Rotorua project trial
Project trial: establishing a community’s vision
Purpose and process
Rotorua District Council used the Urban Amenity Project’s framework for defining, managing, and monitoring urban amenity in Nongotaha.
- Three consultation methods were used to define urban amenity: participatory appraisal, a hui, and a focus group
- Methods available to manage urban amenity were matched to the outcomes wanted by the community
- Indicators to monitor urban amenity were selected by using the indicator selection criteria
Consulting three ways
The participatory appraisal exercise included public meetings, facilitators speaking to people in the community, and a drop-in centre for people to share their ideas. A brochure explaining the issues was sent to all households a week before the exercise.
The hui aimed to get an iwi perspective on urban amenity issues. It was held on a marae, and iwi representatives were invited.
The focus group was an informal meeting designed to ‘fill in the gaps’ from the participatory appraisal exercise.
Using the qualities
The list of qualities was used to analyse the information gathered during consultation.
Potential council and community methods to manage urban amenity were listed. Then the table was ‘turned upside down’ and desired outcomes were listed, along with the possible methods for achieving them.
The list of qualities was used as a starting point for developing indicators. Indicators were chosen using the Ministry for the Environment’s indicator selection criteria.
Lessons learned
These techniques worked well:
- using a mix of consultation methods
- using the qualities to group the information, and then as a starting point for managing and monitoring urban amenity
- using the selection criteria to choose the best indicators
A review of the process showed that:
- the ‘language’ of urban amenity needs to be simple and clear
- the framework for managing urban amenity works best at a local level
- using the qualities don’t allow for measuring overall improvements or reductions in urban amenity
- some of the qualities can be easily confused, such as Sense of Place and Understandable
Resource: participatory appraisal methods
Resource: indicator methodology [Word doc 69kb]
