Dunedin council Satisfaction Survey makes for tough reading

A disappointing report card from Dunedin residents has left city councillors pledging to lift their game.

The annual Residents Opinion Survey was presented to councillors at their latest regular meeting today, and while it provided good reviews for DCC staff performance, the survey showed satisfaction levels with elected members had fallen from a year ago.

“All five aspects of Dunedin City Council’s leadership received lower satisfaction ratings, compared to the last survey, with high levels of neutral ratings being recorded for all but ‘Support for city festivals and events’,” the report said.

“Two of the five leadership aspects saw a significant decline in satisfaction. They were: ‘Performance of the Mayor and Councillors’ (29 percent, down from 34 percent) and ‘Supporting Dunedin’s economic development’ (35 percent, down from 41 percent).”

Almost a third of respondents expressed “total” dissatisfaction with the Mayor and councillors, while a similar short expressed total satisfaction. Another 42 percent where neutral in their response.

“This was something of an emotional roller-coaster of a read,” councillor Kevin Gilbert said.

“Over an entire year only a fraction or a quarter of residents think we are doing a good job. I’m afraid I take no comfort in that.”

He suggested that councillors have a look at their own actions to see what might have contributed to that result.

Councillor Lee Vandervis said councillors should not ignore the survey results.

“Looking for positives in this survey, for me, has been trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

Councillors needed to acknowledge the performance results and “do something about it”.

Councillor Sophie Barker said the survey should be seen as a “pulse check”.

“It certainly reflects what I am hearing from the people I am talking to.

“I think, as always, the honeymoon for the new council is over.”

Overall satisfaction with the DCC’ remained unchanged from 2022/23 at 50 percent. Similarly, overall satisfaction remained at similar levels to the last year with: ‘Facilities, infrastructure and services delivery’ (62 percent, up from 60 percent), ‘Value for money of DCC services and activities’ (38%, down from 39%) and ‘Performance of Community Board members’ (36%, down from 37%).

“Overall satisfaction with ‘Performance of the Mayor and Councillors’ significantly declined in the last 12 months (29%, down from 34%),” the report said.

“Overall satisfaction significantly increased with ‘Waste management services’ (62 percent, up from 58 percent). 

“A high proportion of survey respondents were overall satisfied with ‘Public facilities’ (84 percent, unchanged) and ‘Parks, reserves and open spaces’ (88percent, up from 77percent).

“Overall, around three quarters of respondents (73% percent) who contacted the DCC in the last three months were satisfied with ‘How DCC staff handled the enquiry overall’, with the highest rating being for ‘How well staff communicated with you’ (76 percent) and the lowest for ‘The outcome of the matter’ (68 percent). Satisfaction with ‘How long it took staff to deal with the matter’ (71 percent).

The lowest satisfaction rating went to ‘Roading-related infrastructure’, which remained unchanged and low at 26 percent.

Mayor Jules Radich pointed out the “very high” satisfaction rating for the city’s  facilities was good to see.

“We can take some satisfaction with that, and interesting to note the satisfaction rating of the Forsyth Barr Stadium was 82 percent - the highest rated of all the sports facilities.”

Addressing the issues around mayoral and councillor performance Mayor Radich said it was “up to all of us” to improve those ratings.

IMAGE:Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich takes on board criticisms from residents survey.