Hauraki residents signal average satisfaction in council survey

The council’s efforts to enhance roads following poor weather had been particularly appreciated. Despite the improvements, residents’ comments and suggestions for further enhancement should not be overlooked, the report said. Photo / Hauraki District Council

Over 60% of Hauraki ratepayers are happy with the council’s work, the annual Hauraki District Council satisfaction survey reveals.

The survey, undertaken by Key Research on the council’s behalf, collected responses from across the different wards in August.

Participants were selected at random from the electoral roll and provided a snapshot of the community.

Ratepayers rated their overall satisfaction with the council at 61%, one percentage point lower than 2023.

The areas of worst performance included annual property rates, with only 42% of respondents indicating they were satisfied, council’s understanding of the needs of residents (38% were satisfied), water rates (37% were satisfied), council listening to resident concerns and the quality of local roads (both 36% satisfied).

In their report on the survey, Key Research said residents revealed they expected rates to be fair and reasonable and wanted rates spent effectively on local services, and greater transparency on how rates were allocated.

The survey also had a section for general comments from the community, where concerns surrounding value for money and rates being too high were most frequently mentioned.

Areas of best performance included district libraries, sports fields, parks and reserves, community halls, and understanding of what can be recycled, to which 88% of respondents said they were satisfied, as well as playgrounds (85% satisfied).

Key findings outlined in the report showed satisfaction had remained relatively consistent, with at least six in 10 respondents satisfied year-on-year.

However, there has been a gradual decline since 2022, decreasing from 65% to 62% in 2023 and further to 61% in 2024.

The overall satisfaction with the council was strongly influenced by its reputation (67% impact score).

Within this, quality of services (33% impact score) and trust (32% impact score) were the key factors that affected the council’s reputation.

Having one of the lowest satisfaction scores of 59% among reputation-related measures, trust was identified as an area for improvement in addition to financial management with a 48% satisfaction score.

Meanwhile, there has been significant year-on-year improvement in a number of key infrastructure and service areas, with the council’s efforts to enhance roads following poor weather being particularly appreciated.

The quality of local roads, excluding state highways, had moved up nine percentage points, rising from 39% in 2023 to 48% in 2024 – the highest satisfaction rate recorded since 2022.

Despite this, 73% of suggestions included requests for better maintenance, proper and timely repairs, and addressing complaints about the prolonged duration of roadworks.

In other metrics, quality of life had remained consistent with 2023, showing only a decrease of 2% from 76% in 2023 to 74% in 2024.

Of all rated areas, 23 measures showed a decrease in satisfaction compared to 2023 results, 16 measures showed an increase in satisfaction and three remained the same as at the last survey.

Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams said he was pleased with the results and it was good to see the council had scored average to above average.

Key Research said Hauraki District Council was sitting “fairly close” to the results of the 18 other New Zealand councils and Hauraki’s results were a reflection on what was happening at a national level with customer satisfaction.