The results of the Whakatāne District Council’s latest annual residents’ survey have shown a solid improvement in the community’s perceptions of most Council services and activities.
The survey involved telephone interviews with 300 residents, randomly selected on a pro-rata basis across the District’s five wards. Its outcomes are used in the Council’s Annual Report and indicate which services and activities are meeting or exceeding the community’s expectations and those where improvement is required.
Council Chief Executive Marty Grenfell says that of the 46 questions where the responses could be compared with previous surveys, 41 showed an improvement, with two results unchanged and just three showing a decline in perceived performance. Performance is measured on a 100-point scale, where 0 = very dissatisfied and 100 = very satisfied.
“Encouragingly, approval ratings for many of the services and activities assessed showed increases of more than three points, including the level of satisfaction with Council staff overall (up 3.4 to 77.7), water related services (+16.5 points), dog control services (+5.9), call centre services (+4.8) and swimming pools (+4.5),” Mr Grenfell says.
The highest performance rating (87) went to Te Kōputu – The Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre. Other activities showing satisfaction ratings of more than 80 included the water supply in Whakatāne (up 5.4 to 80.1); water supply reliability (86.1); overall satisfaction with wastewater services (up 10.6 to 81); kerbside greenwaste collections (up 3.2 to 86.9); residential refuse collections (up 4 to 86.8); cemeteries and crematorium (up 3.3 to 86.4) and harbour facilities in Whakatāne (up 2.1 to 82.3). Satisfaction with the Whakatāne District as a place to live also increased (up 2.6 to 86.5). The only area showing a significant decrease in satisfaction was streetlighting adequacy (down 3.0 to 66.8).
Other notable results were: satisfaction with the elected members of Council (unchanged at 60.7); Council’s provision of information (up 3.3 to 67.6); opportunities for involvement in decision-making (unchanged at 59.8); making good long-term decisions (up 0.8 to 56.2); the quality of District roads (up 2.9 to 66.7); overall stormwater systems (up 4.7 to 60.8); and the value provided by residential rates (up 3.5 to 55.4). Satisfaction with sports grounds and parks and reserves remained high (78.8 and 78.4 respectively).
Mr Grenfell says that while the survey outcomes were generally positive, Council staff would not be “resting on their laurels”.
“We know that there are a number of areas where we can improve and this gives us some strong guidance about the community’s priorities and expectations,” he concludes.
A development and compliance postal survey of all applicants for building and resource consents during 2012/13 has also been undertaken. Results are expected in the near future.