Use and Non-Use Values of Auckland Council Amenities

Auckland Council commissioned this research to help them understand the value that the general Auckland population places on the provision of the following amenities:

• Libraries
• Community centres
• Arts centres
• Neighbourhood parks
• Leisure centres
• Swimming pools/aquatic centres
• Indoor courts
• Sports fields.

In particular, Auckland Council, wished to know 'use' and 'non-use' values of these amenities to people in the population to help inform their business case evaluations for specific amenities being proposed.

The 'use' value is, for example, the value for those who actively use the amenities, for example going to a swimming pool or visiting a library. The 'non-use' value is the value that can be attributed to the amenity even though not used. This may be, for example, because they think the amenity makes the place more pleasant or because they value the option of being able to use it in the future.

Auckland Council also wished to measure the usage of amenities.