Getting around Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty, it's not unusual to have the thought stray into your mind 'why doesn't council do something about that?” as you pass a damaged footpath or abandoned car.

You may have seen some graffiti blazoned across a wall or a power box, or a road sign hauled out and dumped on the verge. Or a rubbish bin near a reserve overflowing from the aftermath of a long weekend of holiday making.

Whatever it is, it's rare to have the thought 'does council even know about this?” It's far easier to illogically jump to the conclusion that Council does know – because how can they not - and that they choose to do nothing.

This is based on the unconscious assumption that Council staff have mind reading capabilities across about a 50km area. But do they?

Usually no one at either Western Bay of Plenty District Council or Tauranga City Council is yet aware of the rubbish, graffiti or damage that you're seeing early one morning at the end of your cul-de-sac or near a park somewhere around the region.

Council staff don't have eyes everywhere, but have come up with an efficient and effective way to utilise our eyes.

Every resident of Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga may not be a Member of Parliament representing our community but everyone living here is a ‘Member of the Community' representing ourselves.

So it's time to switch from passive grumble mode to an active positive mode and step it up a notch – become an ‘MC'.

And that's exactly what Papamoa resident Ron Judd has done.

On noticing that the bus shelter on Domain Road had been damaged, Ron, who is also a member of the Papamoa Community Patrol, pulled out his phone and clicked onto the Antenno App he'd previously downloaded.

Within a minute a report had landed on the virtual desk of a Tauranga City Council staff member.

'Some person who thinks our rates should be used to repair the glass in bus shelters decided to destroy the shelter on Domain Road,” says Ron.

'I put a report in the Antenno App at night. At 7.54am the following day, I received a call from the contractor that someone had gone out this morning to clean up the mess.”

Ron is impressed with the speed of response.

'Sad that they had to do this but brilliant service.

The Antenno app allows for an address to be added and a photo to be uploaded. Photo: John Borren.

Both Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council encourage the community to download and use the app, promoting it as a good way to not only report issues and submit feedback, but also as a way to receive notifications about the places we all care about.

This includes things like updates from council on community events, matters up for consultation, water shutdowns, changes to rubbish collections, road works and more.

You can choose the places you want to be alerted about, so that council is not bothering you with things that don't affect you.

This might include your home, workplace or where your children go to school. You can also provide feedback and ideas to Council for making improvements.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council say they've been using the Antenno app quite successfully for a while now and receive on average 4.5 reports per day from community members.

'We use it to alert residents about closures, kerbside rubbish reminders, events, consultations, news and more. And residents are quite good at using it to communicate issues with us too,” says a Western Bay of Plenty Council spokesperson.

In the Western Bay of Plenty, there are now 4822 devices connected to Antenno.

'Since September 1, 2020, we have sent 1198 posts and received 3125 reports.

'Our four most common topics for reports from the community are: Roads, footpaths and cycleways - 1048, rubbish and recycling - 697, parks and community facilities – 471, and water supply - 250.”

Antenno is free to download and use, and you can opt out of topics that don't interest you. The app won't ask you for any personal information or login details, so it's an easy way to stay informed.

Simple to use, the app provides the capability to upload a photo, and has a location detector to help you give accurate information.

Download Antenno from the App Store or Google Play and save the places you care about, such as home, work, your holiday home or school.

For more information on using the Antenno App please go to the Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council websites.