New staff part of ORC plan to communicate better
WITH an influx of new hires, the Otago Regional Council plans to resolve past problems communicating with the public.
The council has advertised eight new jobs in its communications department in the last month.
Council stakeholder engagement director Sian Sutton said the hires were a reaction to failings by the council communicating with the public.
When she first stepped into the job last year she found systems were ‘‘not fit for purpose’’.
A report to the council last week on its Good Water Project showed a survey which found a ‘‘concerning’’ number of farmers were not aware of nutrient and greenhouse gas modelling ‘‘Overseer’’ software, which is used by the council.
In a pilot project in the Shag River catchment it found only six landowners out of 116 properties had done any water testing.
Ms Sutton said when the council created policy it needed to communicate that to the public in order to ‘‘create change’’.
‘‘There are a lot of young farmers now, and they use the internet, and might absorb videos more than big policies. We need to communicate policy in creative, succinct ways.’’
One of the new recruits would be based in Queenstown, which would allow the council to develop a communications presence there, she said.
Public transport was a topic which had one of the highest levels of public response, and until recently the council had no real management of communicating with the public about it.
‘‘It was a real risk for the organisation.’’
Deadlines ended recently for seven roles in the department which included a senior communication and engagement adviser, three communication and engagement advisers, a digital communications lead, a content lead and a communication designer.
It is at present advertising for a media coordinator.
Ms Sutton hoped the extra media role would allow the council to ‘‘tell good news stories’’ about its work, rather than just reacting to inquiries.