Of the 402 locals who participated in the annual Community Perceptions Study, 67 per cent are generally satisfied with the Tauranga City Council.

The study measures the perceptions of residents regarding various aspects of services council provides and its results will feed into the Tauranga City Council Long Term Plan process.

The Tauranga City Council have been given a lot to mull over with the results of the annual Community Perceptions Study released this week. Photo: File

People were asked approximately 80 questions covering a wide range of areas like council performance, resident awareness, facilities, transport and safety, and vibrancy to name only a few.

Community Development Committee chair councillor Steve Morris says the 2015-2025 LTP, to be adopted on June 29, includes decisions around some of the key focus areas identified in the survey.

'The survey provides a high-level view of how people feel about some key issues that council is focussing on.

'This in turn helps us to see how well our efforts are carrying through to our residents, where we could improve and what we should be looking to include in our Annual Plan and Long Term Plan processes.”

For instance, council has decided to spend an additional $400,000 as part of the LTP to deliver the Omokoroa to Tauranga Cycle Trail.

This decision was based on widespread community support and council hopes it will help improve perceptions regarding cycleway safety in some areas of the city.

'Likewise, we agreed to a total investment of $7.725m over 10 years in the Major Events Fund, which will support current events and help create new local events.”

The Tauranga City Council undertakes the Community Perceptions Study every year. Independent market research company Key Research was commissioned to undertake the survey and report results to Council.

Council Performance and Communication Highlights:

• Level of satisfaction with the Council in general: 2015: 67 per cent / 2014: 65 per cent
• Feel they have at least some influence on the decisions that council makes:2015: 22 per cent / 2014: 21 per cent
• Confidence that Council makes decisions that are in the best interests of Tauranga: 2015: 42 per cent / 2014: 41 per cent
• Felt they are able to contact Council when and how they want to:2015: 80 per cent / 2014: 83 per cent
• Understand council's decision-making processes2015: 48 per cent / 2014: 54 per cent
• Feel informed about what Council is doing, and planning to do in the future: 2015: 40 per cent / 2014: 54 per cent
• Would like to have more say in what council does:2015: 45 per cent / 2014: 47 per cent

Study Methodology:

The study consisted of 402 telephone interviews carried out by independent market research company Key Research.

Only landlines were called and interviewing took place from Thursday, April 9, up until Monday, May 4 – a total of 23 days.

Interviewees were contacted between 5pm to 9pm on weekdays, and 10am to 9pm on weekdays. All calls made outside these times were at the request of participants.

To read the Tauranga City Council's report on the 2015 click here and scroll down to the Business section, item 9.