Media Release
26 March 2001

Customer Friendly Centre Opens

Manukau City Council opens its new Citizen and Customer Centre on Friday 30 March.

The new centre is an expanded and refurbished version of the old facility and boasts many new features designed to make it easier and more comfortable for customers to conduct their dealings with Council.

Mayor Sir Barry Curtis says, “We’ve done this work on the centre because we listened to our customers’ comments about the lack of privacy and the unfriendly layout. We realised that something had to be done. The original layout of the centre was appropriate for the time it was first developed, however customers now have different needs and expectations. The centre is now completely based around the needs of our customers, rather than the needs of staff.”

The centre’s increased size means it now occupies the entire ground floor of Kotuku House. The extra space makes room for many benefits, including private meeting rooms that can be used for complex or confidential business. The traditional ‘public counter’ has been replaced with more private and friendly interview desks, and there’s also a drop off and pick up service at the reception for quick transactions.

A number of additional services have been added to the existing regulatory and rates advisory services available at the centre. These include enquiries and applications for housing for the elderly units, grants and funding, and liquor licensing. Council’s cashiers, who until now have been located at the reception area in the Civic Centre, will also be based in the refurbished customer centre.

Upgraded technology, such as the Geographic Information Service (GIS) and electronic versions of building plans, is being used to better serve customer needs.

“In designing the centre we’ve created something exciting and distinctly Manukau, which you’ll be able to see for yourself when you visit”, Mayor Curtis says.

ENDS
Media Contact:
Gabrielle Hinton
Corporate Communications
Phone: 09 2628900 x 8650
Fax: 09 2625759
Email: ghinton@manukau.govt.nz

© Scoop Media