A jump in love for the quality of NPDC events and libraries as well as continued satisfaction with the district’s quality of life are among insights of an independent survey of New Plymouth District residents.

The 2023 New Plymouth District Council Community Survey was prepared for the NPDC in April/May and asked 500 residents their views of the services and activities we have provided over the past 12 months.

Six services or facilities have had satisfaction levels increase by more than four per cent, several by more than six per cent, 24 are stable and nine rated 85 per cent or higher.

Increases in satisfaction since the 2022 survey were:

• quality of council events (83% up from 79%).
• quality of event venues (89% vs 86%).
• Puke Ariki Library (81% vs 78%).
• community libraries (63% vs 55%).
• New Plymouth Airport (86% vs 80%).
• Helpfulness of staff (85% vs 78%).

But we need to lift our game some areas with low levels of satisfaction with the quality of our roads (50% this year vs 61%) and the ability to drive around the district safely (76% v 85%), how rates are spent (63% vs 71%) and how we are meeting the community’s aspirations and needs (47% vs 51 %).

NPDC Chief executive Gareth Green says it was pleasing to see some nine of our core services and facilities such as water supply with more than 85 per cent satisfaction but now is not a time to rest on our laurels.

“We are focused on continuous improvement and delivering on our $3 billion work programme over the next 10 years, so this kind of feedback is invaluable to measure how we are going now and provide a benchmark for us to do better so we provide the highest quality services, facilities and activities for our residents.”

Among the satisfaction ratings included in the 2023 survey are:

• 86% said their quality of life is good compared to 88%
• 93% satisfied with the quality of parks and reserves (82% average benchmark *)
• 87 % of respondents satisfied with water supply overall – the same as last year (54% average benchmark*)
• 84% satisfied with the overall kerbside rubbish and recycling collection (76% average benchmark).
• 71 % satisfaction with stormwater services– excluding flood protection. (50% average benchmark *)
• 50% satisfied with overall quality of roads (Benchmark 43% *).

The NPDC Community Survey is conducted annually. A copy of the 2023 and previous reports are available on NPDC's website.

* Benchmarked averages against councils in Napier, Palmerston North and Nelson where two or more had questions asked about the same services.

© Scoop Media