HUTT CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE

23 SEPTEMBER 2016

Quality of Life Survey results for Hutt City

A majority of residents think Hutt City is a great place to live. Residents feel safe in their homes and city during the day, and parks, open spaces and gardens have the greatest influence on their sense of pride in the way Hutt City and their local areas look and feel.

These are some of the findings from the 2016 Quality of Life Survey. The primary objective of the survey is to measure residents’ perceptions across a range of areas that impact on New Zealanders’ quality of life.

Overall results indicate 78 per cent of residents interviewed think Hutt City is a great place to live and 53 per cent feel a sense of pride in the way Hutt City/ their local area looks and feels.

Residents’ perceived safety was higher than the national average, at 93 per cent in homes and in the city during the day, and 50 percent after dark in the city. The national average was 89 percent, 88 and 40 per cent respectively.

Hutt City Council was above the average for the seven participating cities regarding respondents feeling that they had an influence on council decisions.

Strategy and Planning Divisional Manager Wendy Moore led the project for Hutt City Council. She says it’s important for councils to undertake a range of regular research, and this Quality of Life Survey by Colmar Brunton is a useful exercise in further understanding residents’ perceptions and comparing those to other New Zealand cities.

“This is one of a range of research projects we undertake. Each research project has a different methodology and objectives, with this one it’s interesting to learn more about perceptions. As we’ve participated in this over time we can compare with past results from the same project.

“While it offers the chance to compare to other participating councils we also need to be mindful of our immutable differences, for example most of the other participating councils are New Zealand’s main cities.” Ms Moore says, “It’s also important to consider what might be driving results.”

More people are happy with urban design in the city compared to previous years. Ms Moore suggests that this might be a result of Council implementing Making Places, a key document that is guiding Council’s work to rejuvenate the city, especially the CBD. While 51 per cent of respondents perceived poor urban design was behind a lack of pride in the city, this was an improvement from 65 per cent in 2014 and 61 per cent in 2012.

Hutt City Council is one of seven city councils to participate this year. Waikato and Greater Wellington Regional Councils also participated.

The other participating councils were: Auckland Council, Hamilton City Council, Porirua City Council, Wellington City Council, Christchurch City Council, Dunedin City Council, Waikato Regional Council, and Greater Wellington Regional Council.

To view the full project results, www.qualityoflifeproject.govt.nz/survey.htm

ENDS

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