The Whakatāne District Council’s annual Communitrak community perception survey has recorded steady results, with perceptions of 15 services or facilities improving or staying much the same, and a similar number decreasing slightly.

The survey findings were presented to the Council’s Policy Committee earlier this month, and are used to gauge how residents and ratepayers perceive key services, and the performance of elected representatives and staff. Along with other performance data, the information captured by the survey is used to inform the Council’s planning and performance monitoring activities.
 
The survey involves a random telephone survey of 300 residents across the District and also provides an opportunity to ask specific questions about Council policy and direction, projects, and local issues.
 
Services and facilities or other measures that scored highly in 2018 were the Crematorium Facility with 95 percent of people very or fairly satisfied; District Libraries (94% satisfied); Kerbside Waste (93%); Cemeteries (92%); Parks and Reserves (92%); Sports fields (92%); Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Exhibition Centre (91%); Water Supply (90%); and Quality of Life (90%).

The most improved areas were public toilets, the crematorium, parking in Whakatāne, footpaths, noise control and consultation.

Participants were asked where the Council should spend more, less or about the same, with the top five spending priorities being business promotion, tourism promotion, efforts to enable and promote events, walking and cycling facilities in the district, and public toilets.

The performance of the Mayor and Councillors improved slightly, with 80% of the people surveyed rating them as either very good, fairly good, or just acceptable, while 10% rated their performance as not very good or poor. Perceptions of Council staff performance showed a similar overall outcome, with 80% of respondents rating them as very good, fairly good, or just acceptable; and 9% as not very good or poor.

View the full survey findings on our Annual Residents Survey page.