News Release
Friday 5 July 2013

High satisfaction levels for Rotorua council revealed in independent residents’ survey

ROTORUA 05.07.13: Local residents believe Rotorua District Council is doing a good job and are satisfied with most services being provided to the community. These are among the findings of a recent survey of Rotorua residents conducted by independent research company National Research Bureau (NRB).

The NRB survey report says 80 per cent of those surveyed were satisfied with the performance of the mayor and councillors and 88 per cent with council staff.

Fifty three per cent approved of council decisions during the last 12 months (34% disapproved) and 84 per cent said the public were able to influence council decisions to some extent.

A majority of people approved of all council services listed in the survey, with satisfaction ratings reaching as high as 99 per cent in some instances.

Mayor Kevin Winters said the NRB survey results express that our community is of the view that their elected members, our management and our staff are all doing a pretty good job for them.

“We’re never going to please ‘all of the people all of the time,’ that’s for sure, but these results show we’re getting it right in most areas, which is very satisfying.

“I’m particularly pleased to see such a high rating for our hard working staff and I think this shows that their efforts are appreciated by most people in the community.

“I’m also impressed by the very high satisfaction ratings many of our services have received, in particular outstanding ratings for our sewerage system (99%), beautification and landscaping (96%), water supply and storm water drainage (95%), rubbish collection and CBD appearance (94%); and parks, reserves and playgrounds (92%). These are stunning results really.

Mr Winters said parking, public toilets and recycling were areas with the least satisfaction.

While 68 per cent approved of parking services 34 per cent disapproved. Public toilets had a satisfaction rating of 56 per cent but a disapproval rating of 31 per cent. Recycling had 68 per cent approval and 29 per cent disapproval.

“We are well aware of some concerns about public toilets and we have a number of measures underway which we anticipate will result in higher satisfaction levels in the next survey. Our current proposals around introducing time-limited free parking in the inner city should also increase overall satisfaction with parking in the future.

Mr Winters said the 29 per cent disapproval of recycling services probably represented those people who still want kerbside recycling in the city, something which had been consulted on and debated at length by the council over recent years.

Mr Winters said many of the survey results would be used as part of performance measures for various council services to be incorporated into the 2012/13 annual report for the financial year just concluded.

NRB conducted the survey through telephone interviews in April with 403 randomly selected residents, with a geographic spread across the district. Quota sampling ensured an even balance of gender and a cross-section of ages over 18. The margin of error is assessed at between three and five per cent.

ENDS

Satisfaction with council services:
• sewerage system (99%)
• beautification/landscaping (96%)
• Water supply (95%)
• stormwater drainage (95%)
• rubbish collection (94%)
• CBD appearance/cleanliness (94%)
• parks/reserves/playgrounds (92%)
• sports fields (88%)
• visitor promotion (87%)
• events promotion (85%)
• library (84%)
• footpaths (84%)
• museum (82%)
• noise control (81%)
• cycling facilities (80%)
• roads (80%)
• Aquatic Centre (73%)
• dog control (72%)
• recycling waste (68%)
• city parking (68%)
• live/work/invest promotion (63%)
• public toilets (56%)

Other survey results in summary:
• 80% rate performance of mayor and councillors acceptable.
• 88% rate performance of council staff acceptable.
• Priorities for more spend emphasis were: waste recycling (50%); public toilets (49%); live/work/invest promotion (46%); roads (35%); and visitor promotion (30%).
• 75% satisfied with how rates spent.
• 85% satisfied with service when contacting council.
• The top source of information about council is newspapers at 80%; followed by council website at 12%.
• 63% said information provided by council was sufficient.
• 32% satisfied with consultation while 24% were not.
• 84% said public able to influence council decisions to some extent.
• 57% of residents have a household emergency kit.
• 49% have a Civil Defence household emergency plan.
• 69% believe there is good community spirit in Rotorua.
• 54% believe diverse cultures make Rotorua a better place to live.
• 41% believe council is doing enough to promote sustainable behaviour (26% do not).
• 53% approve of council decisions during the last 12 months (34% disapprove).

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