Rother District Council

Here you can find the results of consultations and research surveys that have closed.

This article contains surveys and consultation exercises going back one year.  If you are interested in a consultation prior to that date please contact the relevant service or the Customer Help Point nearest to you.  Call the Council on 01424 787000.

Bexhill Town Centre - please go to this dedicated page Bexhill Town Centre

Rother Views - our Residents Magazine

At the end of October 2010 we held a series of discussion group meetings with a few invited members of the Rother Citizens Panel. The Panel is made up of local people who have volunteered to be regularly consulted by the Council.  The subject was the magazine that the Council sends to every household in Rother. It is called "Rother Views". We discussed the design, the content, its purpose and the cost over an hour's meeting. We held one meeting in Robertsbridge and two at the Town Hall in Bexhill. This is what people had to say.

Not everyone has seen the magazine but everyone liked it. They liked the front page with its colourful photograph of a local place and three bullet points on interesting articles. They liked the "what's on" guide, the Leader's letter, the range of articles in the magazine and the 'Did you know' snippets of data. They thought it was easy to read, with the right sort of language.

Everyone at the focus groups said the magazine was value for money and cost effective. The magazine costs about 17p to 18p each. That includes writing, graphic design, printing and posting through your door. We send the magazine out 4 times a year with 45,000 copies. It costs you in total between 68p and 72p a year. (Prices change because of paper costs going up and down.) When people who came to the focus groups heard these figures they were surprised and had expected that the magazine cost more. They agreed it was value for money.

Only a few people read the magazine cover to cover. Most people read only the articles that appeal to them. Usually that is a few articles in each magazine. Everyone kept their copy for a while, to make sure others in their home had a chance to read it. No-one threw it straight out.

The Council should provide residents with information about what it is doing and what services it provides. Some people thought the magazine was an essential way to keep them informed. Some people thought it was not essential and that they could find another way to get the information. People said that the Council should be active in providing information on what it is doing and how it is spending money. Cost and funding arrangements should definitely be included in articles about projects and any working with a partner organisation.

The Council should be very careful if it decides to include advertising. Some people were worried that any advertiser would be seen as endorsed or recommended by the Council. Some people thought advertisers might get influence in the content of the magazine over the longer term. They didn't like the idea that a magazine that was between the Council and local people might be changed or diluted by including advertisements from businesses. Some people said that advertising should only be included if it meant the magazine could not be provided to residents without it, otherwise it should be left out.

Everyone recognised that the magazine has to cover a wide range of needs and appeal to a lot of different people.  They accepted that they would not be interested in some stories that might be interesting to others.  Bexhill residents were particularly interested in news about other areas in the district. This is because they don't get to hear much about what is happening elsewhere in other media sources.

The magazine should have a date on the front, or a season like "Spring 2011", so that people know if they've got the most recent issue. It should include a map of Rother to show how big it is (nearly 200 square miles). The map should show which villages lie on the boundaries.

The Council should debate controversial issues in the magazine. Suggestions included the provision of Christmas lights and Bexhill seafront. The Council should be encouraged to put in articles about when they've had something go wrong, or made a mistake and what they've done to put it right. The Council shouldn't feel it has to be positive all the time. In fact, people will be more likely to trust the good news if they know the Council will also tell them the bad news. Local residents should be encouraged to comment on the magazine and what they read in it.

If you have anything else to add, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your comments using the contact methods given on this newsletter.

A full report of the focus groups has been put on the website under Council and Democracy: Consultation and Feedback, Past Consultations or www.rother.gov.uk/consultation.

Feedback on the De La Warr Pavilion Residents Survey

In October 2010 the Council sent a questionnaire to 3000 randomly selected council tax payers living in Rother.  The questionnaire covered their current relationship with Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion including whether they visited, their experience of visiting, which events they preferred to see and their opinion on the role the Pavilion should play in the community.  The Council has run the same survey every year since 2007, when it formed part of a review by the Councillors on the funding agreement.  The results are used for two purposes.  Firstly, it was used to determine a score calculated from a combination of questions that determined whether or not the Pavilion received an incentive grant.  Secondly, it was used to inform the Council's relationship with the Charitable Trust that runs the Pavilion and to inform future funding agreements.  A copy of the report is sent to the Pavilion's management.

Questionnaire:

  DLWP Survey Questionnaire 2010 [WORD] [244kb]

Covering Letter to respondents:

  Covering Letter 2010 DLWP Residents Survey [WORD] [1.8Mb]

Topline Results received from the Contractor, December 2011: 

  Topline results DLWP Residents Survey 2010 [WORD] [317kb]

Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee Report, February 2011: 

  Report De La Warr Pavilion Review [WORD] [117kb]

Final Report by the Contractor, January 2011: 

 DLWP Residents Survey Report 2010 [PDF] [2.3Mb]

  DLWP Residents Survey 2010 Report [WORD] [2.6Mb]

Rother District Council's Youth Strategy

The consultation submitted on the Youth Strategy and the resulting draft of the Strategy was considered by the Improvement and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee in September 2010.

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