Background and aims
The Wellington Central Library was closed to the public in March 2019 due to new guidelines for concrete buildings revealing a high level of potential failure in a significant earthquake.
A public engagement consultation ran between 27 July and 7 September 2020 to examine preferences for the Central Library redevelopment. The consultation process invited the public to comment on five options for a redevelopment of the Central Library, three with different levels of remediation, and two which proposed a new build.
More information about this project can be found here.
Our role
Global Research was commissioned to analyse and report on survey responses to help inform the Council’s decision on the future of Wellington’s Central Library. Our research approach meant reading and sorting each response into relevant themes and topics; this ensured that reporting captured the breadth and depth of topics commented on by Wellington’s people. Analysis was also completed on the quantitative option selection questions included in the survey.
Design and method
Submissions were received from over 1400 respondents, primarily through WCCs online survey. Surveys were also received in paper format, and in submission format. Data was sent to Global Research for analysis in batches throughout the engagement period, and results were presented to WCC in a full, comprehensive report.
In addition to the survey responses and submissions, Wellington City Libraries and Wellington City Council published posts to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram during the engagement period to help inform the public about the Future of the Central Library consultation. Comments from these posts were recorded, analysed, and presented in a separate section of the final report. Our analysis began when we started receiving data from WCC. From the date that the final batch of data was received, our analysis and report were completed in a few short weeks.
Result
A full report of findings was presented to the Wellington City Council, outlining respondents’ preferred options for the future of the library, as well as detailed thematic analysis of written feedback. The full report can be viewed on pages 37-168 of the WCC’s Strategy and Policy Committee meeting agenda 28 October 2020, here.
In addition to Global Research’s report, WCC commissioned an additional external research company to conduct a representative survey. Interestingly, the findings from both yielded similar results. This supports the argument that accurate, representative data can be collected in public engagements, with participation from enough (in this case over 1,400) members of the public, and that it can accurately portray their views.
Outcome
In October 2020, Wellington’s Mayor and City Councilors voted to strengthen Wellington’s Central Library, selecting high-level remediation.
The plans for the new library can be seen here.
Check out some other projects we have completed for Wellington:
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