In 2014 the Eastbourne Community Board conducted a survey of Eastbourne and the Bays to gauge the wellbeing
and satisfaction of the residents and to identify issues of importance to the community. The information gathered in
the survey could then be used to guide the Board in representations to Hutt City Council and to provide data that
could be referred to in the event of any regional amalgamation. The data from the survey could be used by
individuals, community groups and businesses to make Eastbourne’s voice heard in a larger government structure.
Questions in the survey were designed to find out the priority residents placed on long standing projects such as the
Eastern Bays shared walk/cycle way; to discover residents’ dreams and concerns about the future of Eastbourne; to
gather opinion on the current plans for developments in the East Harbour Regional Park; and to investigate feelings
on safety in the community.
A total of 624 people responded to the survey, i.e. 17 percent of the adult population (15year+) of Eastbourne and
the Bays. Results have been reported on for each question and broken down according to gender, age, location and
how long people had lived in the area, where relevant.
Most Important Issues
Respondents were asked to rank their three top issues and also to identify the single most important issue for them.
The completion of the Eastern Bays shared walk/cycle way was clearly the most important issue (number one for 33
percent of respondents) with concern about climate change and extreme weather events next (16 percent of
respondents). Safety in the community, clean seas for swimming and quality public transport were also highly
ranked. A number of other local issues were also identified.