Hamilton City Council’s 2025 Resident Survey shows residents feel positive about the everyday services they use and about their neighbourhoods, while many remain neutral about Council overall.

Based on a representative sample of 670 residents, the survey shows strong satisfaction with services people interact with regularly. Parks and open spaces, libraries, rubbish and recycling, and swimming pools are viewed favourably.

Chief Executive Lance Vervoort said 70% of respondents think Hamilton is a great place to live.

“It’s encouraging to see that when people use Council services in their daily lives, their experiences are largely positive,” he said. “Things like parks, libraries, pools, and rubbish and recycling play an important role in how people feel about their neighbourhoods and their city.”

However, nearly half of respondents (46%) reported being neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with Council overall. This pattern was also reflected across questions on confidence in Council’s decision-making, satisfaction with leadership, and perceptions of transparency. For these measures, the most common response was ‘neither agree nor disagree’.

The results largely reflect perceptions formed under the previous Council term, as the survey was undertaken in November 2025.

Vervoort said neutral responses present an opportunity, and Council is already taking steps to address areas that need improvement. “The Mayor’s Plan provides a framework for responding to areas that could help move people from dissatisfied to neutral, or neutral to satisfied,” he said.

The Mayor’s Plan 2025–28 was developed in response to earlier community sentiment research, consultation, and feedback, and intentionally targets longstanding areas of low satisfaction, particularly transport, the central city experience, transparency, and financial responsibility.

Read the Hamilton Kirikiriroa Resident Survey 2025: https://shorturl.at/E41Iy

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