Kai Rotorua receive the results from survey of more than 500 people

More than 500 people took the time to fill out a survey on what they would like to see a Rotorua community kai hub look like and now the results are in.

In a presentation this evening the Kai Rotorua team were able to see what the community had to say about a project which has been in the pipeline for a while.

The Kai Rotorua team has partnered with Rotorua Lakes Council, Scion and Toi Ohomai to make the food hub possible and the survey with Horizon Research, which took place earlier in the year, received 552 responses.

The aim of the survey was to determine whether it was something the community wanted and the answer came back as a resounding "yes".

Of the Rotorua respondents, 373 people, 81 per cent said they would use the services the food hub hoped to provide and among Māori respondents the support was overwhelming at 91 per cent.

Of the services it hoped to provide visiting the cafe was the most popular activity with 79 per cent of people saying they would.

Following this was buying produce grown there, attending gardening classes and attending nutrition classes.

The survey found people in the 25 to 44 age group were the most likely to use the food hub services while people in the 18 to 24 bracket and those over 40 were the least likely.

The researcher speculated this was because the 25 to 44 year age bracket was people who were purchasing their first home and starting to create a future for their family.

When it came to the potential for a seed bank 67 per cent of people said they would buy seeds, while 49 per cent would be interested in learning about seed saving.

The kai hub could also include a kumara museum, commercial kitchen and vegetable garden, all housed within an environmentally friendly and sustainable building.

Respondents were also given the opportunity to say where they would be most interested in seeing the food hub located.

The majority of respondents said they would use the community food hubs services most if it was located in the park opposite Rotorua Boys' High School, however Kuirau Park was voted as the most popular site.

In the comments section of the survey, 120 people used the phrase "great concept" while only three people opposed the concept and the only one said it was a waste of money.

There were seven commenters who hoped the food hub would help to serve the poor and while this is not the hubs intention this will now become part of the discussion.