These are just some of the many comments you the readers of Borough Life have given us on how you would like to see the magazine improve in the future.
The council magazine for all residents of Wigan Borough is now in its eighth year. It is delivered to more than 140,000 households in our borough four times a year. Each issue costs individual households less than the price of a first class stamp.
As part of the Borough Life production team’s commitment to continuing to improve the content of the magazine and give readers more of what they want, we asked readers to fill in a simple questionnaire in the Spring edition.
We asked readers to rate Borough Life on a scale of ‘excellent’ to ‘poor’.
We also asked about the quality of the magazine’s design and how easy to read it is.
More than half of all those who responded (60 per cent) rated Borough Life as ‘excellent’ whilst 54 per cent of respondents thought the design of Borough Life was ‘excellent’.
Many of those who gave views on what they would like to see more of were particularly interested in green and environmental issues.
“I don’t think you promote Keeping Wigan Tidy enough,” wrote one reader from Kitt Green. “I am walker and every time I walk along the canal, in the bushes there are cans and endless litter.”
“I especially like to read environmental issues and anything to do with protecting and improving the countryside and green spaces within our borough,” wrote another reader from Pemberton.
Others want more help and advice: “I would like to see a large section with questions and answers,” wrote one reader from Leigh. “If I saw something suspicious, who do I report it to? If I have problems in my area, what can I do?”
One correspondent wrote: “I find Borough Life an interesting magazine but due to the present economic climate I feel it is an unnecessary expense and should be scrapped.”
Wigan Council’s Cabinet member of Customer Service Chris Ready thanked all those who took part in the survey.
“Borough Life is one of the council’s biggest platforms for communicating with our residents and customers,” he said. “We believe it very important in this regard but it is important that it does what the readership expects it to do.
“Many readers have written to us saying what
they would like to see more of, which suggests the magazine is well-read and valued by people.
“Whilst this is pleasing, it is no cause for complacency. We want to make Borough Life as effective as we possibly can, particularly during these difficult economic times. We will be taking all our readers’ comments on board and acting on them wherever we can.”
The winner of the Borough Life Survey competition was Mrs J Howarth of Whelley, whose questionnaire was the first pulled out of the hat. Mrs Howarth receives £50 worth of shopping vouchers.
