Projects and updates

• We can deliver better in more accessible places in our community.
  
  
• We will have one customer team across all our facilities and services.
  
  
• Transformation is about making Council services more accessible and user-friendly, with more online services available, and the ability to access services from multiple facilities, not just over the counter at Council HQ. e.g. pay rates or register a dog at other facilities that have broader opening hours for example.
  
  
• The change we are working hard to implement means that all parts of Council are undergoing change, including our community facilities.
  
  
• Our transformation programme is focused on putting our community at the heart of everything we do here at Council.  Resident feedback shows this is something that many of our facilities, including our libraries, do well. We want to make sure that we act more as One Team working hard for all our community, taking the approach throughout Council as one unified customer services team.

We’re opening things up. We’re not closing things down

We’re not lowering services in the library. It’s the opposite. We will be expanding services there. We recognise that the library has already become much more than just books. We believe there is even more potential here. Transformation is about unlocking this by transforming the library into a hub for our community. We’ll be making space for our staff, partners and community groups to come together – under one roof – to support our community.

If we want to keep our district affordable, we need to work differently, use our spaces efficiently and share resources better. Our goal is to create a space where many people can come together to create new opportunities and deliver. We’ll also be applying these changes in Palmerston to improve access to services, and plan to establish a hub up the Valley too. This will benefit the communities outside of Oamaru and provide a base for Council staff that further improves efficiency and service deliver.

How will we do this? Transformation will help create a more versatile, cross-trained team of customer facing staff – including some of the current library staff – giving us more flexibility to cover absences and provide for continuity of services for our community. Council’s customer service team will be supported by staff with specialist skills and knowledge, including librarians.

We’ll work differently too. For example, the range of events, currently put on by the Cultural Facilities, will still be provided but will have the operational support of our communications and engagement team, with the benefit of additional resourcing to support these events.

Our library will always be more than just a place for great books, but a wonderful thriving community centre. The difference being, we are working differently to achieve this by having many teams from across Council contribute, rather than this being left to one team and by partnering with others to help us deliver on our shared ambitions for our community.

Timings:

• The first steps to establish the Oamaru and Waihemo Libraries as Community Hubs will get underway early next year. A location in the Waitaki valley is yet to be determined.

• There have been no sackings or redundancies. We value our staff and the work they do for our community. We want our staff to be successful through the changes and are supporting our staff with change and to find roles within the new Organisation Design. We are working through our change process and take the welfare of our staff very seriously.
  
  
• There have been no "gag orders". Council respects privacy and will not publicly discuss employment details of current and previous staff.
  
  
• The change we are working hard to implement means that all parts of Council are undergoing change, including our community facilities. Every part of the council will experience change – with a focus on how we can deliver more effectively for our community and at a cost that is affordable.
  
  
• We recognise that change is difficult. These changes can be difficult for everyone to get a handle on. It can be challenging let go of some things, making space for new things and different ways of doing things. It’s an adjustment that we hope all our staff are willing to make.