Responses pour in on Hutt Valley youth survey

BY ANDREA O'NEIL

Responses to a survey of Hutt Valley youth are pouring in to council offices faster than workers can count them.

Hutt City Council community development manager Leanne Campbell says the response to the council's first comprehensive youth survey has been "massive".

It will take months to analyse more than 3000 survey responses returned by young people aged 12 to 24; entering the data into computers will take a hundred hours alone, she says.

The idea of asking youth what they thought of their city was inspired by similar surveys run since 2006 by Upper Hutt City Council.

This year's survey is a joint initiative between the two councils.

"We want to build on previous Upper Hutt efforts where they identified issues and addressed them by making positive changes across the valley," Ms Campbell says.

It was about time Hutt City listened to its youth, she says.

"I definitely think it's necessary. There's high levels of youth crime occurring." The councils worked with youth centre Secret Level and health services provider Vibe to develop the questions, which were then tested on youth council Youth Infusion's members.

"It was a real collaborative process."

Young people were asked what they thought of the cities' education, healthcare, and work opportunities, how safe they feel and where they like to spend their time.

The surveys were distributed to 50 locations last month, including schools, libraries and youth groups throughout the Hutt Valley. They were also available online.

Reaching older youths had presented a real challenge in Upper Hutt, so the councils asked the Chamber of Commerce to distribute surveys to workplaces in hope of reaching 18-to-24-year-olds.

No trends have been identified from the surveys yet, but when the surveys are analysed they could affect a range of council services, Ms Campbell says.

"It will provide significant information for both councils and local agencies to address issues identified by the young people themselves."

Upper Hutt City Council director of community services Andrea Curtis says it was important to work with Hutt City to build a more accurate picture of the region's youth.

Young people don't sit behind territorial lines, but moved between the two cities for school and leisure.

However, the two cities will inevitably each have unique youth issues which will be dealt with locally, Ms Curtis says.

The strongest message from Upper Hutt's previous surveys was that young people want to know what help is available for drug and alcohol abuse.

Police and health providers picked up on the message, and the council website's substance abuse information page is now its most downloaded, she says.

Upper Hutt has also introduced youth ambassadors, youth worker training and more targeted events in response to survey results.

The councils plan to repeat the survey every two to three years.

"It's important for young people to have a voice and not just an example."

- Hutt News