SuperCity scores low in business survey

Auckland has scored the lowest grades of any local authority in a new business satisfaction survey. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Auckland Super City has scored the lowest grades of any local government in the country's main centres, a new survey of business owners reports.

Over 1000 small to medium enterprise business owners were asked in a national survey if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with their local council and regional authorities' performance in helping their business over the last six months.

The MYOB Business Monitor found 44 per cent of businesses were dissatisfied, compared to a mere 14 per centwho were satisfied.

Auckland's regional authority rated third from the bottom overall, and the worst of main centres, with 49 per cent dissatisfied with the council's performance, and only 10 per cent satisfied.

Wellington came out top of the major cities, with 33 per cent of businesses dissatisfied.

The worst performing region was Northland, where 64 per cent of businesses were dissatisfied with their local council's performance, up from 47 per cent last year.

MYOB General Manager Julian Smith said businesses were frustrated with the ongoing poor performance of local government.

"With rates all over the country continuing to rise, businesses are not feeling that they are getting value for money in the services they need from their council," he said.

Response times for resource consents was a major issue for businesses, with 64 per cent indicating they wanted more stringent minimum response times for local governments around business activities, Smith said.

A further 37 per cent reported they would support more mergers of local authorities in the manner of the SuperCity.

"What this shows is that businesses are looking for greater efficiencies from their local councils and authorities," Smith said.

Local authorities in the Otago-Southland had notable improvements in performances since the last MYOB Business Monitor, with the number satisfied jumping from 10 per cent to 23 per cent.

Satisfaction in the Hawkes Bay also rose significantly, from 6 per cent to 25 per cent since October 2011.

-HERALD ONLINE