Boot put in to Masterton paths

ROUGH RIDE: It's a bumpy ride for mobility scooters in Masterton, and a recent survey bears this out.

Footpaths remain the thorn in the side of Masterton District Council - being the single biggest issue causing annoyance to its ratepayers.

This is according to the latest Communitrak Survey commissioned by the council which collated results from 402 ratepayer interviews.

Three hundred urban ratepayers and 102 rural ratepayers were surveyed.

A third of those were dissatisfied with the condition of the footpaths, citing potholes, uneven footpath surfaces, tree roots lifting footpaths, poor footpath design and cambers and overhanging trees or weed infestations.

The footpath statistics are actually better than in 2012 when 37 per cent of those interviewed gave dissatisfaction with footpaths top billing and markedly better than in 2011 when dissatisfaction peaked at 41 per cent.

But footpaths remain easily the biggest problem according to interviewees, followed by parking in the CBD and dog control (both 22 per cent dissatisfaction) and roads and refuse disposal (both 21 per cent).

Dissatisfaction with the collection of rubbish and recycling comes in just under refuse disposal on 19 per cent, dissatisfaction with the condition of cemeteries sits at 11 per cent and with parks and reserves at 9 per cent.

The best performing council service was the library and archive with only 1 per cent - or four of those interviewed - being dissatisfied. Parking in the CBD was criticised through a perception there are not enough parking spaces and that it is too expensive and should be free.

The design of carparks was also given as a reason for dissatisfaction.

Whereas dog control was in the top three when it came to percentage of dissatisfaction, the returns also revealed 69 per cent of those who were interviewed said they were either satisfied or very satisfied.

The main reasons for dissatisfaction was too many roaming or uncontrolled dogs, danger to people and other animals, irresponsible owners and a need for more enforcement or policing.

Communitrak also canvassed where ratepayers got their information on council activities from and newspapers were by far the most dominant source, accounting for 77 per cent of responses.

Radio scored only four per cent as did the council's own newsletter and social media didn't feature at all.

Asked whether Masterton was a safe place to live 33 per cent answered "yes, definitely", 57 per cent answered " yes, mostly" and 10 per cent "not really".

The 100-page survey is an agenda item for discussion at a full council meeting later today.