Kaitaia's Te Ahu has received all manner of plaudits since it was opened, and now the people who work there have a bouquet of their own.
The Far North District Council's customer service team at Te Ahu was judged runner-up to the team of the year at the Association of Local Government Information Management's 2013 customer service awards. Rotorua District Council won the title.
Community and customer service manager Jacine Warmington said the award recognised the innovative approach the council had taken in setting up and administering Te Ahu. The nomination cited the multi-skilling that had been required to successfully bring together under one roof a council service centre, library, i-Site, museum, community hall, cinema, art exhibition area and a variety of other venues for hire, including The Little Theatre.
"This is a huge bouquet for the whole Te Ahu team, particularly for the way in which the multi-skilling demands have been embraced and the planning and preparation which was required to make it all happen," Ms Warmington said, adding that Te Ahu won praise for ambience and service in a random customer satisfaction survey carried out by the University of Auckland in January, more than 90 per cent of visitors surveyed saying they were highly satisfied with the multi-use facility.
