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Research and monitoring

We research projects and services to make sure they bring value to our ratepayers and residents.

We investigate whether our projects and services are working like they should, and whether the benefits justify the costs of our key projects. Our research helps planners and decision-makers understand the value of our investments and helps them compare different investment options.

A large part of our research involves consulting with specialists, and surveying our residents and ratepayers to find out more about their views and expectations.

We want to help people in Lower Hutt understand the work and thinking behind our key projects. You can read some of these reports on this page.

Research projects

We use different research frameworks depending on the type of project.

Economic Impact Assessment (EIA)

This type of assessment examines the direct, indirect and flow-on effects of a project or service to the economy. This includes how a project will affect local GDP, employment and household income. EIAs are used mainly on projects that aim to rejuvenate the city, such as the Riverside Promenade project.

Read our EIA manual (PDF 457 KB)
Download our input-output tables (Excel spread sheet 395 KB)

Year	Project	Research document
2017	Promenade Business Case	Promenade EIA (PDF 2.7 MB)
2016	Hutt Events Centre	Hutt Events Centre EIA (PDF 551.5 KB)
2015	Huia Pool	Huia Pool EIA (PDF 1.5 MB)
2015	Regional Bowls Centre	Regional Bowls Centre EIA (382.5 KB)
2011	Museums	Museums EIA (PDF 2.4 MB)

Social Return on Investment (SROI)

This is how we assess projects aimed at providing the community with better social services. We use this framework to assess services such as Libraries, Museums, Community Hubs and social and recreational programmes. SROI analyses how the people who use a service will be affected as well as the amenity value created by that service. In this way we can measure the holistic benefits of a service or programme.

Find out more about the benefits of SROI analysis on the Social Value UK website.

Year	Project	Research document
2018	Youth Inspire	Youth Inspire SROI Analysis (PDF 3.3 MB)
2016	Koraunui Stokes Valley Hub	KSVH SROI Analysis (PDF 1.8 MB)
2015	Huia Pool	Huia Pool SROI Analysis (PDF 1.5 MB)
2013	Libraries	Libraries SROI Analysis (PDF 3.5 MB)
2011	Museums	Museums SROI Analysis (PDF 2.4 MB)

Hedonic value estimation (value to the customer)

Year	Project	Research documents
2016	Valuing neighbourhood reserves	Hedonic value estimation (PDF 2.5 MB)

Housing and business market reports

We regularly monitor Lower Hutt’s housing and business market to inform planning for housing supply and the type needed. It helps ensure our local planning will enable development by providing enough room for housing and business over the next 10-30 years.

The monitoring reports include indicators for prices and rents, cost of land and the rate of development in the city.

Council is required to monitor the housing and business market indicators under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity (NPS-UDC). The NPS-UDC came into effect on 1 December 2016, and it identifies Lower Hutt as a medium-growth area.

Housing and business market indicator reports