Review pushes for council overhaul

A review of how the Whanganui District Council gets its messages across is suggesting a major overhaul.

The review was initiated by the council's economic arm, Whanganui and Partners, to help develop a "reputation strategy" to rebuild the district's national and international image. The review was then broadened to include the council organisation overall.

There were a number of interviews with residents, some councillors and council staff, the existing communications policy was looked at as well as websites and other social media platforms.

Charlotte Almond, council strategy and development manager, said maintaining the status quo had the potential to damage Whanganui's reputation, while a lack of resources affected the ability to generate positive publicity about the district.

She said some of the recommendations would require funding and would be put forward when councillors debate the annual plan next year.

Increasing the budget could see the online communications officer's hours almost double to 40 hours a week.

Mayor Annette Main said the existing communications team couldn't keep up with the workload.

Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan was concerned that no one representing the sports sector was interviewed yet some artists were.

Mrs Baker-Hogan said she was disappointed with the report.

"I'm hearing concerns from the sports sector about their value in this community being undervalued. Too many of us are not being kept in the picture," she said.

But Ms Main said who was interviewed at this stage was unimportant.

"What is important is what happens now. We've talked about this for years - now we need to get on with it."

Councillor Helen Craig said the review was a "vital piece of work" and needed to be completed in its entirety.

Councillor Martin Visser said communication "or the lack of it" had been a major issue for the council.

Councillor Hamish McDouall said council customer services staff were doing "a wonderful job" but improvements were needed. "It's resources. The mayor of Christchurch has more communications staff working for her alone than our entire council."