was clear that residents are keen for us to maintain and develop our existing parks. There was very high awareness of the parks and wetlands that HBRC manages, with Tutira Regional Park being the most well-known, closely followed by Pekapeka Regional Park and Hawke's Bay Trails.
It was great to see residents highlighting their favourite recreational water spots, including Ocean Beach, Tukituki River, Wairoa River and Westshore Beach.
Ninety-five per cent of the residents surveyed said they cared about the environment and, when asked which main organisation they thought of regarding the environment in Hawke's Bay, more than half said HBRC.
Since air quality is also a priority for HBRC, it is good to see the real success of our HeatSmart programme shine through in the survey. HeatSmart subsidises residents to convert to clean heating options, such as heat pumps and CleanHeat-approved wood burners.
The replacement rate of old wood burners and open fires was up 15 per cent from our 2013 survey. The results tell us there is a lot more interest in HBRC matters in general in 2015 compared with 2013, but that's not surprising given the work programmes we have under way that have created a lot of interest, including the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme.
HBRC leads the region for Civil Defence, being responsible for the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group - the umbrella organisation overseeing emergency management for Hawke's Bay. Because of this role, emergency preparedness was included in the survey.
When it came to being prepared for an emergency, results show the bulk of Hawke's Bay people have enough food and water stored for about three days and something to cook it on. However, 42 per cent of Hawke's Bay residents surveyed had not completed a household emergency plan and checklist.
It's easy to put this job off but it is vital we take the time to prepare a plan and speak to our family about where to meet during or after an emergency.
In a cluttered political environment, it is a credit to council staff that they keep focusing on constant improvement.
-Fenton Wilson is chairman of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz. -Viewpoints on the amalgamation debate can be submitted for consideration and will be used as long as no council resources, money, time or expertise are used in their preparation. This is a requirement of the Local Government Act 2002.