The findings of the Whakatāne District Council’s annual NRB Communitrak survey confirm that community perceptions of most Council services and activities are continuing to improve.

Of the 39 services, facilities and performance measures covered by the survey, 75 percent either showed an improved or similar level of community satisfaction. Ten measures showed a small decrease in positive perceptions.

Amongst the areas to show the most improvement were:

• Council’s efforts to attract and retain residents (57 percent of respondents very or fairly satisfied)
• Sufficiency of information (72 percent indicating that there is enough or more than enough information provided)
• Satisfaction with the level of community consultation in Council decision-making (75 percent either very satisfied, satisfied, or neither satisfied or dissatisfied).

Services or activities showing significant increases in satisfaction included public swimming pools, sewerage systems, stormwater services and tourism promotion. Ten measures showed levels of community satisfaction in excess of 90 percent, led by the perceptions of Council ‘front desk staff’, with 97 percent of those who have made contact in the past year indicating they were very or fairly satisfied with the service provided. Cemeteries and crematorium, playgrounds, the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, parks and reserves and sportsfields also received high ratings.

Meanwhile, overall perceptions of the performance of Council elected members and staff were similar to previous years, although the percentage of people rating the performance of Council elected members as very or fairly good increased from 40 to 49 percent.

The survey provides comparative findings for both ‘peer group’ provincial and national council areas. Areas where the Whakatāne District is well ahead of the pack included sufficiency of information, roads and quality of life, while perceptions of street lighting, dog control and stormwater services were lower than other areas. ‘Quality of life’ again generated a strong response, with 99 percent of respondents rating the Whakatāne lifestyle as very good, good or fair, the 67 percent ‘very good’ rating being well ahead of the national average of 39 percent.

Areas where respondents wanted to see more spending included business promotion, tourism promotion, efforts to attract and retain residents, events promotion and harbour facilities.