Residents’ Satisfaction Survey

Results from Waimate District Council’s recent residents’ survey has confirmed the majority of respondents are satisfied with Council’s performance and service delivery.

Council has an ongoing need to measure how satisfied residents are with resources, facilities and services provided by the Council, and to prioritise improvements which will be valued by the community.

The survey, carried out every two years, was undertaken by Key Research earlier this year, and selected a sample of 404 respondents – giving a 95% confidence interval.

Compared to the other councils in New Zealand surveyed, overall satisfaction with the Waimate District Council remains high.

In overall performance, reputation, core serviceable deliveries, value for money, enquiry handling and performance of Mayor and Councillors – satisfaction levels were well above the national benchmarking figures average.

In 13 of the 36 metrics, Waimate was perceived as the top performer in the country and in 33 metrics, satisfaction was ranked above the national average.

Overall perceived quality of life in the district was 88% – the most of any district in the country.

The biggest improvements from the 2021 survey were noted in waste management.

For the regular rubbish collection services – 85% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the service, compared with 68% two years ago. The rate of satisfaction was the highest in New Zealand.

Council’s recycling service registered an improvement from 64% to 80%, while overall waste management jumped from 62% to 77%. These were largely due to the implementation of the new bin system.

The only areas that showed a significant decline in satisfaction related to rural water supplies. Based on comments from respondents, the main causes for dissatisfaction included issues with the quality of water. These were generally related to rural schemes that have had ongoing issues that require boil water notices and non-compliance due to changed drinking water standards and reporting requirements.

Mayor Craig Rowley congratulated the staff on the work they were doing and overall showed the Council was delivering its core services to a high standard.

“Everything is not going to be perfect all the time, but it shows as a council we are doing the basics well and continuing to look at how we can keep improving.”

The full version of the survey is available here.