Christchurch City Council is an isolated "fortress" which is "culturally reluctant" to communicate openly with its city's inhabitants, a new report concludes.
An $80,000 independent audit of the council's communication systems was commissioned by council chief executive Tony Marryatt in January after mounting criticism that it was failing to inform residents what it was doing post-earthquakes.
The final report, released yesterday, found people unhappy with information surrounding key council moves resulting in confusion over the decision-making process. It said there was "widespread agreement" that the council was not customer focused and had developed a "can't do attitude".
Authors of the report, public relations consultants Felicity Price and Wilma Falconer, said a lack of visibility by council management and staff, and engagement with interested groups, resulted in a perception they "don't care" about residents. It makes 13 recommendations, including how to better engage with the community and adopt a more open culture of communication which would help build "understanding and mutual support" for its decisions, objectives, and plans.
Councillors also raised concerns that they were learning of issues through the media, and called for an internal communications plan.
