Some members of the public took the opportunity to check out the options
Waipā District Council is planning to turn social media comments back on in order to collect community feedback on its reset Cambridge Connections Transport Plan.
Katie Mayes
Responding to a question from Cambridge Community Board chair Charlotte FitzPatrick on how the council would measure community sentiment outside of formal submissions, Cambridge Connections project manager Katie Mayes said the council would reinstate Facebook comments.
“That’s being worked on at the moment,” she said.
Board member Gerda Venter asked Mayes whether there was an easier way for the community to make its voice heard.
“The questions asked for feedback should be more specific, so the result is clear, because I find – and that’s the feedback from the community -that the questions are often asked to get the required result that the council wants,” she said.
Gerda Venter
“That’s the feeling out there, rather than open, honest, transparent “this is what it is and we’ll listen to you.” That’s why the trust has been completely lost.”
Mayes said the council had started to design the process.
“The purpose of the next process will be what are all the ideas that might address the three problem statements,” she said.
“We are looking at how to make sure we scope the questions in a way that people will be able to see what we do with that feedback and how they can see that their ideas are provided.”
Charlotte FitzPatrick
Mayes said the council was working hard on how it showed it workings.
“Closing the loop is one of the things that often falls down in large community projects,” she said.
“You don’t actually go back and say, ‘This is what happened as a result of the feedback you provided and thank you – it turned out that we didn’t progress with that idea because it wasn’t the most cost-effective or the best solution’.
“Providing the rationale for why we didn’t proceed is something we need to make sure we’re really open about.”
