Horowhenua District Council is doing better, say residents

Horowhenua District Council will be using the Antenno app to keep in touch and it will allow quick and easy reporting of faults, questions, and other issues.

A recent customer satisfaction survey by Horowhenua District Council shows satisfaction has gone up in the past year by 6 per cent — more than the council’s goal of 5 per cent.

The survey uses two distinct ways to quantify results: Customer Satisfaction Metrics, a percentage out of 100; and Net Promoter Score or NPS, a sliding scale from -100 to +100.

The rate of satisfaction still sits below 70 per cent and residents are happier than ratepayers. High scorers in terms of satisfaction were cemeteries, parks, reserves, sports grounds and halls in the eyes of those surveyed. Communications efforts and engagement with the public had also gone up compared with the previous year.

The survey shows residents still have issues with the level of healthcare, the level of service from the council, and the state of the local roads. In fact, healthcare is the No 1 concern, followed by population growth and crime.

The unhappiest residents are aged 18 to 39 and the unhappiest ward is Miranui, though the survey does not elaborate on that.

Businesses are also unhappy, rating the council at -21.2 NPS, where the benchmark is -9.9. Public involvement in council decision-making has gone up, from 25.2 to 43.5 per cent in the past year.

Rubbish generates satisfaction of 4.5 NPS (based on members of the public ringing in with an issue), its customer satisfaction metric is 90.2 per cent. Only 32.4 per cent of respondents are happy with the local level of healthcare.

Compulsory water tanks for new homes met 66.7 per cent approval and 8.8 out of 10 people say reusing and recycling are important. A lot of people want more kerbside recycling: 70 per cent would like a food waste collection and 83 per cent are keen on a green-waste bin.

Interestingly, those who receive council communications via email are 15 per cent happier than those who do not.

The local libraries score highest of all council services: 95.4 per cent, though Shannon scored the lowest.

Soon it will be easier to contact the council to ask questions and raise issues or complaints — if you have a smartphone and the Antenno app, which sends information on council meetings and public notices.

The app allows you to take photos, click on the right spot on a map, and then send that information to council, although phoning the council will remain the best option for urgent issues.