Earlier this year the NZ Infrastructure Commission conducted an opinion survey on – you guessed it — infrastructure issues. Nearly 24,000 people responded, including 322 from Hawke’s Bay.
Respondents were asked to prioritise 15 key issues.
Nationwide, here’s how they responded:
Here’s how respondents from Hawke’s Bay rate these issues (per cent saying ‘very important’).
- We do not always have safe drinking water – 75%
- We have ageing schools and hospitals – 72%
- Our lack of recycling means we create too much waste – 64%
- Our smaller towns struggle to pay for infrastructure – 63%
- We can’t afford houses where we want to live – 60%
- Our cities can’t keep up with growth – 55%
- Our key infrastructure is vulnerable to natural disasters – 53%
- It takes too long to build new transport options –50%
- It is hard to use public transport in certain areas – 43%
- It takes too long to get around our cities – 36%
The most interesting differences between HB and the nationwide results:
- Our smaller towns struggle to pay for infrastructure – 44% ‘very important’ nationwide, 63% in HB
- We have ageing schools and hospitals – 62% ‘very important’ nationwide, 72% in HB
- And the good news? In general, transportation concerns are higher nationwide (presumably drive by big city woes) than in HB.
The survey presented three scenarios related to drinking water, transportation and climate change, and asked respondents to consider various actions that might be taken.
And here’s how 322 Hawke’s Bay residents responded to those scenarios.
For more on the Commission, its work programme and this survey, go here.