Napier residents have told their council what they love, and dislike, about life here and council services in a newly released survey. Photo / NZME
Napier residents have told their council what they love, and dislike, about life here and council services in a newly released survey. Photo / NZME
Napier residents have had their say about living in the “Art Deco Capital” and their council’s services, with the outdoors, parks and recreation, and rubbish collection top of the list.
And Mayor Kirsten Wise says she wants to learn more about one of the main gripes – stormwater and the quality of drinking water.
The Napier City Council (NCC) has released the results of its 2023-24 Resident Survey, a study which featured questions asked of locals via online, postal and telephone questionnaires.
Its findings included “notable strides” from the council in “improving communication, leadership and other key services” but also encouraged the local body to address concerns around roading and other infrastructure.
“What stands out to me with this survey is we’ve improved in almost all of the 30 different areas since 2023,” Wise said.
“I’m really proud of the hard work our staff do every day, and these results are a testament to their mahi.”
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says improvements in resident satisfaction with the council has been the result of a lot of hard work. Photo / NZME
Seven areas in the survey reached a “great performance” level by receiving 80% satisfaction from respondents. They were parks and reserves, rubbish collection, Napier’s public gardens, the city’s sports fields, council-run cemeteries, playgrounds and cycleways.
The work the council was doing in 13 other categories – including attracting visitors, the quality of public toilets, its libraries, recycling, dog control, keeping informed and town planning – were deemed a “good performance”, or between 60-79% satisfaction.
Nine areas were singled out for improvement potential by NCC.
Managers and staff, freedom camping, opportunities to have a say, car parking and swimming pools were deemed “services for improvement”.
And deemed “greatest improvement potential” were leadership, drinking water, stormwater and roads.
“In this context, general infrastructure and particularly roads was among the top-highlighted areas for additional spending by the council in 2024,” the survey stated.
Drinking water received just 49% satisfaction against a national benchmark of 71%.
In terms of stormwater, 46% said they were satisfied, compared with the national benchmark of 63%.
Stormwater gained the second-lowest satisfaction rating of all NCC council services, no change from 12 months ago.
Complaints about drinking water included too much chlorine (30%), an unpleasant taste (20%) and being dirty or having an unpleasant colour (7%).
The areas of drinking water quality and stormwater services had been an area of focus for the council.
This year’s survey results were better than in previous years.
Concerns about drinking water is something that Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise wants to find more out about. Photo / 123rf
Wise said the public feedback showed more work needed to be done.
“I’m keen to better understand the ongoing concerns with drinking water and stormwater compared to the national benchmark,” she said.
“We’ve come a long way in that area, and the results suggest there is still room for improvement. That’s an area we are really focused on so it’s encouraging to know we’re heading in the right direction.”
Wise described the annual survey – and the results and trends it could uncover – as “very important” to the NCC.
Results helped the council “identify areas that we need to prioritise”.
“It helps us with our planning and highlights the areas we can celebrate, and the areas where we need to look more closely to see how we can improve,” she said.
The mayor added surveys such as the recently published one allowed the council to listen “to our community about what they want for Napier”.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise has a love for the city's outdoors, just like many of the city's residents. Photo / NZME
Like the residents who gave their views in the survey, Napier resident Wise has her own strong views on what she enjoys the most about living in the city.
She told Hawke’s Bay Today: “I love that here in Napier we have so many amazing places and spaces for our community and visitors alike to enjoy.
“Our satisfaction results in parks and reserves, gardens, playgrounds and cycleways all highlight that.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.
