Jump in residents satisfied with NPDC water supply among survey highlights

Jump in residents satisfied with NPDC water supply among survey highlights

New Plymouth district is a pretty great place to live according to 88 per cent of residents who responded to an independent survey saying they enjoy a great quality of life.

It’s among insights from the 2022 New Plymouth District Council Community Survey of 524 residents, prepared for NPDC in May this year to look at perceptions of services and activities we have provided over the previous 12 months. 

One of the standout results is a significant jump in satisfaction of residents with their water supply (87% - up from 77% in 2021 survey), stormwater – excluding flood protection (70% up from 66%) and sewerage (83% up from 72%) services.

“This is really pleasing to see as there is a lot of mahi going on to improve our water infrastructure and we still have a lot more to do, which is why we are investing $248 million over 10 years to fix our plumbing,” said NPDC Marketing, Communications and Design Lead Ben Kohlis.

We’ve also seen a jump in satisfaction with rubbish and recycling collections and the quality of our parks and walkways also continue to get a lot of love with 95% satisfaction. 

There has been slight increase those were satisfied with the availability of car parks is some parts of the district and the support we give to community groups, while maintenance and quality of our urban landscapes and access to our local environment also rated high.

In what has been a challenging year for everyone, including NPDC and its staff due to impacts of Covid, Kohlis said it was pleasing to see more people (68%) felt the Council had a good reputation and 78% felt staff were helpful or knowledgeable (77%).

On the flip side we saw a drops in satisfaction for our libraries, museum and art galleries, event venues, swimming pools and the overall quality of roads, playgrounds and sports fields.

“Some of that drop in satisfaction for our libraries and venues could be link to the fact they were closed or restricted due to COVID, although interestingly 95% or residents surveyed were satisfied with the experience they had at Puke Ariki Library,” said Kohlis.

“There are definitely some areas where we need to lift our game, but we are focussed on continuous improvement and continuing to deliver on our multi-million-dollar work programme.”

Some of the insights from the survey were:

• 87 % of respondents satisfied with their water supply overall - up from 77% and compared to a provincial benchmark of 55% average*
• stormwater (excluding flood protection) 70% up from 66%. (57% benchmark*)
• rubbish and recycling collection - 84% up from 77% (83% benchmark*)

• Quality of urban landscapes and streets 91% up from 87%
• Council has a good reputation 68 % up from 65%
• Overall quality of roads 61% down from 66% (56% benchmark*).

The New Plymouth District Council Community Survey is conducted annually. A copy of the 2022 and previous reports are available on our website.

Fast Facts

• NPDC manages assets worth $3.5 billion
• We have an operating budget of about $185 million
• We are investing $248 million over 10 years to fix the plumbing; $38 million to Green our Place and $40 million to Pay it Forward for our kids
• We look after 1600 hectares of parks and open spaces
• There is 1306 km of roads in our district, and we spend about $7.5m a year maintaining them.

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