Residents were generally satisfied with most of the services tested in a “service delivery” survey conducted by UMR Research on behalf of Council.
Residents were most satisfied with the general appearance and quality of the district’s parks, standard of urban kerbside recycling collection, availability of sports fields and facilities, standard of playgrounds, and standard of walkways and cycle ways.
They were least satisfied with the standard of swimming pools and their opening hours, the quality of water supply, road safety programmes, the standard of wastewater treatment, and the standard of storm water management.
The telephone survey was conducted in July and involved a sample of 400 residents aged 18 and over across all four wards. The final report was provided to Councillors this week.
The annual survey is the first of three. Each survey will contain a specific section of up to 16 questions on service delivery. The questions will change each year to ensure a cross-section of services is tested.
Council Chief Executive Pat Dougherty said he was not surprised by the feedback in the survey.
“We are aware there are real issues, especially in the area of water quality and supply. This is why Council has committed $23 million to improving the water supply system and a further $5.5 million to a reservoir for Ōtaki. Council is also spending $3.5 million a year for at least the next 10 years on improving storm water systems. It also recently authorised work on the design and resource consents for a $15.7 million aquatic centre.
“We are moving quickly to address these issues. These are big projects costing significant amounts of money.”
Mr Dougherty was heartened by the fact most residents who contacted Council over the past 12 months had found it responsive to the service issues they raised. “Being on the positive side of the ledger is good, but we need to keep working on our service delivery so we are better. There is always room for improvement.”
A full copy of the survey can be found on Council’s website www.kapiticoast.govt.nz
