Citzens' Panel Update - February 2009
Thank you for your ongoing support of Havant’s Citizens’ Panel.
Your views are important to us and help to support the work of the
Council.
This is a brief update about the results of Citizens’ Panel
questionnaires and other consultations at the Council. If you would
like to find out more please visit the Citizens’ Panel web
pages>>
Your Next Questionnaire
Please take the time to complete your next questionnaire which
is about community safety. In March 2008, anti-social behaviour,
teenagers hanging around the streets, vandalism and graffiti were
all issues that you told us you are concerned about so this
questionnaire gives you an opportunity to tell us more. It is
really important that we hear your views, even if you think you
don’t have much to say.
*Plus each completed questionnaire will be entered into a prize
draw for £50 worth of Argos vouchers!*
Don’t forget that we operate the Panel both by post and on-line,
if you don’t already and would prefer to complete your
questionnaires on-line then please let us know.
Don’t forget that if your contact details have changed or you
would like to be removed from the Citizens’ Panel we need to
know.
Please contact Beth Manwaring at consultation@havant.gov.uk
or 023 9244 6629
Environment Questionnaire Results
We had a fantastic response to the last Citizens’ Panel
questionnaire, which asked you about environmental issues and
sustainability. We received a total of 1,124 questionnaires which
means that 70% of the Panel replied, our biggest response to
date.
The questionnaire results told us that most of our residents are
concerned about the environment and are already making changes at
home, particularly tangible actions such as recycling and using
energy saving light bulbs, to be more environmentally friendly.
Most respondents said that they would like to do more and are most
concerned about local issues, such as the loss of trees and
hedgerows and household waste disposal.
Residents think that individuals should take responsibility for
the environment but also that the Council has a responsibility to
protect the environment and drive sustainability locally. Two key
things came across on the survey, firstly that residents need to
know that their actions can actually help the environment and
secondly they want to know how they can do more.
The results of this survey, along with interviews with community
groups, are already being used by the Environment Centre who is
working with the Council to conduct a sustainability review. Once
this has been completed an action plan will be developed that
responds to all of the evidence that has been gathered and provides
a clear direction for the future.
Once this work is completed we will be able to feedback to you
more information on how the Council is responding to your views
about the environment and sustainability.
To read the
full report of the results from The Environment questionnaire use
this link (pdf 400kb)>>
Review of ‘Serving You’ the Council’s magazine
We have recently carried out research with residents to find out
what they think of our quarterly magazine, Serving You. We
conducted six focus groups in different areas of the borough and
with different demographic groups to find out residents’ views. The
results have been extremely helpful and told us, among other
things, that residents would like more of a community feel to the
magazine, they would like to see a better quality A4 sized
magazine, an expanded ‘What’s On’ section and better mechanisms for
consultation and feedback, including a letters page.
Serving You is one of the main ways that we communicate with
residents and has been produced in the same format for a number of
years. We are now taking this opportunity to review the magazine
and produce something that our residents really want to read.
New Citizens’ Panel members
We now have around 1,500 members on the Citizens’ Panel and we
will soon be looking to recruit more members, particularly in the
18 to 45 year old age bracket where we tend to have a shortage of
members.
If you know anyone, in that age group that would like to join,
please ask them to get in touch using the contact details above or
use this link to the Citizens' Panel recruitment
questionnaire>>