'Eyes glaze over': Councils struggle to engage locals

LGNZ chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said communities needed greater control in local matters. Photo: Supplied / LGNZ

A yawning gap continues to exist between a belief that locals should get involved with their council and the numbers of people that actually do.

Poll data released by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) on Thursday shows almost 70 percent of people believe communities should be more involved when council decisions are made.

Additionally, just over half of residents think more decisions need to be delegated to communities by councils.

"Control should be faced as near the people as possible," said LGNZ chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene.

"Communities believe that councils are more effective if they do localism, because localism ensures communities get the right solutions for their specific needs."

But getting people involved in local government process is a challenge across the country, even in voting where turnout nationwide for local elections was just 40 percent in 2022.

Looking at Tasman, its walking and cycling strategy - which detailed changes for many of the district's major urban roads - received just 238 submissions despite a population of almost 60,000.

That lack of engagement has caused headaches for the council when there was vocal opposition to the cycleways once they were installed in the district's most populous town.

"Richmond has always been hard to get people engaged," said Kit Maling, one of the town's ward councillors.

Despite limited input on the strategy itself and the subsequent backlash, the council saw higher levels of engagement when residents were given the option to have a direct say.

Tasman councillor Kit Maling said residents from an engagement-adverse town showed up when provided the opportunity to guide decisions. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey

The new road layouts had input from community working groups that voted on different options.

Maling, who attended several of the sessions, said that people showed up.

"We had good turnout. We could get 20-25 people at those meetings. People were interested in it, I wouldn't say it was always unanimous, but the people were interested."

But the system's not quite refined yet. The final plan for Wensley Road, which saw five speed humps installed, wasn't shown to working group members.

Community pushback on that layout eventually caused Maling to successfully push for the removal of two humps.

Despite success in getting people engaged, the council still has to iron out its processes after it approved an unpopular road design that wasn't supported by residents. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey

Engagement appears to vary based on topic - "peoples' eyes just glaze over" when it comes to long-term plans, Maling said - but providing the opportunity can make all the difference.

Open workshops in Māpua about the town's upcoming structure plan, in which residents can have direct input into discussions with council staff, can have 60-70 people attend.

"It works really well," Maling said.

Finding better ways to get residents involved in council matters saw the launch of the People's Panel Te Kōrari in Canterbury in 2021.

The project was showcased to council representatives on Thursday by LGNZ as an example of a way to further engagement with communities.

Residents can sign up to be part of the panel and are then occasionally sent short surveys about work that Environment Canterbury is planning to undertake.

"It provides a bit of a 'sense check' to help us get a feel for community sentiment around particular issues," said deputy chair Craig Pauling.

The results from those surveys then inform the council's decisions ahead of undertaking more formal consultation.

"Local knowledge is really important," Pauling said.

"Their feedback can ultimately help shape decisions we make, which can directly impact their community."

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.