Weekly column by Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan.
For a majority of residents, the main source of information on council matters comes directly through two sources. First, emailed newsletters from council (33 per cent) and direct mail from the council (15 per cent). A strong source of information (25 per cent) is delivered via the district's newspapers. This data from the 2019/2020 Residents' Opinion Survey delivered by Research First, however, does not define if the access to newspapers was secured via hard copies or online digital publications. We have four main publications in the district. In the north we have the Otaki Mail and Otaki Today, with the whole district also serviced by Kāpiti News and the Observer. All have parallel digital versions. I suspect access to information is through hard copies based on the assumption that the older generation are less digitally connected. Potentially related to this is the survey's registration of highest dissatisfaction being with the perceived lack of "being kept informed". Clarity of information and ease of participation are perceived to be low. The survey noted this dissatisfaction to be particularly high during the Covid lockdown. One explanation could be that during the lockdown, newspapers, a key source of information to the community, were not delivered. Newspapers remain a key source of information at 25 per cent, while social media, at a low 8 per cent, is, according to the survey, starting to develop into an increasing source.
The areas of high satisfaction have been swimming pools (95 per cent), libraries (93 per cent), pathways (92 per cent) followed by access to beaches, community support, kerbside collection and public toilets all registering in the high 80s. A point that needs to be noted is that multimillion-dollar community projects such as the Paraparumu Library and the Aquatic Centre faced strong opposition from a sector of the public concerned about the cost and impost on ratepayers. Yet, today, since their completion, the popularity and community enjoyment of these amenities are extremely high. A lesson to consider in any controversy over public projects. It's also really good to see the survey's high appreciation of the condition of our outdoor spaces such as cycling, walking and bridle paths as well as beach access points. These are intrinsically linked to Kāpiti Coast's identity as a lifestyle choice with our waterways, open spaces and 44km of beach. An interesting point to think about is the high 89 per cent satisfaction around public access to our beaches. Contrast that with the council's other survey on our proposed beach bylaw where a significant source of public complaints have been the easy access to our beach by vehicles and the nuisance of vehicles on our more popular beach sites.
Some years ago, our public toilets were a source of complaint and rightly so because the compromise of a high standard of toilet service impacted on the visitor experience. Improvements here have seen a significant increase in satisfaction. Another area of significant increase in satisfaction has been in the condition of our roads and ease of movement around the district. Contrast this with previous public complaints over poor tar-sealing episodes with the media coining the term "Tarmageddon". The ease around the district, I suspect, relates partly to the post Expressway settling of travel patterns and better management of roadworks. Waste minimisation education has remained behind target for the third year running and is, therefore, an area of concern. The Mayoral Taskforce on Waste Minimisation had also highlighted this area. Increased council investment has been made here and improvements will be happening. It is interesting to note that while this waste minimisation education had scored pretty low, satisfaction on kerbside collection, which is linked to waste minimisation, is high. Needless to say, while the council's overall satisfaction is improving slowly there are still areas of concern needing more attention.
