How satisfied are you with Council?

Residents throughout the district may get a phone call this month asking you to take part in Council’s Annual Resident Satisfaction Survey.

The survey, conducted each year by an independent researcher, aims to find out what residents think about the services and facilities Council provides and how easy it is to do business with.

“We need to be able to measure what we’re doing well and what areas to focus on for improvement,” says performance and communication manager, Harley Dibble.

“One way to find out is to simply ask questions.”

400 people will be surveyed by phone over the next 2 weeks. Questions will ask how satisfied they are with things like the library, playgrounds, recycling collection, resource consents and public toilets.

The survey also asks about interactions with council staff and how helpful, friendly and efficient they may be to deal with.

Public knowledge and performance of the Mayor and Councillors is also measured by asking questions like “How approachable do you feel the Mayor and Councillors are, to put questions comments or requests to?”

“We use the results to measure our performance and identify priorities for improvement – which may mean providing a better level of service, changing the way we do something or more communication,” says Mr Dibble.

Questions will also ask residents about the district as a place to live and if they feel it is better or worse than 3 years ago.

People living in all five wards of the district will be telephoned using a randomised selection method.

Interviewers will ask residents for their age, gender and ethnicity to create a cross-section of respondents that reflect the demographic of the region.

“Sometimes they’ve already received the right number responses from a particular group and anyone they call after that may not be needed to complete the survey,” says Mr Dibble.

“We know people are busy but we really appreciate those that take the time to complete the survey.”

Interviewing will start tonight and is expected to be completed by Wednesday 1 July. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes.

Key Research Ltd is an independent market research company, has been commissioned to do the survey and report to the Council.

The results will be published on Council’s website and included in Council’s Annual Report available in October.

ENDS

© Scoop Media