Most Porirua Residents Satisfied With How Rates Are Spent

Most Porirua residents say they are satisfied with the way rates are spent according to the recent National Research Bureau (NRB) survey.

Results of the survey were reported to the Council's Strategy, Finance and Regulatory Committee today.

Committee Chairperson Euon Murrell says three quarters (76%) of residents surveyed were satisfied with the way rates were spent on Council services and facilities.

"This is the fourth year running that we've seen an upward trend in this measure. Our council is often accused of charging too much in rates because people don't realise that the bulk of the city's income (70%) is rates dependent – unlike other councils which have alternative revenue streams."

Mayor Jenny Brash agrees.

"It's reassuring to know that people are consistently happy with how we are spending rates funding. We do work very hard to keep rates as low as possible and are in the bottom third of similar councils for operating expenses per capita."

14% of residents said they were not satisfied with the way council spent rates (down from 19% in 2009). The percentage of those not happy is below the peer group and national averages.

Mayor Brash says residents continue to have a high level of satisfaction in most Council services, facilities and performance areas.

The sewerage system (96%) and water supply (95%) are the two top ranked services in importance to residents. They also continue to rank highly in satisfaction (both at 93%). Parks, public gardens and reserves (96%), Pataka (86%), litter removal (86%), and swimming pools (85%) also ranked highly in satisfaction, while Council's role in creating the right conditions for business (54%) and Council-owned public halls ranked less well (59%).

"The survey is very useful to show us areas of positive feedback. On the other hand, we also want to know where reduced levels of satisfaction have occurred, to work out why this may have happened and whether action is needed" says Mayor Brash.

This is the 15th year the Council has commissioned the NRB to survey residents on the services, facilities and performance of Porirua City Council, says Council Chief Executive Roger Blakeley.

"Over the last nine and a half years I have always been very proud of the way we serve Porirua and its residents with a wide range of services and facilities. The measures we survey have seen changes over that period and reflect how the Council as an organisation continues to improve the services we provide for the people of Porirua."

A new measure on Emergency Management was added to the survey this year and 56% of Porirua residents said their households were ready for an emergency by having stored water, food, survival items and a household emergency plan. This compares with 22% in the Greater Wellington Regional Council survey of 2007/08.

The results show that for a number of measures there was considerable variation between Wards. Northern ward residents were more satisfied with dog control services (80%) than their counterparts in the Eastern and Western wards respectively (74% and 73%). Conversely only 53% in the Northern ward were satisfied with Council-owned halls, compared to 65% and 58% for Eastern and Western respectively.

88% of Eastern ward residents were satisfied with the maintenance of street footpaths compared to 74% and 70% for Western and Northern respectively. Conversely only 77% of the Eastern ward residents were satisfied with the library services compared to 95% and 82% for Western and Northern wards.

Councillor Murrell says he is pleased to see an increase in satisfaction where the Council had increased funding based on earlier NRB surveys results.

"The Council put extra resource into litter removal last year so perhaps the increase in satisfaction in this service is a direct outcome to that response."

Roading comments related to road conditions, speeding and driver behaviour, road safety, and need for an increase or decrease in traffic calming. State Highways are not the Council's responsibility, but aspects of SH1 such as Mana Esplanade, and SH58 tend to feature in the survey results.

NRB is an independent market research company offering specialised services to Local Authorities. The survey involves 400 face to face interviews with a randomly selected, but representative, sample of Porirua residents. The margin of error is +/– 3.9%. To view the complete NRB survey go to www.pcc.govt.nz.

ENDS

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