Roading, water hot topics in SDC survey

Maintaining roadways and waterways are the top priorities for Southland District Council residents, according to the latest council-commissioned survey.

A report on the Southland District Council Resident Satisfaction Survey 2017 was presented to the council at a meeting on Wednesday.

The survey, which is carried out every three years in the district, measured residents’ perceptions of council services and identified areas for improvement.

About 600 of the district’s 29,000 residents were surveyed across its wards.

From the study, five priority areas for the council to work on were identified by residents.

These included (in order of priority): roading, water and waterways, meeting community needs, cycle trails, and rates and finances.

Mayor Gary Tong said most of the priorities were similar to other councils around the country, with the exception of the emphasis on cycle trails.

‘‘Roading and waterways, they’re our bread and butter – but the cycle trail popping up is an interesting one.’’

Tong said while it had obviously been identified as an important task, it was still slightly unclear from the survey whether residents wanted more or less work devoted to the project.

Overall, while there were always improvements to be made, the council was pleased with the results of the survey, Tong said.

‘‘People seem to be satisfied with what’s happening in the district, although councils will always be criticised by someone for something.

‘‘I hear verbally how things are going around the region, both the good and bad, but this is a way to get it straight from the coalface.’’

In the report, 16 of the council’s 28 key performance indicators had been met.

Eighty per cent of residents surveyed were satisfied with the performance of the council’s leadership, while 87 per cent of residents were satisfied with the overall effectiveness and advice of council staff.

Tong said one of the more surprising figures related to the use of libraries within the district.

According to the survey, only 40 per cent of residents had visited the district’s libraries in the past year – down from 47 per cent in 2014.

This was despite the fact that 98 per cent of residents who did attend were happy with the service provided.

‘‘There appears to be an obvious decline in use, we’ll have to look into why that’s happening.’’

Other issues where the council did not meet its own performance objectives related to community consultation.

With regards to community consultation over ‘‘important issues’’ within the district, 69 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied (compared to a council target of 80 per cent).

Tong said this was an issue the council was already working to rectify, particularly through the round of ‘‘community conversations’’ held in May.

Since the introduction of the community conversations in 2016, he had seen a shift away from focusing on immediate problems to looking at longer-term issues, Tong said.

‘‘When we first started the community conversations, they were mainly about things like potholes and footpaths.

‘‘My focus was more about where you see your communities in five or 10 years from now.

‘‘I felt a lot of communities were sitting on their hands, too focused on the here and now and not looking to the future.’’